SAMPV6 [#4]
I would argue that salaries needed to be that high, since part of the reason esports popularised was due to people finding out you could make a shit ton of money, and that brought a lot of new eyes to esports.
But it does look like it backfired now. I wonder what other sources of income these orgs have besides advertising, merch and investments.
Orgs definitely need to diversify their sources of income but tbh there are so few routes an org could take to make money. I only rlly know the NA scene in depth but I think 100T is one of the better orgs in terms of sustainability, they have a lot of clout in the industry and they effectively utilize that to do things like high profile merch collabs. I know they are also expanding into other industries, I distinctly remember an energy drink but they have a few other things, and their clothing lines are always pretty good and actually wearable unlike other orgs (EG). And on the esports side of things they are usually responsible in their budgets and try not to overspend, and also treat their players very well while they’re rostered.