HLTV owner Better Collective acquires Futbin for $113M

Sports betting media group Better Collective has strengthened its gaming media portfolio through its acquisition of FIFA community website Futbin.

The acquisition: The company sees this move as bolstering its esports offering.

• Better Collective will acquire Futbin and its related assets in a deal worth $113.3M (€105M).
• The media group will pay $75.5M (€70M) in cash upfront, with the remaining amount coming through performance incentives paid over the next two years.
• It's stated that Futbin has 50M monthly visitors on its website and 3M daily active users on its app. The site provides tips and insights into FIFA Ultimate Team.

A wider lens: This is a costly acquisition for Better Collective.

• The acquisition of Futbin will cost Better Collective three times the amount it paid for HLTV, the leading Counter-Strike: Global Offensive website and community platform. At the time it was acquired, back in February 2020, HLTV had over 26M page views on a monthly basis.
• Futbin offers Futbin Premium, a subscription model that offers an advertisement-free experience for users. Coming in the form of four different packages, the paid service allows users to set notifications for updates as they're published on the website and to support the website as it aims to "keep improving [its] services and developing new features."
• Better Collective now considers itself a "leading publisher in the esports media space" following the acquisition. This sector in particular has been tough for companies to survive in, never mind thrive in, with many sites coming and going over the past few years. Upcomer is the latest media company in esports to visibly struggle, having laid off the bulk of its editorial staff just a year after relaunching.