The gaming industry is booming more than ever now. Just like any other niche in the digital industry, gaming market charts are getting higher every year. More and more industries are joining this market and leaders are also changing. If we just talk about the year 2019, the revenue of the eSports market hit $1.1 Billion.

Although there are many stakeholders in this industry including game development companies, event organizers, services providers but still the eSports teams and Players are just like the athletes of the Olympics. The worth asking question is, how much money do they make from the eSports?

Short answer, enough to have a luxurious life.

For the detailed answer to that question, let’s dig deep and know some examples of the people making the most money out of eSports competitions and then at the end how they are making this money.

How Much Do eSports Players Make in 2019?

Following is the list of players that are making most of the money in 2019. This will give you the idea about how much do online gamers earn?

• Johan Sandstein a.ka. N0tail: His total earning is about $6.89 million from the 109 tournaments he played. He is primarily a DOTA 2 player and lives in Denmark.
• Jesse Vainikka a.k.a JerAx: Age of 27 from Finland. Earned $6.49 million USD from just 64 tournaments. He is also primarily a DOTA 2 player.
• Anathan Pham a.k.a Ana: Age 20 from Australia. He earned $6 million USD from 24 DOTA 2 tournaments.
• Sebastian Debs a.k.a Cebs: Age 27 from France. He is a DOTA 2 player and earned $5.48 Million USD from 51 tournaments.
• Topias Taavitsainen a.k.a Topson: Age 21 from Finland. He is also a DOTA 2 player and earned $5.41 Million USD from 20 DOTA 2 tournaments.

Above are the highest-paid esports players. In recent years, DOTA 2 was the highest revenue-generating game and earned a lot of money for both organizers and players. The average esports player’s salary is around $50,000 per year. The professional gamer salary 2019 sometimes more than $90,000 per year.

With all that money at stake, eSports got the attention of bookmakers too. There are betting sites like Unibet where you can place a bet on every major eSports event. You can bet on a match or you can bet on the outright of competition or even on a full season. Team or individual performance, number of tournaments won and so on, there are so many options that you can bet on. Also, bookmakers started to sponsor either teams, either competition. We can expect the interest to be higher in the near future from this point of view.

How much do eSports Teams Make in 2019?

As most of the players compete in the form of teams in the tournaments, you must also know how much money teams are making collectively in the tournaments of different games.

• Team Liquid: This team was founded by Victor Goossens in 2000 and till now, it has earned the amount of $34 Million USD in 1636 tournaments. They have played multiple game tournaments including Dota, Call of Duty, Fornite, FIFA and Street Fighter.
• OG: OG by RedBull is earned $33 Million USD in 70 tournaments. This team is acquired around 70% players among the top 20 of the world ranking. They have made all this money from Dota 2 and Super Smash Bros.
• Evil Genuises: This was originally founded by the Canadian Counter-Strike team lead by Alexander Garfield in 1999. They have earned more than $23 Million USD from 805 tournaments. Primarily they have earned this money from Dota 2, Warcraft and Call of Duty.
• Fnatic: Most of the members from Sweden, is based in London and so far earned $14 Million USD from the 861 tournaments. They competed in different eSports tournaments including Battlefield 4, Call of Duty, Dota 2 and FIFA.
• Newbee: This is one of the fastest-growing team in the eSports tournaments. Most of the members are from China. So far, they have earned around $14 Million USD from 191 tournaments. Their top played tournaments are Dota 2, Fortnite, StarCarft 2 and WarCraft 3.

Most of these teams are bought or sponsored by big companies all around the world. Most of the members are salaried and being paid up to $90,000 per year.

Best Prize Awarding Games in 2019?

Yes, it’s true that through some games you can earn more as compared to the other games. A lot of factors are involved that make a game fit for competition. Some of them include Game Development company, Competition Friendly, Interest of Players, and Interest of sponsors. Although the interest of sponsors and organizers is also driven by how much game is famous among the masses.

The following are the games that have rewarded most prizes to the players and their teams in recent years and have been the most attractive for sponsors and organizers.

• Dota 2: Prize money was $219,095,635.31 in 1284 Tournaments distributed among 3532 Players.
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: Prize money was $86,385,924.64 in 4395 Tournaments distributed among 12259 Players.
• Fortnite: Prize money was $84,418,164.25 in 522 Tournaments distributed among 3242 Players.
• League of Legends: Prize money was $73,075,057.87 in 2399 Tournaments distributed among 6776 Players.
• StarCraft II: Prize money was $32,084,645.74 in 5602 Tournaments distributed among 1982 Players.

So before you decide to become an eSports player for earning money, you should check this list and decide which games you should learn and compete in.

How eSports Players Earn Money in 2019

Major Esports organizations have massive funding worth tens of billions of dollars. The aim of the article is to answer the question, how esports players earn money. To know this answer you have to keep in mind that different games and places display different setups.

Online gaming is one of the fastest-growing markets globally in media and entertainment with revenue up to 10% per year. By the year 2023, online gaming organizations are expected to generate revenue by up to $200 billion. According to Forbes evaluation, esports budget by around $890 million in 2018, and is expected to surpass $1.5 billion by the end of 2021.

These revenues include media rights, merchandise, cash prizes, tournaments, ticket sales,  advertising, and marketing. These channels are quite considerable when looking at how esports earn money. Esports organizations earn profit through these channels.

Sponsorships

Sponsorships represent a major role in earning a profit. They are the key channel for generating revenues. They are tagged on jerseys, events and even photoshoot. According to Newzoo, sponsors make up the largest portion of the revenue of around $1 billion.

Brands from every sector are entering esports. For endemic brands, sponsors have an incredible effect. Non-endemic brands sponsor esports in the same way as endemic brands. These include products, sponsorship of teams, events and marketing. Some brands sponsor leagues and events while some focuses on individual players. One of the best examples is RedBull which has done a wonderful job in attracting the audience.

The strongest and well-known sponsors include Samsung, Pepsi, Coca-cola, Toyota and HP.

Advertising

Sponsors and advertising groups work together to generate revenue. Together they make 60% of the total revenue. Highly valuable ads for esports organizations require the content viewer. Given the circumstances, TV makes only a small portion of views as compared to traditional sports. Most of the revenue is generated from ads stream online and on content. Many esports organizations require their esports players to stream also have a group of streamers who don’t ever compete.

Merchandise

Selling merchandise in traditional sports is another key channel for revenue. For big sports events, tickets are the main revenue channel.

100 Thieves founder Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag quoted ” new lifestyle company and esports organization built at the intersection of competitive gaming, entertainment, and apparel.” This is one of the examples of esports revenue business. Thieves raised a total of $35 million.

Other esports organizations also sell merchandise through tickets, jerseys, and sweatshirts. Unlike traditional sports, merchandize can be both physical and digital. In esports, an online channel is available that generates revenues.

Winning Tournaments

The final revenue channel is winning the tournament. For example Fornite Worldcup 2019, that earns a cash prize of $3 million. While the prize is distributed equally to the team.  Many big teams prefer their team in succeeding rather than to take a cut of tournament winnings.

Negotiations for sponsorship deals, ticket sales, and marketing are more valuable to the winning team to earn big money and esports organizations revenue from it.

Conclusion

As the numbers in the revenue are quite excellent, it is the growth numbers that investors are focused on. Newzoo’s $1.1 billion predictions for 2019 revenues represent a promising 25.6% year-over-year. If that growth can continue,  esports organizations will be profitable in the near future.

New brands are entering into esports every week. All these channels provide a staggering platform for the esports industry and making bottom lines across the industry better.