EPTI'm glad sundance is working to get funding from at least three different places: venture capital, PPV and sponsorships. This is great!
MLG raises $11.3m in additional funding - Page 4
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Promethelax
Canada7089 Posts
I'm glad sundance is working to get funding from at least three different places: venture capital, PPV and sponsorships. This is great! | ||
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legaton
France1763 Posts
2012-03-12 - equity + options - 11 300 698 dollars 2011-11-23 - debt + option -2 500 000 dollars 2011-08-12 - debt + option - 3 083 328 2010-12-30 - equity - 3 333 353 dollars 2009-08-31 - equity - 3 499 995 dollars 2008-12-31 - equity + option - 7 500 000 dollars 2007-06-18 - equity - 1 400 000 dollars 2006-11-20 - equity - 25 000 000 dollars 2006-07-31 - equity - 10 000 000 dollars They have invested 11 millions per year for a generated revenue of what, 5 to 25 millions dollars? | ||
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teacash
Canada494 Posts
please nobody confuse "Total # of viewers = 240k for one event" with "240k viewers at a given time" though. Don't forget what the difference is, and immediately assume that MLG gets so many more viewers than stuff like HSC or Dreamhack because "the highest you ever see on viewer # for HSC is 60k" or some junk like that... A tournament held over multiple days could have 240k unique viewers for one event while never going over 60-80k at any given time. This is a reminder so nobody makes a fool of themselves and goes home thinking that MLG gets 4 times the viewers as every other tourney.. They don't, but they're doing great for themselves and we love to see that | ||
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caradoc
Canada3022 Posts
It's neither amazing nor terrible news. | ||
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Deshkar
Singapore1244 Posts
On March 14 2012 04:42 caradoc wrote: If the financial picture is absolutely rosy they don't need to offer ownership shares for VC. If the financial picture is absolutely grim, no VCs will buy ownership shares. It's neither amazing nor terrible news. This, though I'm feeling that the VC are seeing a light of the tunnel due to the success of 2011/SC 2/LOL. | ||
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cmen15
United States1519 Posts
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Sub40APM
6336 Posts
On March 14 2012 03:49 crms wrote: *paging business experts* So.. with seamingly all of their revenue coming from VC, is this good? I know many companies start up with VC and eventually get a sustainable model so they can stand on their feet, the VC's get a nice ROI and everyone walks into the sunset. However, MLG has been around 10+ years (correct?) and it seems like they still can't generate enough internal revenue (is this the correct term?) to be sustainable. Eventually VC dries up, right? What is so different from the dreaded 'sponsorship model' and the 'VC model'? It seems about the same to a laymen like me. I think some of the big risks MLG has taken lately like a high priced PPV is perhaps due to itchy VC's wanting to see some type of return or proof that MLG can be profitable? What kind of longevity does MLG have if all of their funding is coming from VCs? The fact that they 'sold' another 11.3 (want 13) million in VC a good sign? Good because investors still care about MLG and think it's worth while? Or a bad sign, that MLG still can't be profitable on their own and still need to reach out to VCs? Thanks in advance if any expert can answer my queries. <3 VC's will shovel money at anything, as long as you call yourself "Web 2.0" They know that all it takes is one good initial public offering to make it all back and then some. The real question is, as VC's continue to eat up portions of MLG how much operational control are they going to start to exert onto MLG, because even a dumb VC that primarily destroys its investors capital at it chases the next youtube/facebook/zynga eventually is going to want to see where its money is going. So to answer your question, if MLG suddenly announces that they have a new Chief Operating Officer or some other VC watchdog who is directly on the staff, its bad news. | ||
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coverpunch
United States2093 Posts
But they've basically told us the pitch already. MLG touts the fact that StarCraft 2 has attracted a large and loyal fan base and with the PPV, that many of those fans are willing to pay for events. There's no way to know if the community has taken well to advertising in relation to other sports and the tech sector. So MLG might not be profitable yet but they're growing. Their 2012 revenues are easily above where they were in 2011 at this point. I'd be curious to know what % growth MLG is predicting though. Do they need a million viewers for the Fall Championship to meet expectations? | ||
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Sub40APM
6336 Posts
On March 14 2012 04:38 legaton wrote: Sundance must sell a hell of a pitch, because it is hard to believe he's still able to secure more money for MLG. Since 2006, they have secured 67,6 millions in just 6 years! 2012-03-12 - equity + options - 11 300 698 dollars 2011-11-23 - debt + option -2 500 000 dollars 2011-08-12 - debt + option - 3 083 328 2010-12-30 - equity - 3 333 353 dollars 2009-08-31 - equity - 3 499 995 dollars 2008-12-31 - equity + option - 7 500 000 dollars 2007-06-18 - equity - 1 400 000 dollars 2006-11-20 - equity - 25 000 000 dollars 2006-07-31 - equity - 10 000 000 dollars They have invested 11 millions per year for a generated revenue of what, 5 to 25 millions dollars? Ya so? Groupon is still not profitable and they were able to do an IPO. Ditto linkedin. As long as the VC's can find a greater fool theyll think its okay. Look at Zynga, they are just announced a secondary offering of their shares, and they've been public for less than a year. Its just that most of us dont remember the bubble in 99, but basically the supply of idiots with money is finite but surprisingly much larger than a normal person would expect. | ||
