---
title: 'The Truth About Esports Orgs and How They Make Money'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=EAb4xdLFvtc'
video_id: 'EAb4xdLFvtc'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 476
---

# The Truth About Esports Orgs and How They Make Money

> Source: [The Truth About Esports Orgs and How They Make Money](https://youtube.com/watch?v=EAb4xdLFvtc)

## Summary

Esports organizations struggle to make money, often relying on side businesses and sponsorships rather than the esports teams themselves. The lack of media rights revenue, high player salaries, and difficulty retaining fan loyalty make profitability elusive.

### Key Points

- **Esports orgs' financial struggles** [0:00] — Many esports orgs fail or merge to survive; during COVID, they relied on cash injections.
- **Revenue sources for esports orgs** [0:13] — Orgs make money through side businesses (merch, games, drinks) where the esports team acts as a marketing engine. Examples: TSM's Blitz app, Team Liquid's Liquipedia.
- **High player salaries** [1:31] — Player salaries are exorbitant, making it hard to break even without a die-hard audience or gambling sponsors, especially in games like Counter-Strike.
- **Lack of media rights revenue** [2:48] — Unlike traditional sports, esports lacks substantial TV/streaming rights deals. Media rights are a major revenue source for traditional sports but not for esports.
- **Roster instability and fan loyalty** [3:25] — Esports orgs struggle with fan loyalty due to constant roster changes, unlike traditional sports where star players can anchor a fanbase for life.
- **Publisher deals not flowing to teams** [4:40] — Streaming rights deals (e.g., Activision with YouTube) go to publishers, not teams, providing little direct revenue to orgs.
- **Optimism for the future** [5:03] — Despite challenges, esports orgs have large audiences (e.g., 250k viewers per match), suggesting value that will eventually be monetized.

### Conclusion

Esports organizations face unique financial challenges due to lack of media rights, high costs, and roster instability, but their large viewership suggests untapped potential for future monetization.

