By Dan Kleinman and Matt Perez
Europe’s known for its storied playing fields in arenas like England’s Old Trafford and Italy’s San Siro, but matches waged on the virtual battlefield of Summoner’s Rift may soon join the region’s long sporting history.
This year’s European 30 Under 30 in Sports and Games highlights the entrepreneurs and all-star athletes across every facet of competition and video gaming. Leading the list is Carlos Rodriguez, the founder and CEO of popular esports organization, G2 Esports. A former professional player, the 28-year-old started his company in 2013, and his teams have since gone on to win championships in games like League of Legends and Rainbow Six Siege. Forbes estimated the club earned $8 million in revenue in 2018 with a valuation of $105 million, and Rodriguez plans to expand its headquarters in Berlin to create a full training facility and hub for its esports operations.
It’s not just the owners standing out. Esports stars like Pierre Silfver and Christopher Alesund are making history in the young industry. Silfver became the first Rocket League player to win three championships in the burgeoning esport. And Alesund’s nickname GeT_RiGhT has been uttered with reverence by Counter-Strike commentators for years now, especially when he and his teammates strung together 87 straight wins in 2013, a feat that may never be bested.
Joining these esports figures on the list is a roster of sports icons and the creators making games for them to play. Steve Filby helped produce 2018’s smash indie hit, Dead Cells, a fast-paced time sink that earned $20 million in revenue. Speaking of games that eat up hours of time, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt became an instant classic due to its deep log of quests, which Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz designed. He’s now focusing on telling stories in the new sprawling world of Cyberpunk 2077.
The list also includes the athletes who are winning on the field and in the boardroom. France's star soccer players Antoine Griezmann and N'Golo Kante lit up the 2018 World Cup, eventually defeating Croatia for the championship. And although Griezmann got a piece of the World Cup trophy, he earned his own hardware by receiving the Bronze Ball Award for the third-best performance in the tournament and was named Man of the Match for his play against Croatia. Griezmann's prowess on the field has led to sponsorships with Puma, Head & Shoulders and Gillette.
Dina Asher-Smith, the Sunday Times’ 2018 British Sportswoman of the Year, has sprinted her way to a combined five domestic and international gold medals in the same year—setting British records for the 100- and 200-meter races along the way. With Nike, Muller and Hublot as sponsors, the fastest woman in Britain has plenty of fuel to chase even bigger goals going forward.
As the second-ranked women’s tennis player in the world, Petra Kvitova has aced over $29 million in career earnings, in part from her Wimbledon victories in 2011 and 2014. She’s netted an impressive portfolio of endorsements, from sponsors including Nike, Wilson, TAG Heuer, and L’Occitane.
This year’s list was curated by standouts in both the sports and gaming spaces. Brendan Greene jump-started the battle royale craze as the modder-turned-creative director behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Released in early 2017, the game quickly became one of the most popular in the world, selling 40 million copies in its first year and evolving into an esport itself.
Starting his team Fnatic in 2004, Sam Mathews has built Europe’s most popular homegrown esports organization. Its dominance in popular games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike has made it an organization Forbes valued at $120 million last year.
And Jason Levien is both the co-owner of the Wales-based EFL Championship football team, Swansea City AFC, as well as the CEO and GM of the Major League Soccer squad, DC United. Levien was also formerly the CEO of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.
