Rainbow 6 Esports: The Virtuous Circle

A brief departure from the League of Legends universe, as we've recently witnessed intense community debates around the Rainbow 6 scene, Ubisoft's number one esports game.

Is it relevant for a club to invest on the game? Is it a dead game? There are many pertinent arguments on both sides, from aficionados of the scene to skeptics. However, an important topic is often only touched upon in discussions and mainly addressed through insinuations. You've probably already guessed it, but we've taken an interest in the economic and financial aspect of the scene.

It does no harm just this once, we're talking about a closed league with an entry price of around €200,000. Therefore, it would be necessary to have an available slot to purchase or seize an opportunity to take over a vacant slot, as has been the case for some recent arrivals.

Like any license, the cost will vary depending on the quality of the players, their experience, and their potential.

In Europe, salary ranges vary between €2,000 and €3,000 net for professional scene rookies, and you can expect to pay between €5,000 and €10,000 per S-rank player (S-rank refers to players who have the level to participate in Majors).

Since the game is played with five players, the monthly costs for a budget-limited team would be around €15,000, while a team capable of competing with the top 20 in Europe would require about €40,000 per month. Expenses related to management will primarily depend on the resources the club wishes to dedicate to this aspect.

To provide a comparison the League of Legends audience can relate to, the budget for a world-class roster in Rainbow 6 is similar to a high-budget LFL team.

The league operates with a system of Regionals and Majors, now organized by Blast in all affiliated regions (Asia, Brazil, Europe, LATAM, MENA, NA, Oceania, Korea). Each region has a certain number of slots for the Majors, which must be earned through performances in the Regionals held in March and April and then September and October.

The Regionals offer a prize pool of €175,000, with €40,000 for the five winners, while a Major offers €750,000 and about €200,000 to the winners.

The ultimate accolade is the Six Invitational, which brings together the top 20 teams in the game, similar to the Worlds, and offers a prize pool of €3,000,000, with €1,000,000 for the winning team.

So far, there has been nothing financially extraordinary about competing in the Rainbow 6 scene, but that's without considering the revenue-sharing system implemented by the publisher.

The R6 Share program allows affiliated teams to benefit from a revenue redistribution system on in-game skins featuring the team's emblem in the form of a cosmetic bundle.

The revenue distribution is now equal between the affiliated club and the publisher, at 50/50. For example, a KOI bundle sold for €15 generates €7.5 in revenue for KOI. Thus, if we consider a fan base buying 20,000 skins in a season, this represents €300,000 in revenue, with €150,000 going to the club.

According to some sources close to the matter, some clubs have generated more than a million dollars through the various revenues offered by the game.

When comparing the cost of a high-performing team and the potential for value creation through the various competitions and the league's revenue-sharing system, it's clear that Rainbow 6 proves to be a financially virtuous esport license for clubs.

Finally, Ubisoft announced in 2023 a league revenue growth of about 5%, contrasting with the significant decline in active players since 2021.