Beyond the field — how sports clubs are opening up new horizons through esports

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From the Olympics to the UEFA Champions League, sports is one of the largest broadcasting industries across the globe. It began over 100 years ago with radio casts, and the industry has continued to grow and evolve every decade. Nowadays, the age of the internet is fully underway, and fewer young people are watching television broadcasts. Sports clubs need to evolve their methods to continue to raise brand awareness among the younger generations, who prefer to spend their time on the internet.

The answer for many sports clubs across the globe as to how to reach younger generations is simple: esports. Esports has been around for a while, but it truly started reaching mainstream popularity in the 2010s with the advancement of live streaming platforms. The live broadcasts of the events helped realise the true potential of the new industry, as event organisers began to see hundreds of thousands of viewers tune in. 

At the recent League of Legends World Championship 2023, which became the most popular esports event of all time, PSG Talon competed on the world stage for millions to see. The roster is a partnership of the Hong Kong’s Talon Esports organisation and the French football club Paris Saint-Germain; the team is one of the most immediately recognisable entrances into esports from a sports club with a brand as well-known as PSG, but they are not the only one. In fact, they were not even the only sports club-affiliated team at Worlds 2023.

Established sports clubs expanding into esports

PSG Esports

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. is likely one of the best-known names in football around the globe nowadays. The Parisian team are one of France’s most successful clubs and often competes on the international stage at the highest level. PSG Esports was founded in 2016, and they continue to uphold the strong competitive reputation of PSG around the globe in various esports disciplines. 

Over the years, PSG has nearly perfected their utilisation of esports. In 2016, they began their esports journey by competing in EA Sports FC, previously known as FIFA, and found great success. The PSG Esports team won multiple world championships and various prestigious events, but their success wasn’t equal in all disciplines of esports.

  PSG Esports' most-watched teams by Hours Watched, collaborative teams included  

Around the same time they entered EA Sports FC, PSG Esports began preparing for competition in League of Legends. They created a roster for the European regional competitions, aiming to enter the top-level LEC competition. After two unsuccessful attempts at qualifying, they withdrew from League of Legends for the time being. Critically, PSG learnt an important lesson about establishing themselves in esports that would benefit them for years down the line.

When PSG returned to League of Legends in 2020, they signed a multi-year partnership agreement with the already-established organisation Talon Esports, forming the team now known as PSG Talon. Talon had already achieved success in the Pacific region, and with the force of PSG behind them they continued their domination. Since PSG Talon formed, the team has won 6 Splits of the Pacific Championship Series and competed in front of millions at multiple Worlds events.

While taking a break from League of Legends, PSG expanded their esports organisation to Dota 2, partnering with the Chinese-based organisation LGD Gaming. LGD Gaming had almost a decade of experience in esports at the time, and by collaborating with the established organisation PSG did not have to worry about building a successful esports team from the ground up.

PSG.LGD ran as a successful collaboration from two different sides of the globe between 2018 and 2023. During this period, PSG.LGD dominated the Chinese Dota 2 scene, winning everything the Dota Pro Circuit China had to offer in the 2021/2022 season, not to mention multiple Major championships, and appearing at two The International Finals. For their 2nd place finish at The International 2021, PSG.LGD took home over $5.2M in prize money.

Nadia Benmokhtar, Head of Brand Development at PSG, discussed the partnership between PSG and Talon Esports, commenting:

“Esports remains a core pillar of our brand diversification strategy and this partnership further strengthens our visibility in key markets and in front of non-traditional football audiences globally” - Nadia Benmokhtar

  PSG Talon's roster representing the PSG logo and colours in League of Legends, via PSG Talon  

PSG Esports’ return to League of Legends and expansion to Dota 2 highlighted two of the key new philosophies of the organisation. Firstly, by partnering with established and successful esports organisations, PSG Esports was more likely to experience competitive success in esports, important for the brand’s optics. Secondly, esports is a global industry and PSG Esports could leverage this by signing players from around the globe to improve their brand reach. PSG Esports has signed teams from Europe, the Middle East, mainland China, and Southeast Asia.

