Top 8 eSports Tournament Organizers Ranked ✔️

Top eSports tournament organizers

The fact that the Esports industry is growing yearly is probably not surprising because millions are interested in it. New games become available daily, and some of the older options continue to be fan favorites. That’s why people have access to numerous Esports tournaments.

Speaking of events, the team at Nostrabet decided to dive deep into the leading tournament organizers. It became clear that some companies are responsible for hosting thousands of competitions across multiple games. Many people don’t know anything about who is behind some of the biggest competitions, so let’s go through each one and learn more details.

Riot Games – 2316 Tournaments

As of now, Riot Games is the leading tournament organizer in Esports, with more than 2316 competitions across several games. This company is behind some of the biggest Esports titles in the world, such as League of Legends, VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, and Legend of Runterra.

One reason Riot is involved in many tournaments is the company’s policy regarding its games. Riot is one of the Esports brands that wants to be involved in all competitions related to its games. In fact, the Esports World Cup is probably one of the only events where people could participate in a big LoL tournament without Riot being involved.
In terms of the company itself, Riot Games started operating in 2006 in Santa Monica, California.
Nowadays, more than 4200+ people work for it, and it has become one of the world’s biggest video game developers. As we can see, Riot is also the most prominent organizer of esports tournaments.

ESL – 2219 Tournaments

The second biggest Esports tournament organizer in the world, at present, is ESL.

The German company is behind more than 2,200 events, but what makes it stand out is that it has been involved in many different games. People will always associate ESL with Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite, Overwatch, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and much more.
ESL is one of the pioneers in the Esports industry because the brand has been around for ages. The Electronic Sports League started operating in Germany in 2000 and is one of the big names in Esports.
Over the years, ESL offered casual players the chance to compete in different ladders and events, and it also hosted numerous tournaments across many different games.

Interestingly, ESL (together with FACEIT) became a part of the Savvy Game Group. The latter is a company that belongs to the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia. Following these changes, the two companies merged into one called ESL FACEIT Group.

Tencent – 891 Tournaments

When it comes to one of the most expensive Esports/Gaming companies in the world, Tencent is definitely up there. The Chinese powerhouse is behind a lot of the world’s biggest titles and has a key role in Asia. Therefore, it’s not surprising that it is also one of the leading tournament organizers in Esports, with 891 competitions.

Tencent started operating in 1998 and has become the world’s most important video game brand, according to its equity investments.
Many people may not know that this is one of China’s largest companies overall and among the biggest in the world in terms of market capitalization. Based in Shenzhen, China, Tencent also owns two of the most iconic skyscrapers in the city.
When it comes to Esports events, the Chinese company is everywhere. There have been competitions for games like Call of Duty: Mobile, League of Legends, Honor of Kings, Arena of Valor, PUBG Mobile, and more.

We will monitor Tencent in the future because we believe it will play a key role in this industry. Don’t forget that Tencent also owns a large share of the world’s largest game studios.

Red Bull – 862 Tournaments

The fact that most people do not associate Red Bull with Esports is not surprising, considering the brand’s size. Red Bull is one of those companies that has its foot in numerous businesses, including football, F1, energy drinks, and more. With that said, it is also one of the largest Esports tournament organizers in the world, having more than 862 events so far.

Red Bull has played a key role in more than 30 games and continues to increase its presence.
Nowadays, you can often find it in titles like Rocket League, Age of Empires, Dota 2, League of Legends, Free Fire, Street Fighter, and many more. While it’s true that Red Bull is rarely the only tournament organizer, it has a big role in each of those games.
Red Bull has been a brand for more than 37 years. According to the most recent stats, the brand has around a 43% market share in energy drinks, making it one of the world’s biggest companies in this department. In fact, it is the third-largest in the soft drink industry behind Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

Garena – 800 Tournaments

Old-school DotA players remember that Garena was one of the best platforms you could have been on if you wanted to play high-quality games. All of the old-school professional players started their careers there, so it’s no surprise that Garena is one of the largest Esports tournament organizers in the world, having more than 800 events.

It’s important to remember that Garena’s business model has changed drastically in the last few years. In fact, the Singaporean brand no longer has anything to do with DotA or Dota 2. Instead, it focuses on games like League of Legends, Honor of Kings, Free Fire, and more.
Founded in 2009, Garena focuses primarily on the Southeast Asian market, as well as Taiwan.
Garena is the brand behind Free Fire, which has more than 100M active users and continues to expand into other video games.

Epic Games – 763 Tournaments

The next name for the leading tournament organizers in the world is Epic Games, one of the most recognizable video game producers.

Founded in 1991, Epic Games is responsible for more than 763 Esports events. Unlike some of the other names on the list, however, this one only focuses on a few games – Fortnite, Rocket League and Paragon.
Gamers will always associate Epic Games with Fortnite because this game changed the Esports industry. The game became one of the most popular titles ever, and it took over the world in terms of popularity.
What’s fascinating about Epic Games is that it is also the company behind the Unreal Engine, which is used for many different games.
An interesting fact about Epic Games is that Tencent has around 48.4% of the company.
According to the stats from 2022, the brand’s valuation is around $32B, and it has definitely gone up since then.

Ubisoft – 735 Tournaments

Every gamer knows that Ubisoft is one of the industry’s household names. The brand is behind titles like Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s, and many more and has fans worldwide.

Aside from being one of the biggest video game publishers, Ubisoft also has its foot in Esports. According to the stats, the company has been involved in more than 735 events across several titles. The list includes Brawlhalla, TrackMania, Tom Clancy’s and Rainbow Six Siege.
Founded in 1986, Ubisoft’s HQ is in France, but the company has offices in several parts of the world. With more than 18,000 employees, the brand remains one of the gaming sector’s leaders.
An interesting fact is that Tencent, the Chinese powerhouse, owns 9.99% of it, whereas the Guillemot family has a 14% share.

Blizzard Entertainment – 687 Tournaments

The last of the leading tournament organizers in Esports that we want to include on the list is Blizzard Entertainment. It’s safe to say that this is one of the most legendary companies in Esports/gaming, and for a very good reason.

Blizzard Entertainment is behind some of the world’s most popular games, like World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, etc. Although some of its titles were never esports-focused, things have changed in the last couple of years.
Nowadays, Blizzard has a key role in all of its games, so it’s no surprise that the company has its foot in more than 687 tournaments. This number will increase even more in the next couple of years because Blizzard continues to be very active in all of its games.
Blizzard started operating in 1991 and has over 13,000 employees as of 2022. The company is very famous for its annual BlizzCon events, which have been taking place since 2005. Alongside the different Esports events, all BlizzCons also reveal more details about Blizzard’s games. This includes new expansions, upcoming titles, and more.

Conclusion

As you saw, some of the world’s leading video game studios are also among the biggest Esports tournament organizers. Since the Esports industry is growing, we expect to see even more competition than before.

We would also not be surprised if some of the biggest sports betting websites started organizing different tournaments. These companies’ roles are becoming increasingly important in this industry, and it will be interesting to see what happens next.