Blue Star's Guild Esports (GILD ) announced that its Fortnite pro player Anas El-Abd ("Anas") came in first in an online Fortnite competition organised by Epic Games and YouTube personality Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson. MrBeast has the fourth most subscribed channel on YouTube with 129 million subscribers.
Anas' victory in "MrBeast's Exterme Survival Challenge" competition was confirmed on January 17 2023 by Epic Games, the publisher of Fortnite. Anas won US$1m in prize money, of which a small portion will go to Guild in line with industry practice and contractual agreements.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented:
"Many congratulations to Anas, who has proven yet again that he is among the world's best Fortnite players. We are delighted by his success, which underscores the exceptional talent within Guild's teams and has given Guild increased brand exposure and brought the Company a share of tournament winnings. Winning tournaments, reaching ever-larger audiences and gaining new fans is exactly what our brand partners expect, and this success helps support our ongoing discussions with potential new sponsors."
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Today's announcement by Guild Esports truly captures the enormity and momentum of esports, and Guild's leading role in it. Organised by gaming giant Epic Games and the fourth most popular YouTube channel with 129 million subscribers, with a $1m first place prize and 27 million views for the promotional social media posts alone, December's Fortnite tournament gave traditional sporting events a run for their money.
The event provided significant visibility for Guild, and Blue Star by extension, with Anas publicly bearing the name "Guild Anas". Anas' success wrapped up a year of competitive success for Guild, with a total of 5 team and individual trophies won in 2022.
Last year Guild signed several large sponsorship contracts with major brands including Samsung, Coca-Cola, PlayStation, Bitstamp, Razer, and Sky UK. The Bitstamp deal was worth £4.5m, and the recent major contract with Sky exceeded that figure. The company boasted total signed sponsorship revenue of £8.56m on 30 June 2022, which has since increased substantially.
Blue Star (BLU ) shares were up 10% today. As of September 2022, Blue Star's existing esports portfolio had a combined cost of £2.375m. Taking into account all portfolio transactions since first investment, the esports portfolio had a value of approximately £6.7m, equating to an unrealised gain of £4.35m. Blue Star owns 4.3% of Guild.
According to Newzoo, there are now more than 2.7 billion gamers globally, with gaming overtaking social media as the largest consumption of screen time in most developed markets. By 2023, Newzoo predicts the gaming market will be worth US$200.8 billion a year, with the number of players worldwide surpassing the three-billion mark.
With rapidly growing revenues, a growing pipeline of sponsorship deals, and a strong cash position, Guild Esports and Blue Star are well-positioned to continue benefiting from esports' momentum.
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