![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Heatmap_v2.png\")
We all thought we\u2019d get to physical events this year. The idea, the hope, helped us hold it together after the break-the-mold-type-year that was 2020. And while the esports industry accepted the novel challenge of approaching last year\u2019s difficulties one-handed \u2014 pivoting to online tournaments and events \u2014 the sector was ready to go back to what it was built for in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n
Esports did manage to sneak a few physical events past the keeper. Esports Insider rekindled its flagship <\/span>ESI London<\/span><\/a> event again after two years on ice. The <\/span>Halo Championship Series Kickoff Major Raleigh 2021<\/span><\/a> debuted last week with hundreds in attendance. But, globally December has brought with it jingle bells, lockdowns, and a new-found global awareness of the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet: omicron.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
To warm up the winter lockdown blues, we\u2019re introducing <\/span>Heat Map<\/b>, a monthly feature serving up big-picture perspectives on the latest industry trends as observed by ESI, the go-to for esports business. Sign up for the accompanying <\/span>newsletter<\/span><\/a> and you\u2019ll never be caught in the cold.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Desports \u2014 Esports, blockchain, and beyond<\/span><\/h3>\nThere\u2019s always a new new that drops every quarter, promising to challenge the big dogs. That upcomer story, so popular with the youth, is reborn again and again. Less David vs Goliath, more \u201cStarted From The Bottom.\u201d This upcomer narrative is endemic in esports- and crypto-communities alike, but for every moon shot, there\u2019s a thousand duds. New crypto-coins, esports rosters, NFT projects, and tournament series are announced every day. The spaces seem to share a unique velocity to their fickleness, and in 2021 the two grew closer.<\/span><\/p>\n
In 2021, venture capital firms poured $30 billion into the crypto industry, according to private & public market data company Pitchbook, cited in a recent report by <\/span>Bloomberg<\/span><\/a>. This might inform this year\u2019s outright explosion of crypto partnerships in esports. ESI reported on over 25 esports cryptocurrency partnerships since January. Head over to ESI Staff Writer Ivan \u0160imi\u0107\u2019s 2021 esports-focused investment review, Angels & Unicorns<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"BIG](\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/BIG-x-Coinbase.png\")
The biggest player in esports this year was Coinbase \u2014 which received 68 separate investments in 2021, according to its official <\/span>Q3 blog<\/span><\/a>, and boasts a portfolio of over 200+ companies and projects. The crypto juggernaut partnered with <\/span>Team Liquid<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>BIG Esports<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>ESL Gaming<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Evil Geniuses<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>BLAST Premier<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>BLAST Rising<\/span><\/a> this year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Bybit took an org-focused approach, inking with <\/span>Astralis and Alliance<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>NAVI<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Virtus.pro<\/span><\/a>. Additionally, FTX infamously partnered with <\/span>TSM<\/span><\/a> and later with the <\/span>LCS<\/span><\/a>, raising a few eyebrows given <\/span>Riot\u2019s barring of TSM\u2019s name change<\/span><\/a> on its esports broadcasts. Crypto.com partnered with <\/span>Fnatic<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Twitch Rivals<\/span><\/a> and both Crypto.com and FTX paid eye-watering sums to affix their names to <\/span>NBA stadiums<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Outside of big esports names, we received dozens of pitches in our inbox of shiny new orgs claiming to be built on the blockchain or operate exclusively with cryptocurrency. Do not get me started on the \u2018metaverse\u2019 pitches. I imagine next year, <\/span>vapourware<\/span><\/a> (not to be confused with vaporwave) will return to the modern lexicon, or a new TikTok-optimised term will emerge, I digress.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
There are still quite a few notable orgs and TOs without a crypto link. This hesitancy could come from existing partnerships with financial institutions\/payment providers or it could be that companies aren\u2019t yet sold on jumping on the rocket. <\/span>100T continued its Cash App<\/span><\/a> activation (which features Bitcoin integration), <\/span>Dignitas signed with QNTMPAY<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>LOUD linked with Itau Bank<\/span><\/a>, and LoL Esports staple <\/span>Mastercard doubled down on the LEC<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"100T](\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/100-Thieves-Cash-App-Card1.png\")
The esports crowd was hella keen to engage with their fans and, well, monetise them, with this year\u2019s NFT craze. We saw fan tokens, one-off drops, and plenty of platform partnerships. I, personally, am glad we didn\u2019t see an esports generative art avatar project jumping-on-the-wagon. There were notable esports figures who drank the kool-aid and shelled out the $ETH for twitter clout, but to be fair, there\u2019s much to be said about twitter clout\u2019s role in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n
There were at least 15 NFT-focused partnerships as reported by ESI this year. Notable collaborations include: <\/span>FaZe Clan shooting for the Moonpay<\/span><\/a> (the crypto company closed $555m in November <\/span>a la<\/span><\/i> Bloomberg and this partnership was signed in December). <\/span>Andbox tried to Moonwalk<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>G2 Esports inked with Bondly<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Veloce found a partner and investor in Animoca Brands<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Talon Esports signed with Yieldly<\/span><\/a> \u2014 the latter of which recently launched Yesports.gg, which has nothing to do with Kanye West, but is aiming to be an esports NFT marketplace\/metaverse. Alexa, play \u201cYikes.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
