Strong teams, excellent content and top products – an esports organisation has many facets these days. These are the most valuable.
Competitive video games already have more than 50 years of history behind them by 2022. Arcade games like Spacewar!, Pong or Space Invaders made the beginning in the 60s and 70s. The esport scene as we know it today, however, only celebrated its big boom at the end of the 1990s with games like Quake, StarCraft or Counter-Strike. A lot has changed since then and the best esports organisations have much more than just the classic portfolio up their sleeves.
Far more than just esports
The esports industry has spawned a multitude of different business ideas over the last five to ten years. In order to ultimately prevail alongside all the competition, it requires innovative and unique projects and ideas that provide positive impetus. The best representatives from the esports industry quickly realised that competitive rivalry in various video games alone is not enough to build a successful brand.
For this reason, many Esport organisations have undergone a restructuring in the last three years, which has led to a change of focus or a new development of interesting business areas. Since then, lifestyle, tech, influencer marketing and other branches, among others, have been given greater priority alongside the day-to-day business.
Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, CEO of 100 Thieves, has also been regularly feeding his organisation with creative ideas since 2017. He recently announced the development of his own video game as the next step. Whether the project will be successful remains to be seen, but it shows very clearly that Esport organisations today are much more than might be thought at first glance.
North America at the top
In most cases, it even goes so far that it is not the esports business that provides most of the revenue, but other business lines around it. Organisations like 100 Thieves or G2 Esports, which also deliver a strong content offering away from the actual competition, therefore prescribe the greatest growth.
The top 10 most valuable esports organisations in the world (as of 2022) are worth a total of approximately 3.5 billion dollars. This sum is roughly comparable to the French football club Paris Saint-Germain, which is valued at around 3.2 billion.
The North American representatives are particularly well placed in the ranking. With TSM, 100 Thieves, Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, Cloud9 and NRG, there are a total of six organisations with headquarters in the USA. G2 Esports and Fnatic are the only European teams and Gen.G and T1 the only two Korean teams that can keep up with the strong competition.
Future from Metaverse, NFTs and Co?
As a stand-alone business, esports will have a hard time surviving in the coming years. The management departments of the top organisations therefore deal almost daily with new ideas and trends that will ensure relevance in the future and keep the community in line.
Blockchain technologies, NFT systems or metaverse solutions are just a few services that have already been implemented by one or the other organisation or are just waiting in the wings. These include the partnership between the crypto platform Coinbase and Berlin International Gaming as well as the cooperation between TeamSoloMid and FTX.
Team Fnatic has already launched an NFT service with the help of its own membership programme. Here, the community can look forward to a Loot Box and a Pro Jersey in return for a monthly subscription payment.
The possibilities to differentiate one’s own esport business from the competition and to bring it to a new level are limited. Those who manage to adapt quickly and always think one step ahead could be sitting on the Esport throne in the coming years.
