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The gaming industry is a growing business and expands massively with the developments of video games. Individuals and organizations are making their marks to show the world who is the best in the industry. They bring fun and excitement with every competition or tournament held in the gaming world, and the prizes are big. To know more about the most valuable eSports companies, here is a list of who made it to the top.
Most Valuable ESports Companies
TSM (Team SoloMid)
TSM, also known as Team SoloMid, is a North American eSports team founded by brothers Andy “Reginald” Dinh and Dan “Dan Dinh” Dinh in September of 2009, inspired by the website SoloMid.Net. In June 2021, the group’s identity was known as TSM FTX in non-Riot Games eSports but was denied permission to utilize that name in VALORANT or League of Legends, because of restrictions from their sponsors.
In late 2011, the team first participated in the Riot Season 1 Championship after officially forming the group. They once hosted TSM Darkness and the Team SoloMid Evo (already disbanded). TSM is the only team to reach the first ten NA LCS Finals and the first to be eligible to join the first seven World Championships.
Reginald founded the team to support his site Solomid.net. He was joined by Saintvicious, Reginald, TheOddOne, Locodoco, and Chaox but soon Saintvicious quit the team and transferred to Counter Logic Gaming. TSM had to search for substitutions like the FeedFest, Chu8, Clown, Westrice, and Doublelift for their upcoming events.
TSM is the top most valuable eSports company in the world with a value of $410 million and an estimated $35 million revenue. The team participates in many video game tournaments and they excel in the League of Legends, which they consider as their “pride”. Even if the team has some struggles in the past years, they still have a huge fan base and continue to grow every year.
Cloud9
Owned by Jack and Paulie Etienne, Cloud9 is another North American eSports company founded by a former member of Quantic Gaming after its dissolution. The team has other divisions for other games such as Vainglory, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, DOTA 2, COD, Super Smash Bros, and Overwatch.
Quantic Gaming had financial problems during the off-season, which led them to shut down all their operations and left their League of Legends team with no sponsors. They competed using the name Team NomNom and then followed by Cloud9, with members Hai, WildTurtle, LemonNation, Nientonsoh, and Yazuki which they were able to secure a position in the Season 3 North American Offline Qualifier for the League of Legends Championship Series. But, Cloud9 lost to Azure Gaming and Team MRN (LCS team) and was eliminated in the group stage.
Eventually, Nientonsoh and Yazuki decided to leave the group because they predicted a Cloud9 disband after the loss. But the team stayed together and made a major change in their rosters. Cloud9 continued to try out new junglers and top lakers for their online competitions. The team has an estimated revenue of $30 million and a value of $350 million under their belts.
Team Liquid
A multi-gaming team organization, Team Liquid started in the year 2000 in the Netherlands as a team for StarCraft: Brood War. They eventually teamed up with Team Curse in January 2015, and their page contains their first League of Legends team information.
Team Liquid also operates the world’s most-visited StarCraft-related website, then passed on to a rise League sub-site, Liquid Legends, after merging with the LCS and acquired Curse. The organization were dominating Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2019, which they were also able to set a record of 23 consecutive matches won. To add to their statistics, their DOTA 2 team won three straight International finishes, and their LoL team managed four straight LCS titles.
The owners of the organization aXiomatic Gaming, Victor Goossens, and Steve Arhancet managed the team to have a value of $310 million and has an estimated revenue of $28 million.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan is one of the world’s most popular eSports and professional gaming organizations. They started their organization by joining a Call of Duty clan in 2010, and later expanded their roster and had over 80 other professional gamers and content creators, who focused mainly on making titles for Call of Duty, PUBG, CSGO, Fortnite, Valorant, FIFA, and Rainbow Six Siege. They have a hyper-loyal fan base, which also includes celebrities such as musicians Offset, NFL player JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Lil Yachty.
The organization started as FaZe Sniping on May 30, 2010, on a YouTube channel that features their skills in playing Call of Duty. Their founders are Eric “ClipZ” Rivera, Ben “Resistance” Christensen, and Jeff “Timid” Emann, while their members would usually come and go, but the organization’s reputation in the gaming industry grew steadily. They eventually incorporated lifestyle content with their gaming videos when Richard “Banks” Bengston joined the organization in 2013.