TO’s didn\u2019t want to miss out on all the fun. We saw <\/span>WePlay Esports launch c0ll3ct1bl3s with Binance<\/span><\/a> \u2014 back in my day, 1\u2019s were L\u2019s and 5\u2019s were S\u2019s, but whatever. <\/span>ESL Gaming inked with Immutable X<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>BLAST Premiere started minting chickens with Bondly<\/span><\/a>. For other non-blockchain related partnerships in 2021, check out ESI Features Editor Jake Nordland\u2019s The Dotted Line<\/a> for a rundown of the year\u2019s biggest partnerships.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/blast-bondly-chicken-collab-2021.jpg\")
Not everyone has been sold on ye olde blockchain of promise. Discord had its <\/span>toe-in-the-water<\/span><\/a> NFT moment before walking back a <\/span>\u201cprobably nothing\u201d tweet<\/span><\/a> from CEO Jason Citron. Valve Corporation\u2019s game client Steam <\/span>hard-nope\u2019d<\/span><\/a> on the blockchain in October, reason being as <\/span>cited in a Twitter thread<\/span><\/a> by blockchain game developer Space Pirate: \u201cSteam’s point of view is that items have value and they don’t allow items that can have real-world value on their platform.\u201d This is why we can\u2019t have nice immaterial things.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Hundred Thieves dropped a one-off <\/span>Infinity NFT collection<\/span><\/a> in tandem with its clothing line of the same name in April. Seemingly a flash in the pan as the org hasn\u2019t minted anything since, likely to avoid the being called 100NFT in the comments. OG Esports amassed a whopping $1m from its three NFT drops, as reported by <\/span>Dexerto<\/span><\/a> in July.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Nearing the year\u2019s end, talk of metaverses and Web3.0 began dominating timelines. According to <\/span>Google Trends<\/span><\/a>, its interest peaked, predictably, in the days following Facebook\u2019s name change. There was a 200% increase in metaverse pitches in our inboxes,\u00a0 complete with esoteric, amoebaos, and \u2026 liberal definitions of the word. It\u2019s likely that the trend follows the Battle Royal path into 2022 \u2014 in all likelihood, the metaversal blue ocean of Q1 will be a bloodbath in Q4.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esportsinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/metaverse-google-trends-heatmap.png\")
In an <\/span>Esports Insider interview with Yieldly CEO Seb Quinn<\/span><\/a>, it was hinted that unnamed esports orgs have already been spending months designing their metaverse presence under-the-radar. It\u2019s promising to hear that at least a few esports orgs, having enlisted the best gamers on the planet, are adequately preparing themselves for battle.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Athletes go digital…again<\/span><\/h3>\n
Traditional sports athletes found a second wind in esports in 2021, with big names getting more involved than simply investing as we\u2019ve seen in previous years. <\/span>Manny Pacquiao<\/span><\/a> announced Team Pacquiao GG in December. Manchester United showed a strong effort in esports this year. <\/span>Jesse Lingard<\/span><\/a> founded JLINGZ esports and <\/span>David de Gea<\/span><\/a> debuted Rebels Gaming. <\/span>Harry Maguire<\/span><\/a> joined <\/span>Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/span><\/a> as brand ambassador for Semper Fortis Esports and Man U\u2019s Manager <\/span>Ole Gunnar Solskj\u00e6r<\/span><\/a> joined ownership of esports agency ULTI in April.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Not to be out-flexed by the world\u2019s game, NFL athletes had a strong showing as well. <\/span>Richard Sherman<\/span><\/a> joined Enthusiast Gaming\u2019s Board of Directors and quarterback <\/span>Kyler Murray<\/span><\/a> joined FaZe Clan. <\/span>Marquez Valdes-Scantling<\/span><\/a> launched Trench Made Gaming (TMG) in May, followed by <\/span>Marco Wilson<\/span><\/a> joining XSET in July. <\/span>Kenny Vaccaro<\/span><\/a> launched his own org in Gamers First (G1) just this month.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n[primis_video widget=”5183″]\n
Other notable entries include UFC fighter <\/span>Marvin Vettori<\/span><\/a> investing in QLASH in October. The NBA\u2019s <\/span>Jordan Clarkson<\/span><\/a> and Jack McClinton joined skateboarding legend <\/span>Tony Hawk<\/span><\/a> to ink with Esports Technologies. The WNBA\u2019s <\/span>Ariel Powers<\/span><\/a> joined Team Liquid in January and was recently <\/span>invited into the company\u2019s ownership<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Betting\u2019s courtship was also alive and well in 2021. ESI Sub-editor Tom Daniels\u2019s<\/a><\/span> 2021 esports betting review,<\/span> In Play<\/a>, goes into details about those stories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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Image credit: ESI We all thought we\u2019d get to physical events this year. The idea, the hope, helped us hold it together after the break-the-mold-type-year that was 2020. And while the esports industry accepted the novel challenge of approaching last year\u2019s difficulties one-handed \u2014 pivoting to online tournaments and events \u2014 the sector was ready … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":77172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","esi_template":"default","excluded":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,10142,8999,50,15024,8717,5283,237,8713],"tags":[11665,12141],"class_list":["post-77170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-data","category-editors-picks","category-features","category-financial","category-insights","category-investments","category-news-by-region","category-partnerships-sponsorships","tag-blockchain-esports","tag-esports-crypto"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n