PSG in Esports

In 2021, PSG Esports recognised the growing opportunity that is mobile gaming esports, and expanded into Arena of Valor: one of the most popular mobile gaming MOBA titles in Asia. PSG’s roster has struggled to achieve competitive success in the discipline, but nevertheless, the Arena of Valor team exposes PSG to a brand-new demographic of mobile gaming enthusiasts. 

PSG Esports has hundreds of thousands of followers on various social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Their largest following is found on Chinese social media platform Weibo. In 2020, PSG Esports celebrated passing 2M Followers on the platform, partially thanks to their collaboration with the Chinese LGD Esports organisation. 

PSG Esports currently competes in EA Sports FC, Dota 2 (as PSG Quest), League of Legends (as PSG Talon), Arena of Valor, and has previously competed in Brawl Stars, Rocket League, FIFA Online, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, often simply called Wolves, is a historic English football club that is almost 150 years old. The club originally entered esports through EA Sports FC (FIFA) as most football clubs do, but has since delved into esports disciplines from many genres and countries in pursuit of the brand’s expansion.

In 2016, Wolves’ parent company was acquired by a Chinese group, Fosun International, and this led to them signing many Chinese esports teams. Later in 2021, they acquired a Chinese esports organisation, expanding their esports competitions. Wolves Esports competes with Chinese rosters in the esports disciplines Naraka: Bladepoint, Arena of Valor, Identity V, and PUBG Mobile.

  Wolves Esports competes in some of the largest esports disciplines from around the globe  

Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends and Valorant, introduced franchised leagues to their esports scenes in 2018. Teams would pay a large entry sum to own a franchised spot in the league, compete with no fear of regulation, and be ensured consistent brand exposure to the esports audience. Recently, Riot Games announced they would expand their regional leagues in Valorant to China, with 10 new franchised teams announced. 

Wolves Esports were confirmed as one of these ten teams, meaning they will be competing in the Chinese Valorant scene for years to come. The Valorant Champions Tour is an exciting prospect for any team willing to franchise. The league does not charge entry fees, as Riot Games is more focused on getting a healthy esports scene established for their title, and they support the franchised teams with stipends and money from cosmetic sales. This is huge for Wolves Esports’ brand exposure and awareness in the Chinese market.

Prior to acquiring their franchised spot, Wolves partnered with Evil Geniuses, one of the oldest and most recognisable teams from North America,  to help both organisations rise to the top. Wolves Esports helped Evil Geniuses in their expansion to the Chinese market, and Evil Geniuses would feature the Wolves Esports logo on their jerseys, exposing Wolves to a new North American audience. At the time, Evil Geniuses was competing in Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2, and CS:GO. In this announcement, Wolves’ parent company Fosun International valued Evil Geniuses at $255,000,000 USD.

  Evil Geniuses are the Valorant 2023 World Champions, pictured with their trophy and Wolves' yellow logo on their shirts  

Whereas PSG boasts a range of esports teams competing at the highest level of their respective discipline, Wolves has a wildly comprehensive collection of esports rosters, covering some of the most popular disciplines from Europe, China, and the rest of Asia. The Wolves brand name has expanded into China and Asia in a way that their English Premier League team could never manage on its own. 

PSG is a global brand name established through their massive football success, and yet Wolves Wanderers, a football club which has faced relegation and hardship in the lower tiers of English football, can achieve similar brand exposure in esports. The turning point for Wolves Wanderers was being acquired by Fosun International, which brought a return to the Premier League for the team and their expansion into esports.

Esports investments

Naturally, launching an entire esports organisation to compete across the globe in numerous disciplines is no small task. While PSG and Wolves are just two examples of sports clubs to have accomplished this task, other clubs have pursued a different approach, by investing in esports organisations rather than launching their own.

In 2018, SK Gaming was the top-ranked organisation in CS:GO by HLTV.org and was one of the hottest names in esports. Not only had SK Gaming been achieving international success with their CS:GO team in the short term, but this was the culmination of over 20 years of experience as an esports organisation. Early in the year, 1. FC Köln of Cologne announced their partnership with SK Gaming, providing their facilities, experts, and more for the esports organisation. SK Gaming’s FIFA players also competed in 1. FC Köln jerseys, giving the German football club some additional exposure to a new gaming demographic.

