With @Complexity gone, the list of true OG orgs is getting shorter. Few are left and still doing fine, like @SKGaming or @mousesports. But I sometimes wonder what amazing brands the likes of 4Kings, Meet Your Makers, mTw or Team 3D could have become if they had made it into the modern era of esports.

HEROIC just announced a three-year extension with their main sponsor @RazedEsport. What's really striking here is the contract duration. Building long-term strategic partnerships is more important than ever in the current esports landscape. Teams need both growth and sustainability and thus have to plan their next steps years in advance. With rising costs for players, staff, facilities and more, esports orgs can't afford to work on a year-by-year basis anymore.

Step 1: Sell your players to a team that is willing to pay a lot for them. ✅ Step 2: Sign new talents. ✅ Step 3: Overtake the team that spent big on your players in the rankings just a few months after. ✅ That's how you combine smart business with clever team management.

G2 Esports made €3.1 million profit. But the numbers tell a bigger story. A €3.1 million profit grabs the headlines, but G2's declining sponsorship revenue and growing diversification reveal something more important about the future of esports In an industry where most brands are still far from turning a profit, one of the market leaders reporting a notable surplus is certainly worth noting. But looking at the bigger picture behind G2 Esports’ financials reveals much more: The business model of modern esports brands is changing. In 2024, the Berlin-based company made a net profit of €3.1 million. While this sounds great on the surface, a closer look at the numbers paints a more nuanced picture. Revenue dropped sharply from €25.1 million to €16.5 million (-34%), while sponsorship income more than halved, falling from €14.5 million to €6.8 million (-53%). The €3.1 million net profit was largely driven by the sale of Solana tokens, which generated €16.1 million in proceeds and €12.8 million in capital gains. A welcome one-off boost for the bank account – but not a sustainable revenue stream for years to come. Once sold, these tokens are gone. Looking only at the 2024 numbers, the outlook for G2 would not be the best. But for 2026, the organization is targeting revenue in the range of €23-25 million. Not from selling crypto, but from diversifying its revenue streams. Esports is still heavily dependent on sponsorships. Even one of the most prominent brands in the industry, such as G2, is not immune to losing key sponsors or shrinking marketing budgets – as happened in 2024. While sponsors will still make up a large part of G2’s income, additional revenue streams have been further developed in the past years: ▪️League participation fees and revenue shares from digital item sales monetize G2’s competitive success and fanbase beyond traditional sponsorships. ▪️Their in-house agency “62” runs lucrative campaigns for companies such as Ubisoft. ▪️They even expanded beyond esports with their Kings League football team “G2 FC”. And this is where G2’s financials offer a valuable lesson. Turning a profit is great. But more important than the results of a single year is the long-term strategy. And with a much more diversified business model than a few years ago, G2 Esports is certainly playing it right. I regularly dive deeper into stories like this on my free Substack, covering the business, marketing and strategy behind esports. The link is in my profile. Feel free to join! 📸 Bartosz Plotka, Riot Games

T1 makes most of its money from fans, not sponsors. Now they’re doubling down on that with a new 1,500-square-meter venue in Seoul. Korean powerhouse T1 is one of the very few esports brands that reported a net profit last year – despite fielding one of the most expensive teams in all of esports. But what’s even more impressive is their biggest revenue stream. Their fanbase. Over 80% (~$49 million) of T1’s revenue comes from product sales such as jerseys, shirts, caps, keychains, mousepads, player figures and other collectibles. More than 360 products are currently available in their online shop, which ships to pretty much anywhere in the world, with many also available at their local stores in Seoul. And with their latest announcement, T1 underlines that they are one of the smartest companies in esports when it comes to monetizing their huge fanbase and further diversifying their business. With the opening of their third esports venue in Gangnam, Seoul, next month, T1 will offer both fans and sponsors a 1,500-square-meter space that feels like every gamer’s and marketer’s dream: ▪️a 24/7 gaming area with top-class hardware for both solo players and teams ▪️several huge LED screens for viewing parties ▪️experience zones, such as a sim racing area, where fans can try the latest products from T1’s sponsors ▪️a trophy room celebrating the history of the brand ▪️a new flagship merchandise store ▪️a premium restaurant led by T1’s chef And all of that is just a two-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station, making the venue perfectly accessible for fans. T1’s popularity and business success in recent years have been closely connected to their superstar player Faker and their packed trophy cabinet. But by expanding their local presence, even far beyond gaming, they are deepening their connection with fans in Seoul, the capital of esports, while simultaneously providing more value to their sponsors. With that, T1 is about to set a new benchmark for how modern esports brands can diversify their business model and position themselves as one of the leading sports teams in their home market – far beyond esports alone. If you enjoyed this breakdown, I regularly share more analysis on the business behind gaming and esports on my free Substack (link in my profile).

