Esport competitions and its organization is
really different from the sport competition we are used to know. In Esport it's
the same organism that usually manage the organization of events, is right
holder but also creating the content itself.
The Publishers
The developers are the company creating
video games aimed in part to be playable in Esport events. Without them esports
wouldn't even exist. These companies are also often publishing themselves the streaming
of their championships through their own website.
While on the other hand, some developers just
decide to sell the content they are producing to online platforms like Twitch
and YouTube. Even Facebook and Twitter are starting to buy licences allowing
them to broadcast Esport streaming.
Players and Teams
Generally, in Esport the most famous teams are
composed of several groups of players. Their size is different depending on the
played games. Just like in other sports, esports teams are unisex but only a
few teams have created female groups. Most of the teams are created with
investments from companies that are looking for a return on investment (e.g.
Bitkraft). The Esport market is now estimated around 1
billion dollars. The teams are generating money through:
- Sponsorships (e.g. Wearing brands logos on them).
- Profit Sharing (e.g. Key Events with Partners/Sponsors)
- Stream Partnerships (e.g. Giving the exclusivity to a platform of their training streams)
- Team-Organized Events (small competitions organized with fans)
- Player Appearances (Wearing clothes or using furniture from brands)
- Stream Ads (They are the content and are therefore earning money from ads)
Some brands even create their own teams of Esport,
for instance Red bull and Roccat (brand of PC furniture).
Tournament and League Organizers
The world of Esport is quite small and only
a few companies are organizing the most famous tournaments and leagues. Their
economic model is based on payments from teams to participate, ads on streaming,
media partnerships and sponsorships.
The most important company in Esport is Electronic
Sports League launched (ESL) in 2000. They are broadcasting more than 1500
hours of content a year and have already organised more than 109 000
tournaments around the world since its foundation. Numerous other competitors
are organizing similar events such as Dreamhack and Major League Gaming
Example of the ESL tournament and its stakeholders:
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