Top Esports Teams Earnings 2020: 10 Highest Overall Ranked

Top-10 Highest Overall Esports Team Earnings Ranked 2020
Photo Credit: ESL

So, who are the top Esports teams? Competitive gaming has been around for a  few decades. But it was not until deep into the start of the new millennium that competitive gaming became a real money maker.

Like some of the top physical sports in the world, the Esports business has become a multi-billion dollar industry thanks to big corporations, who are now more than willing to make huge investments.

There has also been a massive increase in competition prize pools, with players now pocketing more money from a single tournament than many successful conventional sports athletes make in a whole year.

Recall that we also discussed the Top-10 Highest-Paid Esports Players In The World 2020. So with more and more money coming into esports entertainment, it is only natural to wonder who the top esports teams are, and who are the highest earners. So Sportytell put together this list of the current top 10 all-time earners in esports entertainment.

Ranking The Top Esports Teams

10. Natus Vincere (Na’Vi)

10. Natus Vincere (Na'Vi)
  • No. Of Tournaments – 474
  • Total Prize Money – $11.1 million

Natus Vincere, also called Na’Vi or NaVi is an Esports team based in Ukraine. It became active in 2009 and became the first team to win three major tournaments in a single calendar year. Their most successful teams have been the Counter-Strike (which made them famous back in 2010), but their biggest moneymakers have been CS: GO with $3.6 million and Dota 2 with $4.7 million. 

9. Invictus Gaming (IG)

Invictus Gaming
  • Total Tournaments – 491
  • Total Prize Money – $11.5 million

Invictus Gaming or IG for short is an Esports organization based in China; it was founded in 2011 and became known for their more successful teams in Dota 2 (who won Valve’s ‘The International’ in 2012), League of Legends (who also won the LoL world championship in 2018) and the StarCraft II divisions.  IG has been pulling in their fair share of revenue, with the bulk of their earnings coming from the successes of the Dota 2 and League of Legends teams, which has won a total of $5.2 million and $3.9 million in prize money, respectively. 

8. Team Secret

Team Secret
  • Total Tournaments – 270
  • Total Prize Money – $11.9 million

Team Secret was formed by two former members of big Esports organizations; Kuroky of team NaVi and N0tail of team Fnatic. They wanted to have an Esports organization that was owned and controlled by actual players, so they each brought in a friend and formed a Dota 2 team. They have since become a force in the Dota 2 division, winning a total of $10.8 million in prize money from several tournaments in the division since they became active 2014. They have also picked up teams in the League of Legends, Street Fighter, Rainbow Six Siege, and CS: GO to help cement  their status as one of the biggest Esports organizations in the world

7. Vici Gaming (VG)

Vici Gaming
  • Total Tournaments – 298
  • Total Prize Money – $13 million

Vici Gaming or VG  holds the 7th spot on our list of all-time earners. Formed in 2012, this Chinese Esports organization based in Shanghai was famous in the days of DotA. After the release of Dota 2, they immediately adapted and became one of the strongest teams in the division, winning a total of $10.7 million from three separate groups in Dota 2 alone. They have since gone on to add teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, FIFA, Hearthstone, and StarCraft II.

6. Newbee

Newbee
  • Total Tournaments – 231
  • Total Prize Money – $14.2 million

Arguably the biggest Esports organization in the whole of China, Newbee, has taken full advantage of the large cash prizes that have been up for grabs in every Dota 2 tournament. They were crowned champions in Dota 2’s premier competition in 2014, and became ‘the first Esports team to win up to $5million from a single tournament.’ Newbee currently has four teams competing in Dota 2 and has earned more than $13million from various tournaments of the same game. Newbee also has players competing in StarCraft II, Warcraft 3, and Hearthstone. 

5. Virtus Pro (VP)

Virtus Pro
  • Total Tournaments – 502
  • Total Prize Money – $14.3 million

Virtus Pro also called VP was formed in 2013, and has it’s headquarters in Russia. VP currently has players competing in some of the biggest games on Esports including Quake Champions, Apex Legends, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft II, Dota 2, Hearthstone and Paladins. They became a part of ‘ESforce Esports Holdings’ and received a $100 million investment from Russian billionaire ‘Alisher Romanov’s USM Holdings’ all in 2015. In terms of prize money, VP’s Dota 2 team has been it’s most 

successful division winning 5 major Championships and contributing a massive 68% to the total winnings with $9.4 million. It’s CS:GO team has also pulled in it’s fair share, earning a further $3 million and contributing another 22%.

4. Fnatic

Fnatic
  • Total Tournaments – 918
  • Total Prize Money – $15.5 million

League of Legends, PUBG Mobile, Clash Royale, Fortnite Battle Royale, FIFA, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Street Fighter, Rainbow Six Siege…”Talk about spreading your tentacles,” Fnatic has players competing in almost every major video game in the Esports industry. Founded in 2004, Fnatic became the first team to win the League of Legends world championship in 2011, and has been dominating the League of Legends Split Championships in Europe, holding 7 out of the 13 played so far. Their CS:GO players are also one of the best in the game, earning over $4.2 million in prize money.

3. Evil Geniuses (EG)

Evil Geniuses (EG)
  • Total Tournaments – 851
  • Total Prize Money – $24.2 million

One of the older Esports organization, Evil Geniuses was founded in 1999. The North American team has players in Super Smash Bros, League of Legends, Rocket League, CS:GO and Dota 2. Their Dota 2 squad has also been taking advantage of the superior prize pools in their tournaments, pulling in seven figures since 2014. They were Champions at ‘The International 2015’ taking $6.6 million from the competition, and more than $8.6 million that calendar year and have earned a total of $19.9 million which contributes  83.79% of EG’s total prize money. 

2. OG

OG
  • Total Tournaments – 93
  • Total Prize Money – $33.8 million

Founded in 2015 by ‘former Team Secret members Fly and N0tail,’ OG (formerly called monkey) has dominated at almost every Dota 2 tournament since the Esports organization was created. They have won back to back Championships at Dota 2’s premier tournament ‘The International’ in 2018 and 2019 taking home $11.2 million and $15.4 million respectively making them Dota 2’s highest earners so far. They recently added teams to the Super Smash Bros and Counter-Strike Global Offensive divisions.

1. Team Liquid. (TL)

Team Liquid
  • Total Tournaments – 1800
  • Total Prize Money – $35.3 million

Team Liquid takes top spot on the list of all-time team earners, having won numerous titles with their Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and of course Dota 2. Just like every other organization on this list, TL’s Dota 2 players has pulled in a larger share of the total earnings. They were Champions of ‘The International 2017’ and were also the finalists at 2019’s The International to account for  over 65% of TL’s entire earnings. TL’s League of Legends team is also regarded as one of the best in the game, ‘winning 4 LCS Championships.

There it is, our current list of the top esports teams based on team earnings. Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments section.

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