Esports organizations are looking for new revenue streams to help them become profitable as quickly as possible, and it appears like 100 Thieves is well on its way with their well-publicized and hugely popular gear line.
Through their exclusive, irregular apparel lines, 100 Thieves created a name for themselves in the wider gaming and lifestyle space. Similar to ‘hypebeast’ companies like Supreme, these limited-edition drops attract a lot of attention due to their rarity, and they’ve all sold out in a matter of minutes thus far.
While Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag’s organization has benefited from this exclusive cycle in the past, many 100 Thieves fans (and hypebeasts) have lost out on purchasing merchandise. Not only is this unpleasant for customers, but it also means the corporation is possibly losing a lot of money. In July 2021, they addressed this requirement with their ‘Foundations’ apparel line, a basic collection of items that will always be accessible to buy alongside the more infrequent drops. While the expensive cost of the items drew a lot of criticism, it has proven to be financially beneficial for them.
It’s been revealed, through an email sent to press by an agency on behalf of 100 Thieves, that ‘Foundations’ produced over $2.5 million in revenue in its first month of operation. Of course, that’s an outstanding figure, but it’s worth emphasizing that this is a far cry from the profit they would have made otherwise. The apparel’s profitability hasn’t been revealed, and because there’s a lot that goes into establishing a garment line — research, designing, testing, manufacturing, shipping, and so on — a significant amount would have to be deducted from the revenue to determine how much they actually made.
100 Thieves are continuing to produce infrequent, heavily promoted collections alongside this always-on apparel line, proving that their apparel business is robust. They recently worked with Gucci to create a $2,500 backpack, which was met with some criticism once again.
Nadeshot also revealed on his stream that his organization will be spending $27 million for a spot in the Call of Duty League. They won’t have to pay anything up front, but they’ll need to be able to afford multi-million-dollar payments over the next few years.
