eSports
Odgers Berndtson: Annual income of esports top management can reach $170 000
Headhunters are often among the first to identify trends, thereby making them the people who come to find the best managers.
Odgers Berndtson has interviewed twenty top club managers around the world – from North America to Oceania, including Western Europe, Russia and the CIS countries. The results of this study will be useful for all market participants: clubs to compare themselves with competitors, investors who want to enter the esports market, professionals who want to work in the industry, and for fans who are interested in understanding what’s behind their favorite players.
Organisational structures
During interviews with representatives of esports clubs, we have identified 2 main management models (each of them can be subdivided into 2 subcategories):
The first model is a business structure with traditional key functions inside: Sales, Operations, HR, Finance, etc., which report to the CEO. These structures follow the classic organisational model from the corporate world. 81% of the clubs we surveyed have this type of organisational structure.
The remaining 19% of clubs have only two key managers – CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and COO (Chief Operating Officer), who share areas of responsibility among themselves. The most common configuration is when one manager develops such functions as Sales, Marketing and Gaming, and the another one is responsible for the back-office (accounting, finance, etc.). In 50 % of these companies the club outsources the functions of sales and marketing, and the rest have these functions (including sales and marketing) implemented internally.
Sports management
The main resource of the esports business are players, teams, and sports results. Nowadays, clubs use 2 main models of sports management. 57% of clubs have a Sports Director / Chief Gaming Officer who is responsible for team management and sports performance. In the remaining 43%, this function is linked with one of the top managers of the club (CEO / COO). The main factor in both approaches is the CEO / COO’s personal professional gaming experience.
Compensation packages
After we have gathered and systemized all data of compensation packages in the clubs, we saw a big difference in absolute values (up to 10 times). This is due to the different living standards in the regions where esports clubs are present. To present the relevant average earnings in key positions, we removed 10% of the minimum and maximum values.
Annual income:
• CEO – from $ 70,000 to $ 170,000 gross;
• COO – from $ 50,000 to $ 160,000 $ gross;
• CCO (Sales, Partnerships, Sponsorships) / CMO (Content, Marketing, PR) – from $ 50,000 to $ 150,000 gross;
• HRD / CFO / CIO / Legal Director – from $ 40,000 to $ 120,000 gross.
Compensation packages insights
Over the past 1.5-2 years, the structure of compensation packages has changed towards a form similar to other industries – a fixed part and a bonus (the amount of which depends on the KPIs fulfillment). It is important to note that about 40% of top clubs stimulate their top team with long-term incentives (LTI).
The main KPIs for top management are operational: P&L performance, growth number of subscribers on social networks and active fans, views of matches / team content, users retention, and attraction of partners.
Most of Chief Gaming Officer and the CEO have sports results reflected in KPIs. This distinguishes esports managers from colleagues who manage clubs in traditional sports, where in most cases the entire team of top managers has an additional bonus from the team’s athletic performance.
Market trends
• An esports club is no longer just a collection of players who play for themselves or their investor. It is a full-fledged business with media and commercial parts. Esports has become a valuable part of the entertainment market;
• The staff ranges from 18 to 75 people. Only 21% of the organizations we had surveyed have more than 50 employees. Esports clubs, unlike traditional sports teams, still have compact structures;
• Esports companies are becoming increasingly mature and open toward external markets. They hire people having no professional gaming experience, invite business consultants to tackle recruitment tasks, draft strategy and move the club forward;
• Proper P&L management is a short- or mid-term task for 75% of top clubs;
• Employment’s agreements with athletes have changed:
– KPIs for sports results now included
– employment contracts became long-term;
– the club’s share has increased in the prize money from tournaments.
About the study:
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BETER, the leading provider of betting content and data, and GRID, a first-party esports live data provider, extend their partnership to bring advanced data visualizations to BETER’s esports offering, enhancing the betting experience for all enthusiasts around the globe
GRID widgets include visualizations such as The Map Winner Prediction Tracker, Series Scoreboard, LiveLog, and Comparison Widgets. The integration will also see a recently released GRID Stats Widget integrated into the BETER betting solutions, displaying various customizable statistics such as win rate, damage per round, First 5 kills, headshots, and many more.
Designed to be game title-agnostic, the GRID Widgets display real-time stats. They can be powered by any data source for any game in any genre, making them an entirely universal tool for data visualization across all esports content.
This new integration of data visualization will help bettors make more informed betting decisions and significantly increase their understanding of the game and its progress before, during, and after the game is live.
The widgets are versatile and fully customizable to match any partner’s branding and ensure the best experience can be scaled across mobile and desktop platforms.
Chuck Robinson, Chief Revenue Officer at BETER: “We are excited to expand our partnership with GRID, bringing advanced data visualizations to our esports offering. This collaboration allows us to offer our partners’ customers a more immersive and engaging betting experience, helping them interact with esports on a whole new level. By leveraging GRID’s real-time data and customizable widgets with comprehensive statistics, we’re setting a new standard in the betting landscape, ensuring that BETER continues to lead the way in innovative esports betting solutions.”
Mikael Westerling, Chief Sales Officer at GRID: “Together with BETER, we share a common vision for how the esports betting experience should be designed—immersive, authentic, interactive, and powered by official data. Data is a powerful tool for storytelling, and the GRID widgets are designed to make esports content more accessible to new fans while deepening engagement with existing audiences. By providing real-time, actionable insights directly from the game server to BETER, we deliver a next-level experience that truly resonates with the esports community.”
