E-sports are trending, especially in the Corona year 2021. We look at the 10 largest teams in the Western world when it comes to presence on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. Teams known from CS:GO, League of Legends or Call of Duty. And it shows: It is not always just about sporting success.
How was the list created? We base ourselves on data from InvenGlobal. The “largest” teams on social media are determined by the sum of a team’s followers on the platforms Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitch.
It is noticeable that Twitch does not play a significant role for any team: The live streaming platform is more for individual streamers, not for organizations that share a channel among several players.
Furthermore, only “Western” teams are represented on the list. There is one team from Ukraine, otherwise only teams from Europe and North America. This is certainly also because the big Asian e-sports teams like T1 or Gen G. use different social media platforms.
The number 10: OpTic Gaming – Experts in Call of Duty
The US team was founded in 2006 and is primarily known for its success in Call of Duty. The mastermind behind the team is Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, who has been leading the team’s fortunes since 2007. In 2016, a book titled “OpTic Gaming: The Making of eSports Champion” was published, which made it to the bestseller lists.
The organization has a wild history, having been sold and rebranded several times, but now Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez is back at the helm.
Their star players currently include Abner “Scump” Seth (25) and Piper “FormaL” Matthew (26) – 2 Americans who are successful influencers on Twitch and are regarded as true experts.
Scump once jokingly chased the Twitch streamer TimTheTatman until he was completely at his wits’ end during a “Call of Duty” event.
A legend of the team is Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag (28), who now leads his own e-sports team, the 100 Thieves, and in this role desperately tries to convey to his young players what H3CZ once taught him: Don’t clutter the gaming house with fast food!
OpTic Gaming primarily functions on YouTube, where they have 1.3 million followers.
The number 9: Ninjas in Pyjamas – Traditional Swedes
The team with the extraordinary name comes from Sweden and is represented in many major e-sports titles, especially known for CS:GO. The team has been around since the year 2000. The Ninjas in Pyjamas made a name for themselves early on by winning their first tournaments. In 2012, the team restructured itself.
Today, the team is present in many “E-sports” games, fielding teams in CS:GO, DOTA 2, FIFA, or a player group in Rainbow Six Siege that consists entirely of Brazilians.
The “Ninjas in Pyjamas” are especially present on Facebook. They have 1.5 million subscribers and share clips from their adventures in games like CS:GO.
On Twitter, they modestly say about themselves: “From local heroes to global athletes. Legendary in name, legendary in game. 37x Champions across multiple esports titles”.
The number 8: Cloud 9 – Diversity as a Core Value
The e-sports organization Cloud 9 is relatively young compared to the Ninjas in Pyjamas. Cloud 9 was founded in 2013 and made headlines from the start in League of Legends.
In 2021, they want to make a big impact in LoL and have spent a lot of money to recruit the European star player Perkz. Supposedly, $5 million was needed to pry him away from G2. Perkz, along with the bot lane made up of talented players Sven and Vulcan, is expected to lead Cloud 9 to the top of the league. The dream duo already made headlines in 2020, but Cloud 9 inexplicably collapsed after a top start in LoL. Perkz is expected to ensure that this does not happen again.
For years, the LoL player “Sneaky” was the face of Cloud 9, who now advises the team. Sneaky occasionally donned crossdressing cosplay and shaped over the years the image of a modern, somewhat different organization.
Because you probably won’t find many LoL professionals who can pull off a pizza delivery outfit as well as the former bot laner from Cloud 9.
Cloud 9 emphatically focuses on diversity in the history of the franchise. In 2020, they assembled a Valorant team that consisted entirely of women.
The e-sports organization is especially successful on Twitter and Instagram and communicates with fans through these typical “image” platforms.