## Transcript

Esports organ orgs have a lot of history
of failing or needing to make mergers to
stay alive um how I guess first of all
can you explain to the people how
Esports orgs make money just in general
yeah so a lot of them have a tough time
making money and throughout the covid
years A lot of them were only making
money through cash injections right um
so a lot of these guys are trying to
make money through not the actual
Esports business but businesses which
are to
to set Esports business right you see
that the Hun thieves they're trying to
push their merch at one point trying to
push a game and also trying to push a
drink um and so a lot of these companies
I would say are trying to figure out how
many companies can we center around
Esports being the marketing engine for
um so you have TSM who has several
companies underneath them and they
actually make a decent chunk of change
despite and even then how many layoffs
they have had right I believe it's the
blitz app that that they own which is
one of their one of their biggest uh
forms of Revenue you look at Team Liquid
with liquipedia and and other things so
there aren't a lot of ways for Esports
teams to actually make money uh to begin
with right outside of their sponsors
whether it be peripherals and drinks and
all that so a lot of them are trying to
make these side companies where their
Esports team then becomes the marketing
arm for fores said project uh so as it
sounds it's pretty freaking difficult
unless you have a DieHard audience right
to to break even especially because
these player salaries are so exorbitant
even even still to this day it's
unfathomable how expensive it is to get
into an esport like Counter Strike like
unless you have a big gambling sponsor
you can't really be in Counterstrike
right now and the same could be said for
a lot of Esports that don't offer enough
Revenue to suffice for paying for top
for top people long story short it is
incredibly difficult I think everyone is
still trying to figure it out and we a
few mantle pieces right now in Esports
that are doing a good job but it's not
going to be good enough so everyone's
everyone's chasing each other and why do
you think it is so hard like why can't
it be more how traditional companies who
rely on Impressions make money with just
traditional sponsorships and things like
that why do you think they have to go
the route of creating their own kind of
companies so that they can use the the
Esports team as a marketing arm where
other traditional companies who rely on
Impressions don't have to go that route
yeah and I just want to stress this is
my opinion all right I'm I'm a dumb guy
so I'm not a CEO over there I I've met a
lot of these guys they are freaking
smart people and I am sure that they
will figure this out over the next 10
years and the market will continue to
change um uh but like it's not like
traditional Sports you don't have tv/
streaming rights to really back in the
entire process so you look at the Dallas
Cowboys or any NFL team how much they're
making off of media rights is
insane no Esports team has that ability
so it's
like I I don't I remember looking it up
a while back but how many billions in
media rights these Sports comp these
sports teams get Esports doesn't have
those kind of numbers to back itself so
we're left to find these other these
other avenues which are very difficult
and it's it's just so I'm sure other
people are going to have thoughts on
this but it's so difficult to attach to
an Esports team when you're constantly
changing rosters and you have multiple
osters if you're a fan of the Dallas
Cowboys they can lock down a quarterback
and they can have you as a fan for life
if you are an Esports organization that
means you need to keep your scump
Forever you need to keep NAD shot
forever you need to keep double lift oh
wait he wants to go somewhere else okay
so do his fans so it's so much harder
for an Esports team who is spread out
across multiple Sports compared to a big
big conglomerate who gets media rights
so I think the big defining factor for
me is those media rights and I'm sure
there's a lot more intricate details
there but yeah I mean Esports teams had
to figure out so many things that are
just new yeah and I don't know a lot
about the business side of it like I
mean I have a business background um
myself but like in terms of like how
Esports makes money and things like that
I haven't looked into it a ton but it
just seems like the opportunity should
be there like you know like you said
like Fox pays the NFL x amount of
dollars and that money is distributed
through you know to all the teams teams
based on all the deals that they've made
is is is Esports not making those kind
of deals with YouTube or twitch or
anything like that for like the rights
to stream those or is that just not how
it works right now well they were but it
was going to the freaking Publishers or
devs so like Activision is making a deal
with YouTube and they're taking that
money and maybe that sprinkles across
the teams right but I don't think it's a
substantial amount also I mean we're
Gamers we don't like paying for things
twitch has been free for a decade plus
yeah YouTube as well we can just watch
an ad and then watch the entire season
so so um yeah I don't know where this
goes I mean at the end of the day when I
talk to owners occasionally or see them
at events I'm always reassured because
hey these guys have a million followers
on Twitter and 200k on Instagram and
when they play a match of whatever game
whether it's Call of Duty Counter Strike
League of Legends there's a quarter
million people watching and so somebody
out there when the time comes they will
find a way to be like there is value in
that because most TV shows you keep on
scrolling by they don't have a quar
million viewers no so I think a lot of
this is grass's greener mentality of
these teams are trying to figure things
out but they're also trying to survive
long enough where the industry finds it
out for them and we will see however
many couple dozen orgs are still left
and how this industry shifts with them
yeah and I think I'm in agreement with
you like there there's the viewers I
mean they're getting more viewers than a
lot of TV shows that are still going on
so there has to be a path to financial
stability and Esports and they're just
so young that they're just obviously
still trying to figure it out yeah all
right Jake when you're not working I
think you talked a little about working
out it's a big part of what you do when
you're not working but you know what
what do you do when you're not working
yeah I mean I I definitely uh not only
do I really enjoy working out I'm very
uh OCD about it uh it's become a a main
stay of like mental health yeah uh for
sure so if anyone doesn't work out I
mean I've been like we've said a JV
athlete my entire life but it's been a
really big like way for me to escape to
have my own time and like I think
physical fitness is a is a big thing for
me of like even if things aren't going
well at work I can look forward to a
workout so being in shape has always
been a pretty big thing for me mentally
and so I've been doing it ever since I
moved out on my own it's been a kind of
a reoccurring thing so I'll probably I
work out probably four or five times a
week it's not too hard I I definitely
have my free time to myself
and then in other free time I'm gaming
dude I'm watching I'm watching streams
like I told you earlier I'm watching
every interview like I I'll watch
interviews twice I I just love hearing
everyone's perspectives and almost
getting to know how people think through
interviews and I'll even watching your
stuff I'll take inspiration of like that
was a freaking good question and that
was a great answer so I'm always trying
to take things in and um I guess when
it's when it's work I've always looked
at that of like if I'm playing a video
game but I watching a stream I'm working
a little bit because I'm listening I'm
waiting for a clip or I'm I'm learning
about people so again long story short
working out playing video games hanging
with my
girlfriend binging TV shows there a
couple couple drinks here and there man
thank you guys so much for watching this
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