  SK Gaming and 1. FC Köln announcing their partnership  

The Managing Director of the football club explained that 1. FC Köln was not interested in copying existing ventures of other clubs, but would rather develop the right strategy for the market. He was perhaps referring to PSG Esports, or FC Schalke 04 Esports, the esports division of another German club which at the time competed in the highest tier of European League of Legends competition, the LEC. Schalke sold their LEC spot in 2021 to Team BDS for €26.5M, making them a €18.5M profit considering they reportedly paid €8M for their LEC entrance fee in 2019.

The Cologne-based football club was not the first sports club to invest in esports in this manner. In 2017, AS Roma announced a partnership with Fnatic, an esports organisation with 7 LEC titles in League of Legends, 3 Major victories in CS:GO, and over a decade of esports experience at the time. AS Roma was not alone in their investment in Fnatic, both the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors NBA teams invested at the same time. In total, this deal raised over $7,000,000 USD for Fnatic.

In 2022, Fnatic published a whitepaper covering the ROI of esports, particularly the ROI of investing in Fnatic. The whitepaper claimed that the average Return on Media Investment for sponsoring the esports organisation was 450% higher in comparison to sponsorship of high-profile traditional sports teams. It also elaborated that esports is a growing industry and is driven by young, tech-savvy individuals who can be hard to reach with targeted advertising. Not only that, the paper claimed esports fans are perceptive to advertising, citing increases in brand preference for Fnatic’s partners, and positive sentiment among esports fans to advertising.

  Fnatic's CS:GO team in early 2019 featuring many sponsors on their kit  

Golden Guardians is a North American esports organisation owned by the Golden State Warriors, a professional basketball team from San Francisco. In 2018, they were one of the four new teams to join the North American League of Legends Championship Series as a franchised team. The next year, they expanded into Apex Legends, World of Warcraft, and Teamfight Tactics. 

The Golden Guardians team was still staying strong in League of Legends, having finished 2nd in the recent LCS 2023 Spring Split. Golden Guardians just recently left the LCS, after being offered $6M in cash by Riot Games to give up their franchised spot. Riot Games was looking to downsize the league and offered all 10 teams the deal. Only 6 were open to talks, and eventually, Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses decided to take the deal.

Around the same time the Golden Guardians entered League of Legends, the Overwatch League was beginning. The Overwatch League featured franchised teams based out of various cities, and Blizzard expressed their wishes to adopt a competitive model similar to the American NFL. 

  The Golden Guardians 2018 League of Legends team were introduced at a Golden State Warriors home game  

Many of the teams in the Overwatch League were owned by companies that have their own traditional sports teams. For example, Seoul Infernal is owned by Comcast Spectacor, which also owns various professional ice hockey teams, and T1: the most popular League of Legends team in the world. The Vancouver Titans were owned by Canucks Sports & Entertainment, who own the Vancouver Canucks ice hockey team. This merge of esports and traditional sports companies would continue in the Call of Duty League.

The CDL saw more companies with traditional sports holdings join the fray. The Boston Breach team was launched by the Kraft Group, who own the New England Patriots American football team, as well as the New England Revolution football team. The Kraft Group also were involved with the Overwatch League, founding the Boston Uprising team. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is similar, hosting the Los Angeles Guerrillas in CDL, the Los Angeles Gladiators in the Overwatch League, and sports teams such as the Los Angeles Rams, Arsenal F.C., and the Denver Nuggets.

Individual investments in esports

Many sports clubs and investment groups have dipped their toes into esports, but investments are not restricted to clubs or organisations. Many famous sports stars have established themselves in the esports scene by themselves, often focusing on using their personal brand to boost awareness for their esports organisation as it gets off the ground.

In 2016, Shaquille O'Neal, a famed basketball star, invested in NRG with Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins, two professional baseball players. NRG compete at the top professional level in multiple esports disciplines; they are most well known for their League of Legends and Counter-Strike teams. Shaq is a famously savvy investor, having previously invested in Lyft and Ring, the latter of which was eventually acquired by Amazon.com Inc. for $1 billion USD. The sports star trio acquired a stake in NRG, whereas other sports stars have established their own teams or acquired existing ones.

