If you have any doubt in the competitive gaming scene, then maybe you should tell these celebrities to rethink their decision.

Esports was once a niche community and only a handful of dedicated game developers, publishers as well as gaming brands are willing to provide sponsorships to the players and team organisers.

Those time have passed. In fact, esports is on a par with legitimate sports and business models today. Global esports revenue achieved a tremendous growth of over USD906 million and the majority of the growth (77%) are contributed to sponsorship and advertising, according to Newzoo.

With its current trajectory to reach USD1.4 billion by 2020, here are the celebrities who see the attractive figures and decided to invest in.

1. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez is undoubtedly a multifaceted entertainer with a career span from singer to actor to even an entrepreneur. J.Lo was also a part of a USD15 million funding deal for NRG.

According to ESPN, J.Lo along with other notable sports names including basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal in the USA invested to the  NRG Esports’ series B financing round.

NRG Esports had a brief stint in League of Legends team before financing in the San Francisco Shock Overwatch League team, which costs close to USD20 million. Other teams include from NRG Esports are CounterStrike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Hearthstone, Fortnite and more.

2. Drake 

Drake is no stranger to gaming where he broke a Twitch record by playing Fortnite with recent ESPN the Magazine cover boy Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, which the stream peaked to an all-time high of 628,000 concurrent viewers early this year.

When he’s not playing games, the Canadian rap superstar (along with entertainment mogul Scooter Braun, best known for representing Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande) has co-ownership of 100 Thieves, an apparel and esports company founded by former Call of Duty player Matt “Nadeshot” Haag.

Prior to his involvement in esports territory, Drake partnered up with 100 Thieves on the gaming stations to follow on his tour for Scorpion and some clothing collaborations in the making. In a way, he already has one foot in the door. So, he might as well land on both feet and enter the door.

3. Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq was a beast in the basketball court and he applies the same ruthlessness in esports business too. He is named as the General Manager of Kings Guard esports team, which is representing Sacremento Kings in the first NBA 2K League, a competitive league for NBA 2K19.

Similar to J.Lo, he’s an investor and advisor in NRG Esports, which is co-owned by Sacremento Kings owners Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov.

4. Steve Aoki

EDM musician, record producer, music executive Steve Aoki is another celebrity who is deeply involved in esports. Back in May 2016, he invested into an esports organisation, Rogue. Since then, the esports body has expanded to take in teams for various competitive games such as CS:GO, Overwatch, H1Z1, Rainbow Six Siege and more.

But the long-time gamer Aoki is more into Overwatch. After a few months of the acquisition, Rogue won USD100,000 in the first-ever Overwatch Atlantic Tournament and placed third in the Overwatch Open Tournament. Sadly, the young team was disbanded on 2017 due to a non-acceptance into the Overwatch League.

5. Ashton Kutcher

While some of the celebrities listed above are paving their esports league by buying or organising esports teams, actor and tech investor Ashton Kutcher has bought Unikrn in 2015.

Unikrn is a website that allows you to bet on real-time matches with your favourite esports athletes in games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, CS:GO and more. Akin to real life sports wagering, it’s a platform where you can bet legally by using real money or blockchain.

BONUS: Prior to the time of this publication, more and more celebrities gravitated towards the industry via the businesses they have majority control of. Here are two additional big names (hint: they are both basketball Hall of Famers) as esports investors.

6. Michael Jordan

The basketball legend, Michael Jordan is another National Basketball Association (NBA) best player who ventured into esports. Jordan reportedly put money into aXiomatic, the parent company of Team Liquid. Regarded as one of the most well-known esports organisations, Team Liquid has a long list of teams under the firm including Dota 2, League of Legends, CS:GO and many more.

Other than esports, Jordan is also the majority owner of basketball team Charlotte Hornets. The managing partner of the NBA basketball team Curtis Polk was also among the notable investors who closed in USD26 million funding round for aXiomatic.

7. LeBron James

Picture source: AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Top basketball athletes can’t seem to get enough of esports, from Shaq O’Neal to LeBron James. Following the Nike sponsorship deal with League of Legends top player Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, the decorated basketball player also lands in the deal to work on a new clothing line along with Zi-Hao.

This iconic collaboration marked as Nike’s first-time ever to sign an esports superstar to endorse the sportswear company’s campaign. Previously, James already runs a “Dribble &” shirt line while the AD Carry of Royal Never Give Up team, Zi-Hao makes his appearance with a new line, “Dribble & Carry” (pictured below), which is a reference to a vital team role for a victorious match in League of Legends tournament.

League of Legends top player Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao

Based on this list, this shows a sign that the esports industry has grown larger than ever. Even Formula One driver Fernando Alonso wants to have his own esports virtual racing team, FA Racing G2 Logitech.

As esports continues to rake in millions of dollars and also receives the positive recognition from the Malaysian government, we wouldn’t be surprised if other big names jump on the esports bandwagon.