The success of FaZe clan shows with their $350 million value with an estimated revenue of $40 million. The organization’s owners are Lee Trink, Richard Bengston (FaZe Banks), Thomas Oliveira (FaZe Temperrr), Yousef Abdelfattah (FaZe Apex), and Nordan Shat (FaZe Rain).
100 Thieves
100 Thieves is a popular American eSports company associated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag was a former Call of Duty professional player, who decided to form the organization in April 2016. However, it disbanded immediately in July of the same year. The organization rejoined eSports in November 2017 when they decided to participate in the NA LCS 2018 season. Dan Gilbert, the owner of Cleveland Cavaliers, provided a multi-million dollar investment for the 100 Thieves for their re-establishment in eSports.
The 100 Thieves sought the services of 2017 NALCS Summer All-Pro top-laner Ssumday, former Phoenix1 mid-laner Ryu, veteran CLG support Aphromoo, veteran jungler Meteos, and former Immortals AD carry Cody Sun. Despite the mixed opinions about the team’s ability to perform, they proved the industry with their success in major tournaments. They have a $190 million value and estimated revenue of $16 million with their owners Matthew Haag, Drake, Scooter Braun, and Dan Gilbert.
Gen.G
Owned by KSV eSports Korea Inc., Gen.G is a Korean multi-gaming organization and was formerly known as KSV eSports.
The organization was able to get the rosters of the 2017 League of Legends World Champions Samsung Galaxy on November 30, 2017. Gen.G managed to grow its value to $185 million with an estimated revenue of $14 million.
Enthusiast Gaming
Enthusiast Gaming specializes in video game journalism, is a digital media company from Canada. Entrepreneur Menashe Kestenbaum started the company in 2014, which also owned the Escapist Magazine and Destructoid websites. They are also the owners of Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, which is a gaming convention. Enthusiast Gaming went public in October 2018 on the TSX Venture Exchange. Their listing moved to the Toronto Stock Exchange in January 2020. They have estimated revenue of $95 million and a value of $180 million.
G2 ESports
Formerly known as Gamers2, G2 Esports is one of the most popular European eSports companies. Upon qualifying for the EU LCS the organization made several adjustments to the positions in their roster. For their qualifying roster, they have Smittyj, PerkZ, Hybrid, Jesse, and Kikis. They later moved Kikis to the top lane, plus Korean players Emperor and Trick. This roster setup immediately made its way to the top and gained recognition in the LCS, for keeping the first place position consistently every week. LaterH2k and Vitality would split to gain the sole possession of the top place with a record of 15-3. They have a record of winning back-to-back LEC championships and triumphed in the MSI.
The organization also competes in various eSports such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rainbow Six.
G2 Esports is one of the most popular teams in League of Legends and has a value of $175 million and estimated revenue of $19 million. The organization’s owners are Hens Hilgers and Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez.
NRG ESports
Another North American team, NRG eSports, was formerly known as NRG eSports which they announced on November 16, 2015. The two co-owners of the Sacramento Kings bought Team Coast’s NA LCS position for the 2016 Spring Season. Their original lineup included top-laner Impact from Team Impulse, mid-laner GBM from Jin Air, support KonKwon from Coast, and jungler Moon from Imagine. Coach Charlie from Cloud9 and former Origen head coach Hermit were the team’s coaching staff. The team has an estimated revenue of $20 million and a value of $155 million, earned through hard work from owners Mark Mastrov and Andy Miller.
NRG also competes in various video games like Fortnite, Rocket League, and Apex. They were able to secure a spot in the 2020 CDL for Chicago Huntsmen (one of their teams), and also for competing in OWL as San Francisco Shock.
Sports celebrities such as Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O'Neal were investors in NRG eSports in early 2016.
T1
Owned by SK telecom CS T1 Co., Ltd., T1 is another Korean organization, with the help of SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. They were formerly known as SK Telecom T1.
The organization decided to rebrand from SK Telecom T1 to T1 in February 2019. But their League of Legends team remained as SKT because they were not able to rebrand during the mid-year of the 2019 season. CEO Joe Marsh started referring to the League of Legends team as T1 in November of that year. The organization has a $150 million value and estimated revenue of $15 million.
The list of the most valuable eSports companies sets an inspiration to all gamers and eSports enthusiasts that they can earn big money while having fun playing. Competitions among teams are very high, which makes a strong camaraderie in their organizations. It promotes teamwork and cooperation with each other, whether they win or lose.