500,000 Tournaments a Day Results in Over $5 Million in Prizes Awarded Monthly to Players

Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced that it has hosted more than 100 million mobile eSports tournaments since its founding in 2012. The company now hosts over 500,000 tournaments every day. This equates to roughly 21,000 tournaments an hour, 347 a minute and six every second. Each Skillz tournament has the capacity to accommodate over 50,000 players.

“When people look back at 2016, they will see that it was a breakthrough year for eSports,” said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz. “We have a diverse group of players competing in tournaments on our platform, including a user base that’s 49 percent female. Reaching the milestone of 100 million tournaments proves what we’ve always known: mobile eSports can be enjoyed by anyone.”

Since reaching the milestone of $50 million awarded in total eSports prizes in October 2016, Skillz has already awarded an additional $10 million – a 20 percent increase in less than two months. Skillz is now awarding over $5 million in cash prizes to players every month. The company is also currently partnered with over 3,000 mobile game developers, helping them to improve the player experience through fair, fun competition.

“In many ways, eSports mirror the growth and trajectory of offline sports like basketball and football. The common thread is the sense of competition and camaraderie,” said Marc Lasry, Skillz investor and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. “Even with the massive growth we’ve seen in the industry, there are still millions of mobile gamers who haven’t tried eSports yet, which indicates a tremendous opportunity. Skillz has shown that eSports truly are for everyone – that’s why I’m so excited to work with this company.”

According to Newzoo, eSports industry revenue for 2016 has exceeded expectations, with a projection to reach $493 million by year’s end. This is a 52 percent increase over 2015. Skillz accounted for 8.4 percent of all eSports prizes in 2014, 21 percent in 2015 and is on track to account for over 30 percent in 2016, further cementing the growth and importance of mobile eSports in the industry.

For more information on Skillz-enabled games and implementing mobile eSports competitions, visit www.skillz.com or email launch@skillz.com.

About Skillz
Skillz is the leading mobile eSports platform, connecting the world’s 2.1 billion mobile gamers through competition. As the eSports provider for over 3,000 game studios, Skillz accounted for more than 20 percent of all eSports prizes awarded in 2015 while broadcasting 8.5 million minutes of gameplay to spectators worldwide. Skillz makes games better by powering the competitions that players love and giving developers the chance to turn their game into the next great electronic sport. Founded in 2012, Skillz is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading venture capitalists as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Mets. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.