Esports groups in South Africa are turning play into revenue

South Africa’s esports scene is levelling up, from informal passion to severe enterprise, with prize swimming pools, sponsorships, {and professional} contracts turning avid gamers into earners. It’s opening new profession pathways and reshaping how younger folks work together with digital innovation and aggressive play.

Esports is the structured, aggressive aspect of video gaming, the place gamers, people or groups, face off in skilled tournaments and leagues. They compete for prizes, and recognition whereas followers watch and cheer them on, both on-line or at reside occasions, identical to in conventional sports activities. Structured leagues, tournaments, and rating programs organise esports gamers. Skilled gamers might have coaches, analysts, and devoted coaching schedules, very like standard athletes.

“At present, esports will not be solely about enjoying video games,” mentioned Jaco Sauer, co-founder and common supervisor at RGB Gaming, an esports administration and improvement firm. “It’s an all-encompassing programme that offers gamers publicity to every part from tournaments and hackathons to recreation design and enterprise improvement.”

As South Africa positions itself inside the international digital economic system, esports is changing into a gateway for youth participation in technology-driven industries. Past the prize cash and tournaments, it’s nurturing a brand new era fluent in coding, knowledge analytics, content material creation, and entrepreneurship. The nation’s increasing esports ecosystem can be catalysing innovation in streaming and advertising, proving that gaming might be each an financial accelerator and a device for digital inclusion.

Largest esports market on the continent

South Africa’s esports market was valued at about $14.3 million in 2020. Since then, it has surged and is predicted to achieve roughly $29 million in income in 2025, with projections as excessive as $44.1 million by 2030. The income combines sponsorships, prize swimming pools, promoting, media rights, and merchandise amongst others. The market has additionally skilled annual development charges of 18.7% to 24%, pushed by greater sponsorships, digital engagement, and cellular entry. 

Sauer famous that esports betting has emerged as a major driver in South Africa and globally. With the rise {of professional} gaming tournaments and elevated viewer engagement, followers are inserting real-money wagers on match outcomes, participant performances, and in-game occasions. 

PwC’s Africa Leisure and Media Outlook 2025–2029 report reveals that South Africa is  Africa’s largest esports market, supported by native tournaments, campus leagues, and community-led gaming hubs. Organisations like Thoughts Sports activities South Africa (MSSA) and the Confederation of African Esports (CAES) are serving to native avid gamers throughout cellular, desktop, and console platforms rise via international ranks. Additionally, personal tertiary establishments like Eduvos are investing closely in esports, not solely as a sport however as a studying platform that blends teamwork, digital literacy, and important considering.

Eduvos launched its campus-wide esports programme in 2023, pushed by the idea that gaming builds transferable abilities that matter within the office. The college has rolled out esports throughout all 12 campuses, with over 300 avid gamers, and partnerships with eight excessive faculties. 

“Esports has been a giant push for us since final yr,” says Tony Matchaba-Hove, Eduvo’s Bedfordview Campus common supervisor. “The hyperlink between schooling and gaming is what’s driving us, the necessity to create future-ready graduates. Too typically, college students go away college with information that isn’t simply transferable to the working world. Gaming helps us shut that hole.”

Ruben dos Santos Pires, a third-year pupil in software program engineering, has been a part of Eduvo’s esports neighborhood for 2 years. He competes in Overwatch and Apex Legends and has gained a number of tournaments. He says gaming has helped him handle stress and keep targeted.

“The competitiveness of esports is what retains me going,” he says. “It’s pleasant, however I additionally get inventive concepts from the video games, and there are prizes, tournaments, and a way of feat.”

“College students are usually not simply gaming for leisure; they’re integrating aggressive play, digital studying, and tech-focused extracurriculars as a part of their educational development. “It’s a device for wellness, teamwork, and even profession preparation,” Tian van der Merwe, an data expertise lecturer at Eduvos, provides.

Following the esports cash

South Africa is dwelling to a few of Africa’s greatest esports aggressive groups, together with ATK, Bravado Gaming, and Goliath Gaming. In 2020, Cloud9 signed a South African duo to play Counter-Strike: World Offensive (CS:GO), placing native expertise on the worldwide stage.

Globally, esports is now a multi-billion-dollar trade. A few of the world’s high gamers, like Denmark’s Johan “N0tail” Sundstein, who has earned over $7 million from 130 tournaments, rival conventional athletes in earnings. 

South Africa’s numbers are smaller however rising. A complete of 846 South African esports gamers have collectively earned over $2 million in prize cash throughout 648 tournaments,  in keeping with Esports Earnings, a web site that screens esports earnings for avid gamers all over the world. The location reveals that probably the most profitable title is CS:GO accounting for over $1 million in winnings, 43% of all earnings by South African opponents. Amongst them, Ioannis “JT” Theodosiou stands because the nation’s top-earning participant, with complete winnings of over $250 000, of which practically $170 000 or 67%, comes from competing in CS: GO

Banking on gaming

South Africa’s huge companies are stepping into esports. Nedbank, via its YouthX initiative, has partnered with Goliath Gaming, certainly one of South Africa’s main groups, to create alternatives for aspiring esports gamers. Telecoms like MTN, Vodacom, and Telkom are additionally backing tournaments, constructing digital arenas, and sponsoring leagues. Throughout these esports tournaments, younger avid gamers typically obtain skilled coaching whereas they compete for money prizes.

In 2025, Comedian Con Africa featured a complete prize pool of greater than R600,000 ($34 722) for its main esports tournaments, together with Telkom VS Gaming’s Excessive Faculty Esports League and CS2 Masters.

Gender stability

The gender stability in South African esports has been regularly shifting, with notable efforts and up to date milestones geared toward rising feminine participation and visibility within the trade. 

Main occasions just like the 2024 Mzansi Esports Champions, held at Johannesburg’s rAge Expo, have positioned African girls esports gamers within the highlight, with South African participant Zahraa Khan (“Iron-Fist”) profitable the championship towards opponents from eight Southern African international locations. MSSA federation has carried out insurance policies to attempt for gender equality in nationwide squads, aiming for about 50% feminine illustration in staff picks the place attainable.

“We’re seeing a large improve in feminine avid gamers,” Sauer mentioned. “Historically, esports was very male-dominated, however over the past two years, now we have seen extra girls getting into the house. Esports is without doubt one of the few sports activities that permits inclusivity throughout all ranges, gender, age, background; it makes no distinction,”

Widespread video games

The preferred genres stay first-person and third-person shooters (FPS/TPS), with CS:GO and PUBG MOBILE main in each participation and income. 

At Eduvos, college students can take part in free inter-campus leagues that they organise themselves. However via partnership with RGB, they’ll additionally entry a full catalogue of aggressive video games for a minimal subscription of R600 ($35) per block, or a R2400 ($140) yearly, giving them entry to every part, from Apex Legends to Valorant. That subscription additionally unlocks entry into Africa’s largest inter-campus esports league, in addition to pathways to nationwide competitions like Comedian Con Africa and Rage.

As esports cements its place in South Africa’s digital economic system, the subsequent part of development will rely on funding in infrastructure, native content material creation, and coverage frameworks that nurture expertise from the grassroots. The nation stands at a tipping level, with universities, corporates, and tech innovators now treating gaming as greater than recreation however as a viable trade and a abilities engine. If knowledge prices proceed to fall and entry to high-speed web expands, esports may evolve into certainly one of South Africa’s most dynamic youth-driven sectors.