Maincast: the story of the monopolist of the Ukrainian esports broadcasting market

Date of publication: 28 March 2023

Today, the revenues of the Ukrainian esports broadcast studio Maincast amount to several tens of millions of hryvnias. And this is despite being unprofitable in 2022. How did Maincast manage to become a monopolist in two years? And what role did the owners of the company and its investor Maksim Krippa play in the success story?

According to Vitaliy Volochay, the founder of Maincast, the company currently owns about 65% of the Ukrainian esports broadcasting market. At the same time, experts put the figure at 99%, which is the share of Maincast in the segment of Ukrainian-language broadcasts of Counter-Strike tournaments. The numbers speak for themselves. But the question arises: what is the reason for this rapid growth? After all, back in 2022, Maincast recorded almost 190 thousand hryvnias in losses and was on the verge of collapse.

February 2022 changed everything

Since its inception in 2018, Maincast Studio has been a highly successful enterprise. However, the full-scale military operations on the territory of Ukraine dealt a powerful blow to the economy and business. Maincast was among those who suffered from the war not only in terms of explosions, rolling blackouts and general stagnation, but also in terms of, let's say, sales markets and the main product.

It is no secret that the main source of income for studios broadcasting esports events is sponsorship contracts. And Maincast fully complies with this business model. However, in February 2022, there was a collapse: Ukrainian advertisers terminated their contracts for obvious reasons - force majeure. Russian advertisers, for equally understandable reasons, were refused by Maincast itself. And then the structure shook. The money for the purchase of the rights was spent, and there was no income and no prospects for it. In a situation of deep crisis, a "cash cushion" helped to resist, as Vitaly Volochai put it.

Behind this vague wording is a very specific person: investor Maksim Krippa. In mid-2018, a few months after the studio was created, Maksim Krippa made his first investment in the startup, not fully realizing the potential success of the investment. However, soon the esports market began to grow rapidly and Maksym Krippa continued to build his portfolio of assets. The work with Maincast studio also continued and today, according to unconfirmed information, Maksim Krippa owns about 80% of Maincast. In a recent interview, Vitaliy Volochai confirmed that Maksim Krippa is a shareholder and co-owner of the company, but did not specify the size of his share.

The market does not allow for emptiness

In addition to the lack of sponsorship contracts, Maincast faced another significant problem: the Russian language. While broadcasting in Russian for an apolitical audience used to be the norm, with the outbreak of hostilities across Ukraine, both viewers and commentators refused to continue using the Russian language. Maincast's management and Maksim Krippa stood in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, but this did not negate the narrowness of the Ukrainian-language broadcasting segment and the problems with the already acquired copyrights to broadcast in Russian. It took several months to resolve the legal conflicts, and then work began on creating a new Ukrainian-language segment.

It should be noted that the work was more than successful: last year, in 2023, the Ukrainian-speaking audience of Counter-Strike fans grew to 7.8 million people, up from 2.7 million in the previous period. Maincast itself practically monopolized the segment, reaching 99%. At the same time, Maincast's revenues amounted to more than UAH 18 million in 2023, and its profit was UAH 2.4 million.

More to come

Maksim Krippa is pleased with the success of Maincast, but it is known that investors are interested not only in the current state of affairs but also in the prospects. As for Maincast, Maksim Krippa can rest easy - the numbers tell the tale.

The global esports market has a capacity of $2.7 billion and a growth forecast of +20% per annum. Thus, the market potential could reach $10 billion in 2032. At the same time, the Ukrainian esports market is also growing. Record views of Maincast in 2023 amounted to 60 thousand fans at the peak, but in early 2024, the studio surpassed itself by more than 2 times - 137 thousand viewers at the peak. This is not the limit for the Ukrainian market, experts say, adding that the number of viewers at the peak may soon exceed 300 thousand.

The trend in advertisers is also encouraging. While at the beginning of 2022, Maincast experienced enormous difficulties with sponsorship contracts, today there are more and more global brands such as Pepsi and KFC on the Ukrainian esports broadcast market.

To recap: Maksim Krippi also owns the esports organization NAVI. It was the broadcast of the PGL Major Copenhagen Counter-Strike 2 tournament, where the NAVI team became the champion, that gained a record number of 137 thousand views at its peak.

Comments

Olga Ivanova: "This is a really impressive success for Maincast. The growth of the Ukrainian-speaking audience and support from investors such as Maksim Krippa played a key role. It is important that the company was able not only to survive in difficult times but also to practically monopolize the segment. The future of esports in Ukraine looks very promising!"

Oleksiy Kovalenko: "This is an interesting article. It's amazing how Maincast managed to cope with so many problems and succeed. The support of Maksim Krippa and the transition to Ukrainian-language broadcasts were the right decisions. I hope that the company will continue to delight us with new achievements and high performance."

Marina Petrova: "I agree with the author that February 2022 was a turning point for many companies, including Maincast. However, thanks to the competent management and support of Maksim Krippa, the studio not only survived but also became a market leader. The growth of the audience and revenue is also impressive. I wish the Maincast team continued success and new heights!"