What do pro EA Sports FC players earn? Secrets of FIFA & esports content creation revealed

A whole new vocation has arisen with the growth in esports: the professional gamer. If you're a lover of the EA Sports FIFA series - now known as EA Sports FC - you might even have considered looking into it yourself as a potential career path.

It's a competitive field, no doubt, with millions of people playing these games every year, but there is a healthy cohort of pros out there forging a living out of their efforts.

So, what sort of money is involved for the elite-level gamers who stream daily, open Ultimate Team packs for their subscribers and participate in official competitions? The figures might come as a surprise, especially if you are talented.

"There's such a stigma around gaming and esports players in general," EA Sports FC content creator and FIFA commentator Brandon Smith told the FootballCo Business Podcast.

"A player probably wakes up at 10am or 11am and I reckon they're probably playing from around midday until the early hours of the [following] morning. Yes, there are breaks in between, but I reckon they are playing for around 12 hours, just grinding, playing other pro players, ripping packs.

Smith continues: "If you're a top level FIFA player, or EAFC pro, you can be looking at a salary of £5,000 a month, £10,000 a month, plus.

"Yes, you are expected to stream, yes, you are expected to activate brand deals when they come in for your team, but, if you're a top level player, you can be looking at a good £10,000-plus a month.

"Some of those contracts can be two years if you're smart, so it's a lot of money and then there is prize money on top of that.

"For example, 'Nicholas99', an Argentinean player, he's been playing since 2018. We're five years in since then and the guy's made $675,000 in prize earnings. That's without a wage."

Smith has cultivated a huge following online, initially focusing on things such as pack openings, but he changed his approach somewhat in 2022 to focus on commentary, narrating moments as they happen in the game, and interacting with fellow gamers in the real world.

The result of his pivot to short-form content has been a massive increase in followers and subscribers, which has financial benefits attached.

"If there are 100 people opening packs, how are you going to stand out?" Smith explains. "Compared to 'oh, he's that EA FC commentator who commentated on that moment' or 'he's the guy who goes round and asks people who their favourite player is on the game'.

"I feel like I've found my niche and I've had a really good year."

What does a good year look like? It involves unimaginable growth.

"At the start of last year, I took my TikTok from 300,000 followers to a million, which was unbelievable," says Smith.

"I took my Instagram from 100,000 to 400,000. This time last year, on YouTube I had around 10,000 subscribers and now I have 280,000. It's just growth that I never thought would be imaginable.

"You sit there - and this sounds petty - but you'd dream about that YouTube '100k' plaque and I was like, 'I'm never gonna get there'. Then short-form content arrived and I was like, 'this is my thing, short is the way to go'.

"These platforms have been so rewarding. On YouTube you can now make a living off short videos because there are ads on them. TikTok brought in this thing where if you post 60-second long videos, you can make some really good ad revenue.

"For example, to be brutally honest, the other day I did a video. It did a million views on TikTok and it's paid, like, £200 - for a 60-second video! And that video is still going to get [more] views. It's ridiculous, a 60-second video paying £200? Some YouTube videos that get really good views don't even get that."

Listen to the full interview with Brandon Smith in the video above!

Alternatively, you can listen to the FootballCo Business Podcast on Spotify.