Good luck boys @NRGgg! Me and @thegeneralauto are rooting for you. Bring home the W. pic.twitter.com/4mS7cYqMv2

— SHAQ (@SHAQ) August 8, 2022

Shaquille O'Neal showing his support for NRG

Guild Esports PLC is a UK-based esports company co-owned by David Beckham, the star English footballer. It was the first-ever esports company to be publicly traded in the UK. The organisation found success in Fortnite, with Hen signed to the team winning the FNCS Grand Royale 2021 Europe. In an ironic role reversal, Guild Esports announced a partnership with Finn Harps FC in 2021, and Guild Esports became the football club’s main sponsor. In 2022, Guild Esports began exiting from Valorant and some of their players were acquired by KOI, another team co-owned by a representative of the football industry. 

KOI is a Spanish team that competed in various disciplines such as League of Legends, Valorant, and more. It was created by live streaming star Ibai and former Barcelona football player Gerard Piqué, who also collaborate on Kings League, a seven-a-side football league with a focus on content and featuring internet celebrities.

In 2022, KOI entered a partnership with Rogue, acquiring their team which would compete under KOI’s banner from then on. After a rough 2023, KOI ended their partnership with Rogue’s parent company Infinite Realm, with Rogue retaining the team’s spot in the LEC. KOI will continue to compete, with the esports organisation still fielding a VCT EMEA Valorant team, FIFAe, and their LVP SuperLiga spot.

KRÜ Esports is a true up-and-coming team in various disciplines, the most popular of which being their Valorant roster. The organisation was founded in 2020 with Sergio Agüero as a founder, the retired footballer began streaming on Twitch in 2020 and quickly reached 1M Followers and joined the esports community. The esports organisation has a strong focus on content creation, with over 800K Followers on TikTok and active accounts on various other platforms. 

  Messi joins KRÜ Esports as a co-owner, via KRÜ Esports on Twitter  

The team has made it to the Valorant Champions event three years in a row, and their most successful result came at the 2021 event where they finished in the top 4. In late 2023, KRÜ Esports announced Lionel Messi as a co-owner, a huge move for the esports organisation. Messi is one of the most recognisable names in the world, and he now co-owns an Argentinian esports team.

The list of footballers involved in the esports scene goes on and on. Virgil Van Dijk is a shareholder of the organisation Tundra, Casimiro created his own organisation Case Esports, Ruud Gullit founded the esports academy Team Gullit, and Thibaut Courtois has invested in DUX Gaming. The list goes on and on.

Why invest in esports?

The aforementioned whitepaper published by Fnatic is an interesting look into the data of ROI on esports investments. For many sports clubs, esports represents a way to grow brand awareness with a demographic that can be hard to reach. Many younger people online run adblockers, and by establishing your own esports team sports clubs can directly expose their brand to younger generations.

By expanding into esports, sports clubs also expand their horizons for sponsorship opportunities. Monster Energy is a well-known sports sponsor, but historically the company has kept to sponsoring extreme sports and motorsport events. Monster Energy was a well-known F1 brand, sponsoring Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport as they competed against main rivals Red Bull Racing. Monster Energy broke into the esports scene by sponsoring the North American organisation Evil Geniuses, and in 2018, they signed a one-year partnership with PSG Esports.

After working with PSG Esports, Monster Energy partnered with Wolves in 2021. Critically, this deal affected not only Wolves Esports but also the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Wolves entering esports presented them a unique opportunity for a partnership with a company that in the past has not been heavily involved in football sponsorship.

Esports as a growing industry is a golden opportunity for many sports clubs. The industry is young, healthy, and relatively cheap when compared to some traditional sports. Fnatic claims that esports is a wildly profitable industry to invest in, and by the pure amount of investments coming into the scene in recent years they seem to be on the right track.

Sports clubs are establishing teams, signing rosters, and competing at the top level in esports. With Esports Charts, users can stay on track of the top teams from around the world, as well as analyse their popularity, exposure, and viewership on a tournament-by-tournament basis. Visit our pricing page to browse our various subscription models available, or contact us for our custom solutions for enterprises.