According to Kal Hourd, Chief Executive of the David Beckham headed esports franchise, Guild Sports, the teams and the organisation made good progress in the year to September 2021, with its teams winning three titles, subscribers passing the one million mark and its fan base exceeding 14.6m.
Revenues in its first year since market listing totalled £1.9m, but a £4.5m three-year sponsorship deal with the cryptocurrency exchange BitStamp lifts its annualised figure over £3m, with further contracts said to be in place worth £8.4m. Losses over the period were £8.8m, reflecting start-up and early-stage costs.
The titles won were two in Fortnite and one in Rocket League, and Guild has also set up a sixth team, Apex Legends, to compete in the free-to-play shooter arena.
Confirming the results, Kal Hourd said: “We have made good progress amid challenging trading conditions in our first full year of operations as a publicly listed company. Our network audience and fan base have grown exponentially, making us the fastest growing esports team organisation in Europe. The major investment made across the business to scale up our activities has enabled us to establish a strong foundation for long-term revenue growth and resulted in three global sponsorship deals. We have entered the new year with strong momentum and recently clinched our fourth and largest sponsorship deal to date.”
