Creator-owned teams were once seen as a potential pathway for esports to escape its reliance on sponsorship revenue. But as the business model matures, it’s become clear that creator ownership is just a particularly effective way to get brands’ attention — not a panacea for the industry’s ills.
Although prominent esports teams such as 100 Thieves have been partially owned and led by creators in the past, the last few years have seen the rise of a new type of creator-owned esports organization.
As these creator-owned esports teams have entered the conversation, they’ve sparked speculation that they might be better insulated from the cold of last year’s so-called “esports winter” than their more traditional competitors. The idea was that creator-owned esports orgs would be able to withstand periods of low sponsorship interest without having to lay off staff or cut talent due to being the passion projects of influencers with pre-existing access to millions of dollars in sponsorship and subscription revenue.
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