The post BETER and GRID Bring Advanced Data Visualizations to Esports Betting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Esports betting in the United States is a yet to be fully tapped, and with more regulatory progress the total market and opportunity in esports continues to grow.
It’s why at PandaScore, we recently acquired our first license in the lucrative American market, in the esports-friendly state of Colorado. The move is a strong signal of our ambition in the US, but it also sets out our methodology for solving the uncertainty problem that US esports betting currently suffers from.
Supplier licensing should lead the way
The unknowns about what markets and lines can be offered are a key piece of the puzzle in many jurisdictions. Uncertainty around the legislation means operators are tentative to jump in with both feet. At PandaScore, we’re helping operators navigate US esports betting regulation on a state-by-state basis, so they can make business led decisions in markets with right balance of stability and opportunity.
Except for a few states, esports betting regulation is relatively new: there’s not a great deal of precedent to work from, and its quickly evolving nature means there’s likely more work to be done in the future. We plan to be at the forefront of making sure that esports betting works for the whole ecosystem: operators, suppliers, regulators and the betting public.
The regulatory framework across the country may be shifting at different paces, but almost all states are going in one direction: expansion.
Esports suppliers have a duty to show operators the way and give them the tools, knowledge and expertise to make the right decision. We don’t believe in going all guns blazing, but entering markets with some certainty around esports in a considered fashion.
We can be more confident that those specific markets are built for esports, with Colorado being PandaScore’s first step for several reasons.
Why Colorado
When deciding which market to enter, we consulted heavily with our customers and whittled it down to states that had the right mix of commercial opportunity, solid regulatory environment and straightforwardness in licensing.
Since regulating esports, Colorado has had a friendly framework for esports. The catalogue for regular betting includes a wide range of esports titles based on approved games and tournaments by the publisher or regulator – which follows some similarities to how traditional sports betting is structured.
The process itself was simple and clear, with clear terms and commercials that promote investment, entrepreneurship and innovation – all key ingredients for growing new markets and ambitious organisations to build new audiences.
Colorado is the natural next step in PandaScore’s service-minded, client-first approach. There’s already a generation of bettors who are seeking out esports betting products, esports suppliers need to be the source of knowledge and expertise that helps guide and amplify the esports ambitions of their clients.
Service-minded approach, client-led growth
We bring operators into the licensing conversation from the outset, exploring the licenses most valuable to them and then leveraging our lean, efficient operating model to get it done.
We’ve proven we’re serious about the US market, and that we can get a license efficiently, so if an operator desires a specific jurisdiction, we base our decisions on the revenue potential, give them a clear, no-spin picture of the market, and put in the hard work of licensing to provide our services in the US.
Player age verification as a mandatory service
A huge part of that no-spin picture is addressing the concern and risk around player age verification in esports. Compliance is paramount for suppliers and operators alike, so knowing the requirements from state to state is essential.
PandaScore has been offering player age verification for years and is well established on this front thanks to years of servicing jurisdictions like Australia and Sweden. We already have an API that clients use for peace of mind, and are beefing it up as a standalone service intended to support regulators and governing bodies to ensure compliance, confidence and growth.
Suppliers need to lead from the front for US esports betting to succeed. It’s not just about having the best product – they need to be an expert on relevant regulation, genuinely serve the expansion interests of clients and be a truly safe pair of hands that actively supports and serves operators, bettors and regulators alike.
Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.
eSports
HUAWEI AppGallery Sponsors PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 to Support Emerging Esports Players in Turkey
HUAWEI AppGallery this year sponsored PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars season 4, Turkey’s biggest amateur esports tournament. Held annually, PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars’s purpose is to identify and nurture new talent, as participants engage in battle on the PUBG Mobile esports platform. The Grand Finals concluded on 1 September.
AppGallery Sponsorship: Attracting Youth Talent to Esports
AppGallery hopes to promote esports among young players, enabling them to pursue a meaningful esports career through exposure to professional teams and an offer of a monetary prize.
“Esports are a growing phenomenon across younger generations of gamers, to the point that some of them prefer to watch others playing games, than playing those games themselves! As such, the esports essence of ‘sharing fun, healthy competition with friends’ deeply aligns with AppGallery’s identity and commitment towards the gaming community,” Jaime Gonzalo, VP Huawei Mobile Services Europe, said.
He added, “PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars has become a key event in the Turkish esports scene, where players can flaunt their skills in the exciting PUBG Mobile arena and gives them the opportunity to be noticed by professional teams. An attractive prize pool of 600,000 TRY is awarded across the tournament, offering support and a potential future career path to emerging talent.”
The prize pool was distributed across the top 16 teams, and the ‘MVP’ and ‘WWCD’, the top team from each match.
Grand Finals Highlights
The Grand Finals was a crucible of competition. From 31 August to 1 September, 16 teams competed to determine the Rising Stars champion. This phase was held at the ESA Espor Arena in Maslak over two offline days, to an onsite audience of 1,300 and over 20,000 live viewers.
The team HADDINI BILBAO won this PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Grand Finals by just 1 point after 12 closely contested matches.
Tournament Recap
PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 played a crucial role in discovering and supporting aspiring esports athletes. Reflecting the popularity and importance of this tournament, a whopping 5,000 teams participated in the First Round of the tournament. Held from 12 August to 19 August, this Qualification Period comprised three matches daily and a point-based system.
The Group Stage consisted of the top 32 teams from the first round and featured two groups with a six-day broadcast. Only 16 teams qualified for the Grand Finals – the final phase had a two-day broadcast.
The post HUAWEI AppGallery Sponsors PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 to Support Emerging Esports Players in Turkey appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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