The North American eSports business is in a sorry state according to a streamer who’s spending $1 million on a team.
As reported by PC Gamer, streamer Jeremy Wang (better known as Disguised Toast) released a video outlining why “the eSports industry is one of the worst things you can get into”.
Wang founded a Valorant team called DSG in January and later added a League of Legends squad to the roster. Five months in and Wang was told he was set to lose $1 million within the first year, twice what he initially expected to spend.
“If you look at any eSports org in North America, all of them are either broke or going broke. And I do mean all of them.”
There’s little hope of making any money from the team, Wang said. “[My accountant] sent over this spreadsheet with all these red numbers, and I noted in the revenue section [that] it was blocked out,” he explained. “I asked him, ‘Why’d you block it out?’ He said, ‘Well, it’s not blocked out, there’s just nothing there. You’re not making any money.’ “
Wang said it’s not just an issue for his team either. “If you look at any eSports org in North America, all of them are either broke or going broke. And I do mean all of them,” he said.
“Some orgs will try and put on a front and say, ‘Hey, we’re still good, we look good, everything’s cool here.’ Trust me when I say, everyone is losing a lot of money. A lot of people are being fired. No org is safe right now.”
Companies are no longer interested in sponsoring eSports teams either, according to Wang, after being sold on exposure deals that haven’t came to fruition. “Brands are scared of eSports because they invested millions and millions into it, and they never got any significant return,” he said.
Wang plans to turn to Patreon and high quality merchandise to dig himself out the $1 million hole his team is currently in, though joked he may be making a video in another few months saying he’d now spent $2 million.
For more on eSports, check out IGN’s League of Legends Worlds 2022 coverage and our favourite moments from throughout the playoffs.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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