DOTA 2 and CS:GO are two of the most popular eSports in existence, and both of them have been created by Valve. There will not be many out there who disagree with us when we say that both these eSports are the best games in their category. CS:GO is the best first-person shooter game, while Dota 2 is the best Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game. In the following article, we are going to look at how companies like Valve make money from their competitive eSports as well as the best players for both eSports.
How Do eSports Companies Such as Valve Make Their Money?
Valve has an estimated value of more than $10 billion, which is mightily impressive when you consider the fact that in 2012 they were worth just under $3 billion. So, in less than a decade they have managed to triple their value, which is something that they should be mightily proud of. But how did they do this? How do they make all this money? Well, this is what we are going to take a closer look at right now.
Sponsorships and Advertisements
Orgnizations such as Valve and Team Liquid all get a lot of sponsorships from different big companies. These huge companies not only bring a lot of attention to the organization, but to the eSports scene as well. All the organizations sign deals with a variety of sponsors to fund their teams and in return they will get a lot of advertisement on team attire and gaming equipment. Some of the big sponsors include the likes of Red Bull, Microsoft, Monster Energy, Honda, and BMW.
While the organizations get plenty of money from their sponsors, it is safe to say that the sponsors get their fair share too. For example, in 2019 the eSports community raked in $1.1 billion, and the sponsors walked away with around $456 million.
Ticket Sales
Just like with any other sporting event, organizations make plenty of money from selling tickets. Live tournaments for eSports range in attendance size between 10-15 thousand, while the majority of fans watch the action online. However, depending on the eSport event that is taking place, the number of people in attendance can be really high.
For example, at the League of Legends World Championship in 2017 in Beijing, there were around 80 thousand people with about 90 million people watching on the Internet. Also, a DOTA 2 Championship in 2017 in Seattle saw just over 50 thousand people attend, while around one million people watched online.
Merchandising
Football teams sell merchandise to their fans to make money, and eSports organizations are no different. Fans of eSports can go to the website of their favorite team and buy a variety of clothing and other great accessories. One thing that is unique to eSports merchandising is that they have merchandise available to buy in the actual game. Fans of eSports such as CS:GO and DOTA 2 can buy in-game skins to show support for the team that they support. Those who play these games can also buy a variety of weapons to enhance their playing experience.
To give you a good idea as to how much money organizations can make from in-game purchases, in 2017 Activision-Blizzard had a yearly revenue of around eight billion dollars, and just over half of this revenue came from in-game purchases.
Media Rights
While there are fans that buy tickets and watch eSports in person, most viewers will stay at home and watch the action unfold online. Therefore, having the rights to broadcast or stream the huge eSports tournaments is vital to make money. This means that eSports organizations have to negotiate with broadcasting and streaming services so that they can reach cable and online viewers.
Most organizations will be required to sign contracts with streaming services in order to get their eSports events broadcasted. The most popular streaming service out there is Twitch, which is owned by Amazon. In September of 2020, there were more than 7 million streamers on Twitch, and fans watched more than 1.5 million hours of content. All the money that is earned from online viewers is split between the streaming services, the eSports organizations, and the sponsors.
Best CS:GO Players
Now that we have explained some of the ways that eSports organizations can make money, we are now going to take a look at some of the best Counterstrike players. Whenever you are doing a spot of CS GO betting, we recommend that you pay attention to the following players. If they are participating at an event that you want to bet on, you should bet on the team that they are playing for – they are just that good.
S1mple
Aleksandr Kostyliev, known to Counter Strike: Global Offensive fans as S1mple, is extremely talented and is one of the best CS:GO players the world has seen. He had an excellent 2019 and 2020, and he has been one of the standout CS:GO players in 2021. What makes him so good is his deadly aim as well as his aggressive playstyle. Even though you can sometimes tell what he is going to do, stopping him from doing it is usually pretty much impossible. He is the type of player that everyone wants on their team.
Ropz
When Karrigans left Mousesports, many eSports fans started to write them off and predicted that they would soon crumble. However, this did not happen because Ropz stepped up to the plate and delivered – he is now the soul of the team and carries them on his own. The thing that makes Ropz so good is the fact that he performs so well when under pressure. It is safe to say that he has ice running through his veins, and he is so good that he can turn any team from average to world beaters.
JW
Jesper Wecksell, known simply as JW, is a Swedish eSports player that is well known for being very good at CS:GO. He is really entertaining to watch thanks to his aggressive style of play. You have those players who are more than happy to sit back and take players out by surprise, but JW likes to take it to his opponents. To date, he has won close to $1 million in prize money, and since he is only 26, he has plenty of time left to add to that figure.
Best DOTA 2 Players
We have had a look at some of the best CS:GO players above, and now we shall now take a look at some of the best DOTA 2 players.
N0tail
Johan Sundstein, known as BigDaddy, is one of the best DOTA 2 players ever. Yeah, this is a bold statement to make, but when you look at the facts, it cannot really be denied. He helped his team, OG, claim The International title in 2018 and 2019, and he has won dozens of trophies since he claimed his first tournament win back in 2012. He has no fewer than four DOTA 2 Majors to his name. Over the course of his eSports career, he has claimed close to $7 million in prize money.
KuroKy
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi is without doubt a DOTA 2 genius. His understanding of strategies, drafts, and his leadership skills makes him one of the best DOTA 2 captains ever. If you think that the $7 million that N0tail has earned during his career is out of this world, then you will probably be surprised to find out that KuroKy has earned even more. He won The International title in 2017 when his team, Team Liquid, beat Newbee in the final.
Insania
Aydin Sarkohi, known as iNSaNiA, is a Swedish DOTA 2 player who is the Team Liquid captain, but he made a name for himself by playing for Alliance. He is the one responsible for calling the shots during a game and for working out what strategies their opponents are using so that they can counter them. He is one of those DOTA 2 players that sees the eSport from a different perspective, which is the reason why he is one of the greatest supports in the game.
eSports Betting
Betting on eSports is something that used to be a niche market, but this is now no longer the case. Now you can find markets for a variety of eSports at any sports betting site that is serious about what they do. While betting on traditional sports is more popular than betting on eSports at the moment, that could all change within the next couple of years.
It has been predicted that by 2023, there will be around 650 million eSports fans. This means that there will be more fans of eSports than other traditional sports such as American football (400 million), golf (450 million), and baseball (500 million). Then, if the popularity of eSports continue to grow at the same rate, then in a decade they could have more fans than the likes of volleyball (900 million) and tennis (1 billion).
If these predictions come true, then it is not too far-fetched for us to say that eSports betting is a pastime that will overtake sports betting in terms of revenue.
