CrowCrowd is exploring a sale of its organization, which competes in the LCL, for an asking price of just over $3 million according to sources close to Upcomer. CrowCrowd is most well known for its League of Legends roster, which recently finished 2nd during the 2021 Spring Split, after a 3-1 loss to Unicorns of Love. The Russian esports organization also operates teams in Warface and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
CrowCrowd could exit the LCL after just over a year
The CrowCrowd organization was founded in 2016. From there, former Albux Nox Luna support player Kirill “Likkrit” Malofeev joined in 2019 as co-owner and strategic director. In February 2020, it was announced by Riot Games Russia that all-female team Vaevictis Esports had been deemed not competitive enough after a winless season in 2019, and would be relegated to the Open Cup. CrowCowd then replaced them in the LCL. CrowCrowd states that it has earned $300,000 in revenue over the past 12 months (TTM Revenue) and generated $35,000 revenue during the last month. The organization also mentions that a partial sale is on the table. However, if a full sale were to be pursued, both the CEO and COO would have to be guaranteed an annual salary of $72,000 for several years. In addition, the CEO, COO and strategic director expect to be given 5% equity each, as part of a full sale deal. Other information provided to potential buyers includes references to millions of monthly views, coverage growth, plans to expand its sales team and an exit strategy, but no data is provided to back up any of these points.
Grim outlook for future of the LCL
Likkrit was banned for six months from competitive League of Legends in late 2017 when he made offensive comments on a live stream. During this same speech, he also expressed concerns about how the CIS-based league was not profitable for the majority of the teams – something that may have now come full circle. CrowCrowd top laner Aleksandr “NoNHoly” Ovchinikov’s contract has already expired and the other four players on the roster have a contract end date of May 25, according to the Riot Games Global Contract Database. With the recent news that fellow competitor Gambit Esports would disband its League of Legends team, the outlook for the CIS region does not look promising. Upcomer has reached out to LCL competitor CrowCrowd for further comment on the sale. This article will be updated as the story develops.
Published: May 18, 2021 10:09 am