The number 3: Fnatic – The Most Prestigious Team in Europe
Fnatic is the largest e-sports team in Europe; it was founded in 2004 in England. The Fnatic LoL team was the first team to win the League of Legends World Championship and has since been the only non-Asian team to ever accomplish this feat.
The LoL team also led in Europe for many years; only in recent years did G2 Esports surpass them.
Apart from LoL, Fnatic is particularly known for Counter-Strike: Source and CS:GO. The team was already dominant in these games in 2006 and won many events.
Currently, the CS:GO team consists entirely of Swedes, while the LoL team is a colorful mix from all over Europe. With Elias “Upset” Lipp, a German plays on the bot lane, who replaces the legendary Rekkles. The Swede moved to eternal rival G2 Esports before the season.
The traditional Fnatic mostly reaches its fans through Twitter and Facebook. They have 1.5 million followers on Twitter and even 2.5 million on Facebook. Many fans do not tolerate any criticism against “their Fnatic”, even though the team’s performance has not been as strong in recent years as it was in 2013 and 2015: Back then, Fnatic was crowned European LoL champion 5 times.
Fnatic still leads in Europe on social media and probably also in merchandise: they have released exquisite keyboards.
Number 2: Team SoloMid – From Website to Top Team
Team SoloMid was founded in 2009 by Andy “Reginald” Dinh and started as a website where you could find information about League of Legends. There was no professional scene for LoL in 2009 yet. This began in 2011 when TSM also competed as a professional team. Reginald played in the mid lane at that time and founded a tradition that TSM always had to have outstanding mid lane players.
The LoL team of TSM quickly rose to the top of American League of Legends. For years, the Dane “Bjergsen” was the face of the team. He embodied both characteristics of TSM: Strong mid lane player and Dane. Over the years, TSM repeatedly recruited Danes; this became a running gag.
TSM made good use of being early on the scene and has become highly professionalized and commercialized. They have teams in LoL, PUBG, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros. and Valorant – they also employ content creators like the former LoL star Doublelift and Myth, one of the biggest Twitch streamers ever.
Team SoloMid is now an established e-sports team with well-developed social media channels. They have alone 3 million followers on Instagram. TSM is considered the “first address” in e-sports in the USA.
Place 1 FaZe Clan – Controversial and Extremely Successful
The FaZe Clan is by far the largest e-sports organization in the world regarding followers: They have about 4 times as many followers on social media as the second-placed team, TSM.
The FaZe clan takes a different approach than most other teams. For FaZe, it is not so much about sporting success, but about building “personalities” and “content creators”.
The FaZe Clan has existed since 2010. The origins of the clan lie not in e-sports, but in celebrating “trick shots” in Call of Duty, which they uploaded to YouTube. Early on, the FaZe Clan mixed a “YouTube lifestyle” with gaming content.
FaZe is known for its villa in Los Angeles, where they invited young talents like Turner “Tfue” Tyler from the countryside to convince them to join the clan and embrace the wild, fast life in LA.
FaZe fields teams in games like CS:GO, Call of Duty, or PUBG. However, the clan has also been involved in dubious affairs: Some of the big names in the clan supposedly ran a website in Antigua where controversial skin gambling could take place. Influencers from FaZe promoted that website on platforms like YouTube. This later caused bad blood within the clan.
There was also a scandal involving Turner “Tfue” Tyler. The young talent became the biggest streamer in the world, who accused the FaZe Clan of tricking him with a contract. Additionally, they supposedly tempted him into drinking alcohol and performing dangerous stunts.
However, FaZe is a giant on social media. Their Instagram account has nearly 11 million followers, and on YouTube, they are also massive with 8 million. Anyone who criticizes the FaZe Clan, like Tfue did back then, can expect heavy backlash.
What stands out: Among the 10 largest e-sports clans, the diversity and dynamics in this field can be seen. A traditional team from Ukraine that grew big in CS:GO stands alongside a fledgling team that employs teenagers in Fortnite.
There is no “one pattern” by which every e-sports team is structured, but many ways to attract followers to oneself and its brand:
- We see “old traditional teams” that have been around for more than 20 years and shape it
- There are fluctuating teams that have often been sold and continue to reinvent themselves
- There are young teams that are clearly established for the market and shot up in a short time
- Some teams are built around their one dazzling star figure
- Other teams present themselves provocatively and “in your face,” as if they adhere to no rules, which is well received by fans
It must be emphasized that fans of the team do not solely honor the sporting success of the teams but also the “image” of the squads. When one fully relies on personality or star cult, like FaZe, it can lead to great success, regardless of how many championships other teams win.
Interestingly, the comparison with the “10 most valuable e-sport teams” worldwide from the Forbes website reveals some similarities, but also significantly different results. The Forbes list was harshly criticized back then:
LoL: List of the 10 most valuable e-sport teams receives criticism – “Total garbage”
