The Esports Awards have ended for another year, and many trophies changed hands on the night. One award that has the esports community up in arms is the title of ‘Esports Organisation of the Year’, which went to Team Falcons.
Team Falcons was founded in 2017 but the brand made almost no waves at all until 2022, when the inaugural ‘Gamers8’ event took place in Riyadh. This Saudi Arabian organisation is backed by the nation’s government, and many have long been sceptical about the legitimacy of the organisation and its funding.
A while ago, The Esports Awards signed a three-year deal with Saudi Arabia’s Esports World Cup Foundation, pledging to host the event in Riyadh for the next three iterations.
That’s a Problem
Team Falcons has investment from and ties to the Saudi Arabian government via the PIF and Savvy Games Group. The Esports World Cup, which took place earlier this year, is managed by ESL FACEIT, which is wholly owned by Savvy, and by extension, the Saudi government.
In August, Team Falcons won the grand championship at the Esports World Cup after winning more tournaments and fielding more teams than any other organisation in the world. Before, during, and after the event, Team Falcons was able to buy up some of the best esports players in the world to fill out rosters.
All this was achieved by an organisation founded in 2017, which didn’t really gain any traction until it started to receive sizeable investments from the Saudi government. It was part of what the community refers to as ‘esportswashing’, with the nation’s officials seeking to clean up the country’s image by investing heavily in esports and gaming.
Here are some facts:
- Team Falcons started winning in Dota 2 this year after picking up some of the world’s best players
- Team Falcons’ Counter-Strike exploits have gotten nowhere despite splashing the cash to sign huge players (like s1mple)
- Team Falcons did nothing in Apex Legends until the Esports World Cup after signing one of the winningest players in the space
- Team Falcons produced little in the way of results in Rocket League until Gamers8 and the Esports World Cup
- Team Falcons secured a spot in the COD League (Vegas Falcons) despite having an awful track record in the game’s multiplayer scene
- Team Falcons has dominated Warzone tournaments thanks to signing the most capable players in the space
Before the Saudi line was tapped into, the only thing Team Falcons was really any good at was Fortnite, and a lot of the team’s earnings in that space had come from Gamers8, the Riyadh-based event that was replaced by the Esports World Cup.
It’s surely becoming clear now how this is a problem with esports fans – it’s a matter of pouring as much money into the space as possible because there are no ‘financial fair play’ rules.
To win the Esports Organisation of the Year trophy at The Esports Awards, Team Falcons had to beat:
- Natus Vincere
- Vitality
- Team Liquid
- G2 Esports
- Gen G
- T1 Esports
- Fnatic
- Team Spirit
Team Falcons’ crowning achievement for 2024 is winning an event that it flooded with teams to gain the maximum advantage possible. It also won that event, which is backed by the Saudi government, while being backed by the Saudi government, in Saudi.
But hey, congratulations on the award.
Let us know what you think about this on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming esports, check out the news that the LoL Worlds 2024 final hit 50 million peak viewers
