It is a bitter blow for North American Dota 2 as one of the most significant esports organizations in the region has disbanded – Nouns Esports. On November 1, Nouns decided to leave the team, which marked the end of their two and a half years of Dota 2 and changed the face of North American esports.
How Nouns Entered the Dota 2 Scene
Nouns Esports started its Dota 2 venture in May 2022 when the Nouns DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, decided to buy a team. In this system, the holders of Nouns token decide on the investment opportunities, and the selected proposals are funded by the Nouns Treasury using ETH.
For Nouns Esports, the objective was to bring the brand into the spotlight within the active Dota 2 community, which has millions of fans worldwide. This proposal was well-received by the DAO members, and 35 ETH (approximately $88,000 at the time) was approved to sign the unsponsored North American squad 4 Zoomers, who were then renamed Nouns Esports.
Nouns Esports’ Accomplishments
Looking at the effects of Nouns Esports, one can conclude that the project was, to a significant extent, successful. Nouns played in some of the biggest Dota 2 tournaments globally, including TI 2023 and TI 2024 for the NA region. Such appearances offered a great deal of brand awareness, in conjunction with the attention generated by other third-party events.
Nouns Esports earned $529,000 in total prize money, which is quite a lot, given that the size of Dota 2’s major tournaments’ prize pools has been shrinking recently.
Financial Constraints and Lost Revenues
Nonetheless, Nouns Esports faced issues with financial viability while having high visibility and performance. Their proposal included one major policy: players would keep all their prize money, which meant the organization did not take a cut—unheard of in traditional esports organizations. This left sponsorships as their primary source of revenue.
Although they managed to obtain sponsorship from Adidas for The International 2024 and collaborated with a cryptocurrency exchange, Nouns Esports avoided esports betting sponsors, which are a popular source of income for other organizations. The lack of sponsorship and the absence of the prize-pool as a source of income proved to be a problem in the long run. In their farewell statement, Nouns expressed their desire to look for new sponsors who may enable the team to return to Dota 2.
What’s Next for the Nouns Dota 2 Team?
For the former Nouns Dota 2 roster, they are expected to participate in more events such as DreamLeague Season 24 but they will most probably be playing under a temporary, non-sponsored tag. Considering the talent and experience of these players, it is just a matter of time before they look for another team to play for.
A Concerning Development for Dota 2 in North America
Most worrisome is the effect on North American Dota 2 as a whole. After Nouns Esports, the region has no other major sponsors that support a Dota 2 team. Almost all major NA organizations have either refused to participate in the game or have transferred their teams to other continents, thus leaving a gap in the domestic market.
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