Guild Esports PLC (LSE:GILD, OTC:GULDF), the David Beckham-based esports franchise, said it made good progress in the year to end September 2021, with its fan base now exceeding 14.6mln and dedicated subscribers of more than one million.
The group’s teams won three titles during the year, two in Fortnite and one in Rocket League, with a fourth picked up after the year-end.
Recently, the group established a sixth team, Apex Legends, that will compete in the free-to-play shooter arena while it has also signed a £4.5mln three-year sponsorship deal with crypto exchange BitStamp and its largest sponsorship to date.
Revenues in its first year since listing amounted to £1.9mln, but with BitStamp sponsorship, Guild said they are now running at an annualised rate of £3.1mln with contracts worth £8.4mln.
Losses over the twelve months were £8.8mln 9£2.7mln) and reflected the early-stage costs of setting up the franchise.
Kal Hourd, chief executive, said: "We've made good progress amid challenging trading conditions in our first full year of operations as a publicly listed company.
“Our network audience and fan base have grown exponentially, making us the fastest growing esports team organisation in Europe.
“The major investment made across the business to scale up our activities has enabled us to establish a strong foundation for long-term revenue growth and resulted in three global sponsorship deals.
“We have entered the new year with strong momentum and recently clinched our fourth and largest sponsorship deal to date.”