Complexity shutting down after 23 years is a warning for esports teams stuck in a niche. After 23 years, North American esports organization Complexity is finally ceasing operations, as founder and CEO Jason Lake recently announced in an emotional video. I still fondly remember staying up until 2am local time to watch them play against Team 3D – the big rivalry in NA Counter-Strike in the mid-2000s. Until the end, coL was one of the few legendary brands that were still around after more than 20 years of competing. But as much as coL was the defining Counter-Strike brand of North America for a very long time and beloved by fans from all over the world, they were also very much stuck in that specific niche. And that turned out to be a real problem – one that has a lot to do with the combination of game and region. In recent years, fan interest in North America partly shifted to other games, sponsor money moved as well, and investors preferred titles with a franchise league much more than the open circuit of Counter-Strike. In Europe, while survival isn’t easy either, Counter-Strike continues to boom and leading organizations still see real opportunity to invest in the game long term. For North American teams trying to stay relevant in Counter-Strike, that situation makes it even harder to retain talent and go far at the Majors, which are the most lucrative events of the year. Was it a mistake to keep focusing on a game where staying sustainable is becoming harder and harder? In hindsight, the answer is probably yes. But one has to respect what Jason Lake has built over all these years. He always was a firm believer in his brand, and that brand was a symbol of North American Counter-Strike – just like the Dallas Cowboys are for football or the Los Angeles Lakers for basketball. Leaving all that legacy behind and letting go of large parts of the fanbase is a tough decision. Still, Complexity’s shutdown is a strong reminder of how important diversification in esports is. Unlike in football or basketball, fan and sponsor interest in a certain game or region can decline quickly. Modern esports brands need to prepare for that in advance, make quick adjustments if necessary and expand their business beyond specific teams and players. 📸 Divulgação, BLAST

Mongolia shows how you still can become relevant in esports in record time. There are quite a few "big esports nations" they have already left behind.

In hindsight, it's crazy to think that there are many more examples from that era where publishers simply didn't understand what was right in front of them in the form of mods and online communities building around their games.

What a team! Beating VRS 37-ranked @virtuspro 2-0 in the grand final to finish off a fantastic run. And these players are far from being done. There is still a lot of untapped potential and we'll do our best to support them in the best way possible. Well done, @flaw_ns1, @dottiecs2, @L00m1cs, @toshascs, @Sapeccsgo and @PhnX_cs2!

Good lord, this Monte org seriously needs some pr consulting.

Team Liquid and Alienware will reach 20 years of partnership in 2031. What started as a simple sponsorship now includes training facilities, product development, alienware branded events and exclusive content. That's where I think esports sponsorship needs to go: building partnerships that become more valuable over time instead of rebuilding the sponsor portfolio every year. Find the full breakdown on why building long-term strategic partnerships becomes more and more important in esports, entirely free on my Substack.

FURIA signed a major skin sponsor despite Valve banning these brands from team jerseys. The deal shows why strong esports brands have much more to offer than logo exposure. FURIA is a textbook example of that. They are much more than five players wearing a jersey that can be printed with logos. Instead, they have built a brand strong and diversified enough to offer sponsors valuable exposure through social media, content, community activations and their popular players. 📝 Read the full breakdown entirely free on my Substack.

There has never been such a thing as a "men's league" in esports. That's why female-only competitions are a nice-to-have to promote esports to women. But even without them, that doesn't stop any woman from potentially becoming a world-class player.

Nette Geste. Aber ganz ehrlich: Mit den aktuellen Strukturen und dem geringen Budget bleibt es bei einer Finanzspritze für E-Sports als Hobby. Echte Talentförderung findet damit nicht statt.

There's one crucial detail almost everyone seems to be missing about ESL banning skin sponsors. It is first and foremost a decision by Valve, and it has much more to do with them trying to avoid future lawsuits than with protecting users. Earlier this year, Valve has been sued in New York for "illegal gambling" regarding their loot boxes. Valve argues that the skins are collectibles and that therefore opening cases is not gambling for money. This argument only (somehow) holds as long as Valve stays as far away as possible from any service that allows you to gamble skins or trade them for real money. For teams, this restriction means a tough hit as they inevitably lose sponsorships from any skin sites. But on the bright side, we also get rid of unregulated skin gambling or rigged case opening sites. Unfortunately, the few legally operating marketplaces are collateral damage in this case.