Investing in esports
Having opened North Carolina Esports Academy in October 2022 and establishing myself as an esports expert, I have had many business people and investors approach me about creating a professional esports organization. Today, I want to share a little bit behind-the-scenes and how we at North Carolina Esports Academy seek to make a difference.
Businesses and investors see a glimpse of the large team houses, million-dollar prize pools, and stadiums with 20,000 fans. Therefore, they make an assumption that the esports industry makes a lot of money and could become an investment opportunity.
Poor business models
In my experience, after talking to them for a few minutes, they lose interest. Why? When someone takes a look at a public esports company, they will see as much as 8 figures worth of losses, and I then explain how the industry is not profitable. The esports industry is more of a hobby than a business.
The esports industry is very similar to the tech industry such as everyone comes up with an idea, raises money, and loses a lot of it. Enthusiast Gaming recorded a sizable loss of $41.6m. Read more about the losses of esports orgs here.
Mark Cuban was once so excited to invest in esports, and then a year later he was saying esports is a terrible investment. Unfortunately, most of these organizations are run by people with little or no financial or business experience. On the other hand, the investors assume that they know what they are doing because they think they understand the industry.
I can see why because people are very impressed with the amount of knowledge I have when it comes to esports. Partly due to the fact that I as well have made the mistake of investing the wrong way. For example, I followed the expert TO’s advice by organizing tournament space but miscalculated the expenses of the event and the revenue it would generate. Due to this, I choose to no longer invest in the gaming community until they have proved themselves.
This has caused me to be unpopular amongst many in the industry.
What Makes North Carolina Esports Academy Different
This is why North Carolina Esports Academy has taken a different approach. I have done my research and understand how growing a business works in the esports industry. We seek to build a solid foundation that includes a grassroots system, community engagement, youth development, and education.
This is important so that the Triangle area has:
- A workforce pipeline to work not only in esports, but in tech fields which are in high demand for employment
- Support and engagement when there is a multimillion dollar esports org
- Player pipeline for the esports org
At North Carolina Esports Academy, we will continue to innovate our camps and after school programs to better serve for the long term vision of developing the future workforce and making the Triangle the esports capital of North America
Check out our after-school programs and youth teams to learn how you can set your child up for success with a future in many different technology and STEM focussed areas.