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mindspike
Canada1902 Posts
On March 14 2012 04:42 caradoc wrote: If the financial picture is absolutely rosy they don't need to offer ownership shares for VC. If the financial picture is absolutely grim, no VCs will buy ownership shares. It's neither amazing nor terrible news. The question is what percentage of the company MLG had to give up. | ||
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ropumar
Brazil111 Posts
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Zorkmid
4410 Posts
On March 14 2012 03:49 crms wrote: However, MLG has been around 10+ years (correct?) and it seems like they still can't generate enough internal revenue (is this the correct term?) to be sustainable. Eventually VC dries up, right? What is so different from the dreaded 'sponsorship model' and the 'VC model'? It seems about the same to a laymen like me. If they're still able to raise 8 figures, SOMEONE might think there's so potential still. That or the investors are of pro sports teams owners ilk and are just looking for a new toy. On March 14 2012 04:54 mindspike wrote: The question is what percentage of the company MLG had to give up. I wish Kevin O'Leary bought 51%  | ||
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floor exercise
Canada5847 Posts
On March 14 2012 04:56 ropumar wrote: Sundance won't stop the doomsday predictions because of this. Even after our successful PPV we have to sell equity to stay afloat.. the Eye of Sauron still watches ESPORTS | ||
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mathsucks
194 Posts
On March 14 2012 04:33 kakaman wrote: Additional round of investment can be good or bad. Good because it gives MLG more capital to grow the business, but bad because the investor is the same as the one that invested before. It could be a scenario that MLG has been losing money throughout the year and its initial investor wants to invest more to hopefully turn the business around, rather than lose everything altogether. Interesting note in the SEC filing, it says MLG has revenues of $5mm-$25mm, which is somewhat telling. For some reason I had expected it to be larger, but it begs the question how viable Esports really is? MLG has been around 10 years and has yet to break $25mm in revenue. Couple that with MLG being a highly capital intensive organization, one would have to assume they barely break even/take a loss every year. You compare that to a company like Pinterest which started a year ago, doesn't make revenue but has ~10mm users already. If I were a VC investor, I know where my money is going. What is wrong with previous investors investing again? If anything, that shows me that they are impressed. Most businesses are unprofitable for some time. Look at most of the recent IPOs in the US...many of them are unprofitable still, and they're being publicly invested in. Most VC's don't chase bad money with more bad money, so it's unlikely that they're investing ANOTHER $11m if MLG was hurting that badly. Considering their stated revenue range...$11m is a considerable amount of money. I'm familiar with the company that owns Pinterest and it's doing very well, but revenue does NOT equal profitability. With all of these companies financials private, we can only assume that the experts that did get to look over their financials (the VC guys) felt that they were worthy of pumping another $11m in. | ||
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blamekilly
466 Posts
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Vadrigar
Bulgaria2379 Posts
On March 14 2012 05:18 blamekilly wrote: How much of the money have the players received? I don't think it's more than $300k for all the MLG combined. You know nothing! Having an office in f&^#ing Manhattan will make esports explode! | ||
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Soleron
United Kingdom1324 Posts
On March 14 2012 05:18 blamekilly wrote: How much of the money have the players received? I don't think it's more than $300k for all the MLG combined. The big expenses are on the permanent salary, equipment, venue rental, and New York office rental. None of those things are cheap. Lowballing everything hard: Let's say 10 staff * $25k = $250k $100k on streaming equipment, servers, computers, satellite truck $100k per Pro Circuit event to rent out the convention centre = $400k this year New York rental = $100k (gl hf finding something that low) Considering all expenses, $1m is not unreasonable and I could see it being $3-5m if convention centre costs are higher or they have more staff (remember those people need to be employed fulltime whether an event is on or not). The prize pool for SC2 is $100,000 for the whole Winter season, Halo $60k and fighting games $60k = $260k. So that's at least $1m in prize money this year as well. | ||
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Benjamin80
581 Posts
On March 14 2012 05:18 blamekilly wrote: How much of the money have the players received? I don't think it's more than $300k for all the MLG combined. Hey remember the CEO and managers of MLG needs to eat also | ||
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PresenceSc2
Australia4032 Posts
 Hope to see some sick production quality this year. Maybe even another prize pool increase. | ||
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blamekilly
466 Posts
On March 14 2012 05:26 Vadrigar wrote: You know nothing! Having an office in f&^#ing Manhattan will make esports explode! You know nothing! Having only a $5000 prize for an event can help you pay the rent and bank much of the rest too. You want to bring up the increased prize pool this year? I counter with the increased sponsorship money and PPV money. | ||
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