2022 most valuable esports companies
According to Forbes, the combined worth of the top 10 most valuable esports companies in the world is currently $3.5 billion, up 46% from Forbes’ last edition of this list back in December 2020.
Most esports companies saw a rise in their valuation over the past two years an example being TSM FTX, which increased its 2020 valuation of $410 million by 32% to $540 million, maintaining its top spot as the sport’s most valuable entity.
100 Thieves saw the biggest rise in its value over the past 2 years, increasing from a $190 million valuation in 2020 to a $460 million valuation in 2022 (a 142% increase) to become the second most valuable esports company in the world.
Esports is clearly on the ascension and with a global audience expected to reach 532 million by the end of the year, of which 261 million are expected to watch esports content more than once a month, the future is clearly bright for the sport.
Below are the ten most valuable esports companies;
#1 TSM FTX – $540 million
Change From 2020: 32%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $56 million
Premier Games: League of Legends, Valorant
Other Games: Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India, chess, Dota 2, Fortnite, Free Fire, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Magic: The Gathering, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Teamfight Tactics
Principal Owner: Andy Dinh
Business Focus: Tech
TSM has the richest sponsorship deal in esports, a ten-year, $210 million naming rights agreement with crypto exchange FTX, but its real selling point is its tech businesses: Blitz, an app that trains users in popular video games, and Dyno, which offers a moderation bot for Discord servers. Some around the industry express wariness about the Los Angeles-based company’s leadership, however, with CEO Andy Dinh accused late last year of bullying. “Upon learning of allegations against Mr. Dinh, TSM immediately hired an independent investigator to begin a thorough internal investigation,” the team said in a statement this week, echoing an earlier announcement in January. “Andy recused himself from any oversight of the scope, nature and conclusions of the investigation. Those results are pending. Until finalized, we can’t comment on specifics.”
#2 100 Thieves – $460 million
Change From 2020: 142%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $38 million
Premier Games: Call of Duty: Vanguard, League of Legends, Valorant
Other Games: Apex Legends
Principal Owners: Matthew Haag, Drake, Scooter Braun, Dan Gilbert, Rachell Hofstetter, Jack Dunlop
Business Focus: Lifestyle
No team in Forbes’ ranking has appreciated more than 100 Thieves, which was fifth on the 2020 list at $190 million. The Los Angeles-based company, which is developing a lifestyle brand at the intersection of apparel, entertainment and esports, in December announced a $60 million funding round at a $460 million valuation. That was two months after the company made its first acquisition, buying gaming keyboard brand Higround.
#3 Team Liquid – $440 million
Change From 2020: 42%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $38 million
Premier Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Valorant
Other Games: Age of Empires, Apex Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, Free Fire, Hearthstone, PUBG, Quake, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate, Teamfight Tactics, World of Warcraft
Principal Owners: aXiomatic Gaming, Victor Goossens, Steve Arhancet
Business Focus: Esports
Team Liquid’s parent, aXiomatic Gaming, is fresh off raising $35 million in a round announced this week that values Liquid at $415 million. If it were negotiating terms now, it would likely fetch an even higher price. The company, which has offices in both Los Angeles and the Netherlands and is considered especially brand-safe for advertisers, is diversifying in several directions at once. The company launched the community initiative Liquid+ last year and has a video content production arm in 1UP Studios and an influencer management agency in Liquid Media while still maintaining ownership of the wiki network Liquipedia.
#4 FaZe Clan – $400 million
Change From 2020: 31%
2021 Revenue: $52.9 million
Premier Games: Call of Duty: Vanguard, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant
Other Games: FIFA Online 4, Fortnite, Halo Infinite, PUBG, PUBG Mobile, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Principal Owners: Lee Trink, Michael Stang Treschow, Yousef Abdelfattah, Richard Bengston, Thomas Oliveira, Nordan Shat
Business Focus: Media
FaZe Clan has broken into mainstream culture in a way no other esports organization has been able to, creating tremendous brand value as it looks to become a full-fledged media company with original content like the contest series Road To FaZe1, the horror movie Crimson and a comic book crossover with Batman. It may also look to launch consumer products around its famous personalities. But its bottom line is still ugly, the SPAC climate has grown more perilous, and the company’s recently disclosed agreement with partner Snoop Dogg suggests it might be lowering its own valuation. Defenders of the Los Angeles-based FaZe offer a reminder that Amazon haemorrhaged money for years before turning a profit, and even its sceptics recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats. “I’ll be rooting for them,” says one rival team executive.
