The next challenge for esports Striking the balance between creators and athletes
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20,000 foot view: Esports organisations are past the initial ‘hype stage’. They are now in a phase where they need to make their business models work commercially. The ongoing adverse macroeconomic climate only exacerbates this. Sustainable long-term growth for esports organisations lies in the wider, gamer-related, entertainment culture – not just in the competitive part of esports alone. While esports companies have been embracing the power of media content and creator talent to an extent already, there is still a lot of room for improvement to unlock its full potential.
Key insights
- Given the macroeconomic climate, there will be pressure on esports organisations to and / or sustain profitability
- There are differences in revenue per member esports athletes and content creators), from to per member
- On average, prize money only contributes approximately a given esports organisations’ revenue of esports organisations’ members are esports athletes, while only are creators
- Reach and are crucial for sponsorships, and revenue must grow at esports
- Creators are more effective than esports athletes building and engaging audiences, as by their follower metrics
- Esports organisations overdependent on a small handful titles, risking disruptions and volatility by unexpected game changes and
- Esports organisations to recognise and play to respective strengths of athletes versus and adjust their allocation of and terms accordingly
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Apex Legends, Call of Duty, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, Gen.G NRG, Esports, League of Legends, TSM, Team Liquid, Entertainment & Sports, Valorant, Thieves