The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released data on roughly 5M Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans on Monday, revealing several esports companies were approved for loans. The PPP, which has an interest rate of 1%, is a loan created to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll during the ongoing COVID-19 recession. Companies are eligible for a loan that is 2.5 times the amount of their average monthly payroll. Since the program was launched, more than half a trillion dollars of taxpayer money has been distributed to businesses approved for a PPP loan.
The parent company’s of several U.S. esports organizations, including Envy Gaming, FaZe Clan, NRG eSports, Complexity Gaming, Sentinels, Misfits Gaming, eUnited, and Rogue were approved for a PPP loan in the range of $150K USD to $2M. Also through their parent companies, Overwatch League (OWL) franchises Paris Eternals, San Francisco Shock, Dallas Fuel, New York Excelsior, and Florida Mayhem, as well as Call of Duty League (CDL), franchises Paris Legion, Dallas Empire, Atlanta FaZe, New York Subliners, Chicago Huntsmen, London Royal Ravens, and Seattle Surge, were approved for PPP loans of varying amounts. Furthermore, publicly traded companies Allied Esports Entertainment (AESE) and Super League Gaming (SLGG) received loans.
Depending on the issue date, PPP loans have a maturity of two or five years and loan payments are deferred for six months. Furthermore, PPP loans will be fully forgiven if the funds are used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (at least 60% of the amount must have been used for payroll) and the company maintains 75% of existing salary costs prior to the pandemic.
TEO combed through the data to compile a list of esports properties, though the list should not be considered comprehensive because of the enormous amount of data released by the SBA. Download the chart compiled here.