#5 Cloud9 – $380 million
Change From 2020: 9%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $35 million
Premier Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant
Other Games: chess, Fortnite, Halo Infinite, Hearthstone, League of Legends: Wild Rift, PUBG Mobile, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Teamfight Tactics, World of Warcraft
Principal Owners: Jack and Paullie Etienne
Business Focus: Esports
Cloud9 topped the first two editions of the Forbes ranking, in 2018 and 2019, and has historically been the dominant pure-play esports brand. The announcement last month that the company, based in Santa Monica, California, is returning to competition in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive may reinforce that image, but even C9 is creating new lines of business with Training Grounds, a coaching app, and with Stratus, a subscription service for super-fans.
#6 G2 – $340 million
Change From 2020: 94%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $31 million
Premier Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Valorant
Other Games: Apex Legends, Fortnite, Halo Infinite, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, sim racing
Principal Owners: Carlos Rodriguez, Jens Hilgers
Business Focus: Media
G2 Esports, the highest-ranked company outside of Los Angeles County, with its headquarters in Berlin, is branching out from esports with video content around its teams and a record label, G2 Music. The company is also looking to expand globally with a particular eye on the U.S., with plans for a flagship in New York. Since the start of 2021, G2 has announced apparel deals with Adidas, Ralph Lauren and New Era.
#7 Fnatic – $260 million
Change From 2020: not ranked
2021 Estimated Revenue: $26 million
Premier Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Valorant
Other Games: Dota 2, FIFA, Halo Infinite, Rainbow Six Siege
Principal Owners: Sam and Anne Mathews, Patrik Sättermon
Business Focus: Esports, Web3
Fnatic has traditionally shown a commitment to the biggest esports games, entering Valorant and Halo Infinite since the last Forbes list. The London-based company is now building up its products businesses, starting with gaming hardware, including keyboards and mice. The next frontier is on the digital side. Fnatic launched an NFT-based membership program for fans in March; despite some backlash around it, the company signed up 200,000 members for the free version, beating its target of 50,000. Fnatic has also started to gain traction in Japan.
#8 Gen.G – $250 million
Change From 2020: 35%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $17 million
Premier Games: League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant
Other Games: NBA 2K, PUBG
Principal Owners: Kevin Chou, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, NEA, Will Smith
Business Focus: EdTech, Web3
Gen.G looks set to enter a period of rapid growth; the company says it signed more sponsorships in terms of total deal value in the first quarter of 2022 than in all of 2021, putting it on pace to grow revenue 100% year over year. One particularly notable partnership is with cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb as Gen.G ties itself to Web3 technologies. The other focus for the company, which has offices in Santa Monica, California, Seoul and Shanghai, is its coaching platform, which launched last year and has already enrolled thousands of students in Asia, Gen.G says.
#9 NRG – $240 million
Change From 2020: 55%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $28 million
Premier Games: Overwatch, Valorant
Other Games: Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, Rocket League
Principal Owners: Andy Miller, Mark Mastrov
Business Focus: Media
NRG has a successful content business, including a brand in Full Squad Gaming that targets “social gamers” as opposed to esports enthusiasts and a studio in Los Angeles, where the company is based. The organization has had an occasionally bumpy experience with esports’ franchise model but limits its risk exposure by fielding a manageable number of teams.
#10 T1 – $220 million
Change From 2020: 47%
2021 Estimated Revenue: $17 million
Premier Games: League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant
Other Games: Dota 2, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Principal Owners: Comcast Spectacor, SK Square
Business Focus: Esports
“The way that teams in North America succeed is different from the way that teams succeed in Asia,” says Jason Chung, the executive director of esports at the University of New Haven. “If you want to succeed in Asia, you have to be the best—it’s all about competition.” That certainly helps explain the success of Seoul-based T1. But it, too, is diversifying, looking to bolster its entertainment business and the esports academy it launched last year.
