Erik “shoke” Shokov is the owner and founder of CYBERSHOKE, a team that has been a stable tier 2 presence over the past few years. Recently he has given the world a rare insight into what the expenses and revenue looks like for an esports team.
The budgets
In two recent posts on X, he shared a breakdown of both the team’s spending and revenue. In the first post, Erik revealed that CYBERSHOKE spent $942,675 over a 2.5 year period, with more than half of that total listed under “salaries and compensation.”
Shokov followed that up with a second post, this time focusing on the other side of the equation, where he shared details on the team’s revenues.
Incredibly, the numbers point to CYBERSHOKE running at a deficit of more than $300,000 over roughly that same 2.5 year period, despite operating across multiple revenue streams. In the post, Shokov adds that the revenue side includes sponsorship contracts, player transfers, prize money, and jersey sales, giving a clearer picture of where the money has come from, and just how difficult it can be to balance the books.
