South Korean esports organisation T1 Esports shared its financial results for 2025, and this was a very important moment for the company. For the first time ever, T1 made an operating profit. This means the company finally earned more money from its core business than it spent.
In 2025, T1 earned total revenue of about ₩88.64 billion, which is roughly $58–60 million. This is a huge jump of over 80% compared to 2024. More importantly, the company made an operating profit of ₩2.51 billion ($1.66 million).
Last year, it had lost ₩8.85 billion ($5.84 million), so this is a big turnaround. Even its final profit (net profit) became positive at ₩1.23 billion ($0.81 million). In simple terms, T1 moved from losing money to actually making money.
A big reason for this growth was merchandise sales. T1 made most of its money by selling products like jerseys, team merchandise, and branded items. This brought in about ₩74.13 billion ($48.93 million), which is almost 87% higher than last year. On the other hand, sponsorships and ads, including deals like fashion brand ABLY and Red Sea Global, brought in ₩14.51 billion ($9.58 million), which also grew but not as fast. So, merchandise became the main engine of revenue.
However, the company still spends a lot of money. Running the team and paying players cost about ₩30.68 billion ($20.25 million). On top of that, producing merchandise cost ₩20.60 billion ($13.60 million). Even though these costs are high, the strong increase in revenue helped T1 still make a profit. It is similar to a business that spends more to produce goods but earns even more by selling them successfully.
Even with this success, T1 still has financial challenges. The company has an accumulated deficit of ₩74.12 billion ($48.92 million), which means it has losses from previous years that are still not fully covered. It also has a very high debt ratio of over 700%, meaning it relies a lot on borrowed money. To manage this, T1 raised about ₩11.39 billion ($7.52 million) in new funding in March 2026. This is like taking extra investment to support future growth.
Similarly, a few days back, a French esports production company, One Trick Production (OTP), recently shared a breakdown of its finances, giving a glimpse into how much esports broadcasting can earn in France. That said, not every esports company is doing well. League ApS, which runs the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), has told Riot Games it can’t continue operating the league anymore.
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