TOP-5 global multi-gaming eSports organizations by earnings for 2018

Information agency Credinform represents a ranking of global multi-gaming eSports organizations in term of earnings for 2018.

The first part of research was dedicated to TOP-5 multi-gamins organizations of the CIS. The Credinform experts analyzed the size and audience of eSports market, primary source of revenue, and presented the most popular computer games.

The second part includes analysis of the prize pool won by top teams of the word at the international championships, and their positions in global ratings. TOP-5 of eSports organizations was compiled with Orbis database by Bureau van Dijk.

The revenues of global eSports organizations are significantly different from those of the CIS. The main reason for the low income in the CIS is the lack of large sponsorship contracts. Investors examine carefully this segment, as eSports has recently become a commercially viable and effective business project. In Russia, investors prefer more traditional methods to accumulate capital - oil, gas, precious metals, stones or securities. However, this trend is gradually starting to change. With the development of technology, the growth of the audience and popularization of eSports, there is a smooth inflow of private investments. Today, Russian mobile operators invest their own funds in the development of computer sports, and become general partners. Nevertheless, global foreign organizations are pioneers in the eSports market, and they own most of this segment, hence the significant difference in income.

Today, the news that Nike, Adidas, Kappa or Microsoft have become the main partners of various global multi-gaming organizations is less surprising than 5 years ago.

Table 1. Revenues, prize pool, positions in the global ratings of Top-5 global eSports multi-gaming organizations

Rank	Team	2018 revenue, million RUB	Prize pool of all time, million RUB	Position in CS: GO global ranking	Position in Dota 2 global ranking
1	Team Liquid (Netherlands)	1 531,2	2 170,9	4	9
2	Fnatic (London)	1 020,8	920,5	3	8
3	Evil Geniuses (USA)	544,0	1 485,5	1	3
4	Astralis (Denmark)	352,6	477,1	2	No Dota 2 team
5	Ninjas in Pyjamas (Sweden)	163,8	263,8	12	21
Outside the ranking
Cloud9 (USA)		1 850,2	590,7	37	Did not participate in the tournament for the last 3 months

Source: Orbis database by Bureau van Dijk; data from the Internet sources Forbes, HLTV, esportsearnings, and CQ. Revenue and prize pool converted to rubles at the dollar exchange rate on November 19, 2019.

The first place of the ranking is taken by Team Liquid (1531,2 million RUB). Team Liquid is an internationally renowned professional multi-gaming organization founded in 2000 in the Netherlands. It is one of the most successful eSports organizations in the world. The team unites over 60 cybersportsmen who have become champions in 14 types of computer games. The amount of prize pool won exceeds 2,17 million RUB, that makes the team the global leader. At various tournaments, the organization is a representative of the North American region, since the Americans play in the most teams. It has a sponsorship agreement with the American company Marvel Studios. In November 2019, Team Liquid became the second in the nomination “The Best eSports Organization of the Year” according to the Esports Awards 2019.

The organization’s Counter-Strike team is the 4th in the world. Until recently, the team was on top, but failed at the World Championships in Berlin, and were overtook in the rating. As for CS: GO, the team have never been the world champions. Having won a great number of international tournaments, Team Liquid have never managed to be on the winning side at the most important CS tournament, and left tournaments in the early stages.

Things go much better with Dota 2. The team won The International 2017 with a prize pool of 1,5 billion RUB, and were the second in 2019. For the three-year experience of The International, Team Liquid earned 1,2 billion RUB. However, Dota 2 team considered their results as unsatisfactory and decided to leave the organization. Therefore, Team Liquid was only the 9th in the global ranking.

In terms of income, Fnatic ranks the 2nd (1020,8 million RUB). Based in London, the organization is active since 2004. Fnatic is one of the most popular and titled organizations in the world. Their prize pool won exceeds 920 million RUB. As Team Liquid, Fnatic teams consist of gamers from different regions in the championships. The CS: GO team is comprised only of Swedish gamers, and Dota 2 team consists of representatives from Southeast Asia. In early November 2019, the organization announced a partnership with the Japanese brand Hello Kitty . Thanks to the collaboration, the Fnatic brand will become popular and in demand in Japan, and will bring organization millions of profits.

Fnatic's Counter-Strike team has won all possible prizes. It became a 3-time winner of the World Cup and other serious tournaments. For a long time the team was unequaled, but with the growth of the eSports market, the competition became tougher, and the team climbed down. Until recently, CS team experienced serious gaming problems and closed the world ranking, but substitutions helped to get the 3rd position back.

The organization has never won The International Dota 2. Semifinal in 2016 was the best result in the tournament.

The American organization Evil Geniuses (EG) is the 3rd in the ranking (544 million RUB). It became popular due to its Dota 2 team. In 2015, the team won The International 2015. EG is the only American team who consistently takes high positions in international tournaments. The prize pool won exceeds 1,4 billion RUB. It was Evil Geniuses the former Virtus.Pro player Roman “Ramzes” Kushnarev moved to.

EG did not have CS: GO team. In September 2019, the organization announced the acquire of the team from another organization for 192 million RUB. The team successfully plays under the new tag. It won several serious tournaments and led the world rating.

In 2018, Danish organization Astralis earned 352,6 million RUB. The organization is the most successful in CS: GO. It was created in 2016, and the level of its prize pool for 3 years reached 477,1 million RUB. Counter-Strike team is unique four-time winner of the World Cup. Since 2016, the team won over a half of the tournaments. It is interesting that the gamers of Astralis team are much more popular than the national football team players. The organization successfully creates its clothing line in collaboration with the global brand Jack & Jones.

Ninjas in Pyjamas closes the ranking (163,8 million RUB). The most successful organization in the world was established in 1999 in Sweden. In 2007, the project was closed, but in 2012 it recommenced the activities. The organization became famous thanks to its Counter-Strike team. Gamers won the World Cup, and were unequaled for 2 years. The team got 87 winning streak without defeats. Over its history, the organization received 263,8 million RUB of prize pool.

Another US eSports organization Cloud9 is outside the ranking. Its income level in 2018 exceeded 1,8 billion RUB. The organization successfully applies business ideas to its tag. It creates own clothing line with Puma, and is one of the most popular organizations in the North American region.

The ranking results showed that eSports in the world is developing. Large companies are gradually exploiting the computer sports market, showing that it is not only entertaining, but also commercially profitable. Joint production of clothes, advertising on the Internet, recognition and media, all this helps not only to recapture investments, but also to receive multimillion-dollar profits. This trend cannot go unnoticed, so in the near future large companies will come to the Russian eSports segment.