Enthusiast Gaming

Enthusiast Gaming is a North American gaming network with interests in media, entertainment, and esports. The company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in October 2018. Enthusiast Gaming merged with Aquilini GameCo, the parent company of Luminosity Gaming, in 2019. The strategic decision brought professional esports teams competing in Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Madden under the Enthusiast Gaming umbrella. In addition, the company owns a franchise slot in the Overwatch League (Vancouver Titans) and the Call of Duty League (Seattle Surge). The company announced a strategic tie-up with NFT marketplace Fractal in March 2022–its first NFT partnership.

The company ranked seventh in Forbes’ 2020 list of most valuable esports companies. The company has a presence in the US through the ownership of an operations office, broadcast studio, and sales groups in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. The company claims the US accounts for a large proportion of its audience and revenue. In April 2021, the company was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. As of January 2022, the company had a total following of more than 145 million globally. 

Along with filing for the listing, the company simultaneously announced the launch of its first streaming TV channel, BCC Gaming. BCC Gaming follows Enthusiast Gaming’s acquisition of Omnia Media (a global digital content platform). The product launch is likely to boost Enthusiast’s ability to reach out to new audiences by leveraging Omnia Media content. It is expected to feature content with esports influencers and top streamers, highlights from popular esports titles (e.g., Fortnite and Call of Duty), and other content brands owned by Omnia Media.

In 2021 the company acquired Tabwire, a gameplay companionship tools for Valorant and Rainbow Six Siege to track gamer stats and performance, for USD 11 million supporting the  Enthusiast’s development of a subscription-based social network for gamers, code-named Project GG, previously announced to be made available during 2021. It also acquired GameKnot LLC, a virtual chess community platform in September 2021 for USD 2.75 million and expanded its operations into the casual gaming market with the acquisition of Addicting Games for around USD 34.4 million in September 2021. Most recently it acquired Outplayed, the owner of U.GG and one of the largest global League of Legends fan communities, for USD 45 million. It gained access to the League of Legends ecosystem, which will enable Enthusiast Gaming to leverage its existing brands within the space and benefit from U.GG’s core business. 

In 2021, Enthusiast Gaming announced several offerings to raise funds in an attempt to strengthen its financial positions. This included an upsized agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity Corp to sell 6.4 million common shares at CAD 5.75 (USD 4.53) on a bought deal basis for gross proceeds of CAD 37 million (approximately USD 29 million) in January 2021. Also, it announced the early conversion of convertible debt (set to mature on December 31st, 2021), amounting to CAD 9 million (approximately USD 7.1 million) of the principal amount corresponding to around 2.9 million common shares. Furthermore, in June 2021 Enthusiast Gaming closed a USD 46 million public offering of 8 million common shares in the US and Canada at USD 5.75 per share. 

In 2021, the company reported total revenue of CAD 167.4 million (approx. USD 130.4 million), growing 130% compared to the previous year. Its media and content-related revenue contributed to the majority of the growth as it accounted for 91% of total revenue. Esports and entertainment-related revenue stood at CAD 5.5 million (approximately USD 4.4 million), reflecting a YoY reduction of 6.7%.