The economic sustainability of European professional esports: current situation, challenges and strategies

William De Moor, Mickaël Terrien and Christophe Durand

Chapter 19 in Sport Management in Europe, 2025, pp 300-314 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines European professional esports clubs’ business models and the pressing need to address the sector's economic sustainability. Professional esports has two main revenue models, both heavily reliant on external financing from venture capital firms or parent companies, due to the absence of many traditional revenue sources. Most clubs operate at a deficit because their focus on maximizing wins leads to excessive expenditure on player salaries. Although investors cover these losses in anticipation of future profitability or to benefit from synergies between the parent company and club, clubs’ limited revenue sources and reliance on external funding make the sector extremely vulnerable. Greater regulation of the sector could address these issues. Indeed, some leagues have started introducing regulatory mechanisms such as revenue sharing and luxury taxes to reduce clubs’ financial instability and to curb the ‘arms race’ for talent, but these measures have not yet had much influence on clubs’ economic behaviours.

Keywords: Esports; Financial sustainability; Business model; Professional Esports clubs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035333134
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