The three big players in the e-sports market

As we all know, the esports market has experienced a meteoric rise since 2020. Since then, the market has settled on three major players – Entain, Esports Entertainment Group and Rivalry.

As we will see in this article, Entain and Esports Entertainment Group had mixed fortunes in 2023 while Rivalry surged.

Entain and Esports Entertainment Group

Starting with Entain and Unikrn, both had ambitious plans at the start of 2023. Entain relaunched the brand in December 2022 with the aim of global dominance.

But although it launched with great fanfare, 12 months have passed since the relaunch and little has happened. So much so that Entain recently announced in a statement to iGB that the company would be reducing direct sales with Unikrn.

The other big name heading into 2023 is Esports Entertainment Group (EEG). But after a turbulent year, Rivalry has once again experienced an upswing.

The company has apparently been in trouble since May 2022, when it admitted to having “doubts” that it could stay in business for another year. In October 2022, its future was in the hands of a creditor after EEG defaulted on the issuance of convertible bonds in 2021.

EEG also announced the sale of its Bethard online casino and sports betting business in February, with the total sale price coming to €9.5 million.

Since then, despite significant cost savings, the net loss has widened and we have yet to see any change. However, Igelman remains optimistic and we could see a rebound in 2024.

The rivalry progresses

On rivalry. Without a doubt, this super cool brand has definitely picked up the slack on Entain and EEG and shot forward. That’s certainly the opinion of Pinnacle, which was one of the lead investors in its £5.9 million funding round in 2023.

The Toronto-based operator has exceeded all revenue expectations so far this year, thanks to its unique positioning in the market The Esports brand for all Gen Z and Millennial users out there.

Targeting this audience is clearly bearing fruit – 80% of the customer base is reportedly under 30 years old.

Targeting its Millennial and Gen-Z audiences with its “Down with the Kids” approach, the company’s campaigns are chock-full of internet sayings, memes, and sought-after influencers.

The lack of profit of rivalry: the final step to dominance

However, in its most recent earnings report released at the end of November, we can still see that the company is struggling to turn a profit. We believe this will be key to staying at the top in the coming year.

If we take a closer look at the financials, we can see that the company continued to post a net loss in the third quarter despite posting record revenue of $8.7m (£6.9m/€7.9m). , while the company’s overall loss also increased.

Undoubtedly the biggest challenge in the coming year is to make the market your own.

Although record sales were achieved, increased operating costs and foreign exchange losses offset the increase in sales in the third quarter. This meant the total loss for the quarter widened to $6.0 million, compared to $5.6 million in 2022.

Looking back on the third quarter, co-founder and CEO Steven Salz praised Rivalry for revenue growth in a “challenging” capital markets environment. He said this will benefit the company for further growth in the fourth quarter and beyond.

Now it’s your turn, rivalry.