How Much Do Esports Teams Pay Their Players?

A recent study found that the average esports player earned $5.5K in 2018, but the top 10% of earners made $56K. How much do teams pay their players?

How Much Do Esports Teams Pay Their Players?

A recent study found that the average esports player earned $5.5K in 2018, but the top 10% of earners made $56K. How much do teams pay their players?

Salaries by Game

While there are a few games that have yet to establish themselves in the esports industry, there are several games that have large followings and have been played professionally for years. The most popular games in esports are Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Call of Duty. These games have the largest player bases, the most established teams, and the biggest prize pools.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Esports is a quickly growing industry with no signs of slowing down. In fact, the global esports market is expected to reach $1.79 billion by 2022! With such a large and rapidly growing industry, it’s no surprise that salaries for professional esports players are also on the rise. So, how much do esports teams pay their players?

Well, it depends on the game. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular esports games with a large professional scene. Professional CS:GO teams typically have 5 players and 1 coach on their roster. The average salary for a CS:GO player in 2018 was $60,000 per year. However, salaries can vary widely depending on the team’s organization, country, and tournament results. For example, the top CS:GO team in the world, Astralis, consists of mostly Danish players and their 2018 earnings totaled over $2 million!

Dota 2

Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a “hero”, who all have unique abilities and different styles of play. During a match, players collect experience points and items for their heroes in order to successfully defeat the opposing team’s heroes in player versus player combat. A team wins by being the first to destroy the other team’s “Ancient”, a large structure located within their base.

The game has been updated numerous times since its release, with the current version being 7.27d. The base prize pool for The International 2019, Dota 2’s annual championship tournament, was $34 million; making it the largest single sports prize pool ever.

The average salary for a professional Dota 2 player in 2018 was $316,000 USD.

League of Legends

The minimum salary for a League of Legends player is $50,000 USD per year. The average League of Legends salary is $120,000 USD per year. The highest earners in League of Legends make over $1 million USD per year.

Salaries by Team

Teams in the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League offer top salaries to their players, with some professionals earning more than $1 million a year. Most players in these leagues earn a salary of between $50,000 and $80,000, with a few earning less than $50,000 and a handful earning more than $100,000.

Cloud9

As of 2019, the average salary for a professional esports player is $60,000 per year. The top tier teams will have players that make over $1 million per year. Here is a breakdown of the average salaries by team for some of the most popular games.

Cloud9:
-League of Legends: $105,000
– Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: $101,060
– Overwatch: $97,450

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses is one of the oldest and most well-known North American esports organisations. They play host to teams across a range of games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Halo 5: Guardians and more.

Their CS:GO team is currently made up of Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik, Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold, Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte, Cvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov and Collin ‘wrath’ McSweegan. The team is coached by Chet ‘ImAPet’ Singh.

In 2018, the Evil Geniuses CS:GO team won $1,000,000 after taking first place at the FACEIT London Major. The winnings were split between the five players and their coach, with each player taking home $200,000 and ImAPet receiving $100,000.

FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan is an American professional esports organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The organization was founded as a gaming clan on YouTube in 2010. FaZe Clan fields teams in many different games, most prominently Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, and Fortnite Battle Royale.

As of May 2019, salaries for FaZe Clan were estimated to range from $1,000 to $5,000 per month.

Salaries by Player

Players on an esports team are often talented individuals who have put in countless hours of work to get to where they are. So, how much do these dedicated players get paid? Salaries for esports players can vary greatly depending on several factors. The most important factor is usually the game that the team is playing. For example, teams that compete in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments generally have lower salaries than teams in League of Legends.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins

As of 2019, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is the highest-paid professional gamer in the world. He brings in approximately $500,000 per month from sponsorships and advertisements. He also earns a significant income from Twitch subscriptions and YouTube ad revenue.

Turner “Tfue” Tenney

Turner “Tfue” Tenney is an American professional Fortnite Battle Royale player. He is considered one of the best players in North America and often participates in tournaments. Turner’s Twitch account currently has over 7 million followers and he is signed to FaZe Clan. In 2019, it was reported that Turner earned $1 million from tournament winnings and Twitch sponsorships.

Mike “Shroud” Grzesiek

One of the most popular and well-known Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players, Shroud is a Canadian who currently plays for Cloud9. He started his professional career in 2014, and has since won numerous tournaments, including two Major Championships. Shroud is also a former Halo player, and was part of the team that won the Halo World Championship in 2016.

As of 2019, Shroud’s estimated net worth is $4 million USD, which includes prize money earned from tournaments, as well as his salary and sponsorships. His salary with Cloud9 is unknown, but according to data from Esportsearnings.com, the average CS:GO player earns around $60,000 USD per year. Given Shroud’s popularity and success, it’s likely that he earns significantly more than the average player.