Why Esports Will Continue to Decline in 2024 📉

At the world championships of Valorant in August, a sellout crowd of 11,500 packed into The Forum in Los Angeles—and more than one million esports fans tuned in live—to see Evil Geniuses complete their improbable run to become the first North American team to win the title, and the $1 million prize that comes with it.

But competitive success in esports has done little to ensure economic stability in 2023. Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson stepped down less than a week after the team won the title, and in the following weeks the Valorant roster was asked to take pay cuts, reportedly as high as 50%. The organization has since sold its spot in Riot Games’ League of Legends Championship Series and reportedly plans to sell or merge Evil Geniuses’ remaining esports assets by the end of the year and exit the space entirely. As Jameson told Digiday on her way out, “I think the world knows just functioning and monetizing as an esports team today doesn’t work.”

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2023/12/28/why-esports-must-keep-leveling-down-in-2024/?sh=635cb8cf2bff

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