Esports is a lucrative business. According to a study published on October 2 and carried out by the money service MoneyTransfers, the most famous professional video game players Fortnite win as much in the competition as the footballers of the Ligue 1 clubs.
As esports grows, the prize pools set for competitions increase very rapidly from year to year, sometimes reaching several million euros.
The study is based on the salaries of twelve professional video game players, each of whom has won at least one million euros in international competitions, which are held annually. By comparison, the average monthly salary of players from Ligue 1 teams ranges between 100,000 and 67,000 euros, not including PSG, according to sports daily l’Crew. According to MoneyTransfers calculations, based on these salaries per team, a Ligue 1 player earns an average of 854,836 euros per year.
millionaire players
Fortnite’s top professional player, Kyle Giersdorf, known as Bugha, pocketed a total of over €3.3 million when he won the 2019 FIFA World Cup. Fortnitethe most lucrative competition in gaming history, with around €30 million in prize money for all events.
In addition to this accolade, Giersdorf has also won “five-figure sums” in a dozen other contests, not to mention income from his YouTube and Twitch businesses.
Additionally, while Giersdorf is the highest-paid professional player in Fortnite, he only ranks 21st among the highest earners in esports, in a single competition.
Source: BFM TV
