Guild Esports

Guild Esports, a UK-based esports organization backed by soccer superstar David Beckham, fields rosters in games like Rocket League, Valorant, Fortnite, and FIFA. The company was acquired by DCB Sports in October 2024 for GBP 100,000 (~USD 128,700). Guild launched its first apparel line in collaboration with skatewear designer Fergus Purcell in November 2020, joining other esports teams like FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves in leveraging merchandise. The organization opened a 9,800 sq ft facility in London in Q2 2022 for training academy members and global operations. In February 2023, Guild launched Guild Studios, an in-house production and creative agency offering esports marketing services to diversify revenue streams.

Guild Esports became the first esports franchise to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on October 2, 2020, after raising USD 26 million in a share placement. The IPO valued the company at USD 65 million. In FY2023, Guild Esports reported total revenue of GBP 5.53 million (~USD 7.1 million), a 24% YoY increase. Despite improved gross margins of 72%, Guild posted a net loss of GBP 4.5 million (~USD 5.8 million), significantly lower than the previous year's loss. Guild's cash position at the end of the fiscal year stood at GBP 459,000 (~USD 590,000), a decrease from GBP 2.7 million in 2022.

Key customers and partnerships
In July 2023, Guild partnered with Pixels AI to use its optimization tools for generating advertising revenue from proprietary video content. In June 2023, Guild collaborated with Fanatec to launch a sim-racing facility featuring eight racing simulators, which also serves as a Fanatec showroom. The facility is expected to generate revenue starting Q3 2023, and the partnership enabled Guild to explore new sponsorship opportunities in sim racing.

In April 2023, Guild secured a three-year partnership worth GBP 700,000 (~USD 870,000) with Danish sportswear brand hummel. Other key deals include a three-year sponsorship with Sky UK Ltd as its “Official Premier Partner” (September 2022), reportedly one of Europe’s largest esports sponsorship agreements. Earlier sponsorships included two-year deals with HyperX (January 2021) and Subway (March 2021). HyperX became Guild’s official peripherals partner, while the Subway deal, reportedly a multi-million-pound agreement, covered 55 EMEA markets.