You're not at all required to have a specific game. You must keep on top of eSports trends and pick up top end talent in emerging markets. I'd suggest we should be looking at games such as PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS next as that has absolutely exploded and is looking to establish itself in the competitive environment.
News Crows buy professional eSports team - Update: SOLD
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The game is called League of Legends. It has an international league style competition called LoL eSports. Our team is in the Oceanic Pro League. If the popularity of the game dips or the competition disperses we can disband our League of Legends team and look and invest in a different game like DOTA2, Overwatch, CS:GO, etc.
dogs105
Sweet Kennels Proprietor
12 months ago LOL had 100 million unique monthly players. 54 million unique viewers of the 2016 WC. 27 million watching at peak.
I am not an expert in this kind of thing, but do 100 million people change games that quickly? What would it take for a new one to take over? Apparently second biggest online game has 13 million.
Not at all. What we've bought is an organisation which employs people to be successful at different games. The organisation has the structure and professional knowledge to get the best out of the players we employ to represent our organisation at a specific game. If the game falls out of favour we pick up a player or players who are the best at a different game. You keep the brand, management, social media popularity, and bring in different skills and knowledge along the way.
Probably not but it's all unknown at the moment because it's seeing unprecedented growth. I mean CS:GO, or Counter-Strike, has been around for almost 20 years now and is as popular as ever but has nothing on LoL's popularity. LoL is relatively new but it exploded in popularity, especially in Asia.
Different games have different tournaments/leagues/competitions. They are only there for the profitable/popular markets. There are local, national and international level competitions for all manner of games. It's up to our organisation to work out what's the best to participate in. Obviously international is the end goal but you can still do well winning local and national competitions and it is certainly good practice.
Yes. I think part of it isn't necessarily just $ coming in from the eSport team, but also trying to brand the Crows team to a larger audience. Fagan has talked about how the sponsorship at the Crows is pretty much maxed out football wise and spruiks our 60K membership and 500K database we have that we can sell to sponsors. So i'm guessing part of the though process is having an eSport team potentially adds to that and gives us another avenue for potential sponsorship to be sold to. As dogs105 said, having potentially 27 million playing a game we own a team in might get some eyeballs from potential sponsors to get involved with the club in.
I think you're skipping over the most important part.
The league you participate in, the competition is the most valuable part of any investment
If you lose your AFL, MLB, NFL, WWE, UFC etc license then your "team" is worthless
I'm sure lots of people thought XFL was a sure thing too
I know what you're saying but the ROI at this stage isn't on the team. It's the organisation brand. We bought the org for the LoL team primarily and LoL isn't going anywhere in a hurry.
No. Legacy eSports is the organisation the AFC purchased. Currently Legacy eSports have teams in the following games: Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Rocket League, SMITE, StarCraft 2 and Super Smash Bros Melee. See here: https://legacyesports.com.au/team. There's no restrictions on how many teams or individuals you have representing the organisation which is why the risk is dispersed if a particular game loses popularity in the mainstream and is no longer considered a viable eSport. e.g. StarCraft 2 has dramatically dropped in popularity in favour of games such as League of Legends and Dota2. You then identify talent in other games and re-invest. But because you have an organisation you already have the structure, sponsorship, etc to leverage for new endeavours.
dogs105
Sweet Kennels Proprietor
Legacy LOL playing in the final series of the Gauntlet NOW.
Effectively a preliminary final. GF next weekend.
Down 0- 2 to Chiefs in best of 5. Hope they do better on blue side.
Effectively a preliminary final. GF next weekend.
Down 0- 2 to Chiefs in best of 5. Hope they do better on blue side.
Read a bit of negativity about ESports, Note Asia Pacific is growing and our is in the Asia pacific group.
The reason the Crows could afford to buy a team is mainly due to good luck and getting in early before the price went up.
Another good reason for the investment, is the Crows do not have an alternate revenue source such as Pokies, therefore in order to compete with some of the richer clubs they move into Multi Media fields which lead them to purchase an ESport team which has the potential of being a very sound investment that can generate a good income,
https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/esports-revenues-will-reach-696-million-in-2017/
The reason the Crows could afford to buy a team is mainly due to good luck and getting in early before the price went up.
Another good reason for the investment, is the Crows do not have an alternate revenue source such as Pokies, therefore in order to compete with some of the richer clubs they move into Multi Media fields which lead them to purchase an ESport team which has the potential of being a very sound investment that can generate a good income,
https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/esports-revenues-will-reach-696-million-in-2017/
yeah good thing we got in just in time, before the "price" went up.
I hear the manufacturer was just about to put prices up but we snuck in before the dead line
Was good timing since the Crows brought into it, more than 7 major international brands have signed on for sponsorships and advertising and serval of the previous sign on brands have significantly increased their advertisement and sponsorship dollars into the sport. the sport has trend has jumped. The only concern is over saturation of the sport, which is why they are looking at restricting the leagues and start up of new leagues.
But this is one area we have to wait and see if the investment was and is good for the Club. I would not be surprised if in ten years we find that Legacy Esports will sponsor the Crow football club in a bit of a work around of dollars.
Also another article to read
http://splinternews.com/why-nba-team-owners-are-buying-esports-teams-1793862405
dogs105
Sweet Kennels Proprietor
Congratulations to Brent Reilly, newly appointed Player Development Manager for Legacy eSports!!
https://legacyesports.com.au/
https://legacyesports.com.au/
Hilarious
GreyCrow
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The team plays in multiple leagues - not just LoL, although thats their strongest group. Legacy itself is a brand/club, and can enter a team of players in any league it likes. So if it feels like it, it can recruit gun Overwatch players and enter a team in the Overwatch league, for example.
The club hasn't actually "bought" much. There's no real infrastructure, no membership base, no real direct income stream. They've "invested" some money into a brand that participates in e-Sports and has some existing sponsorships that will pay it's way. I think most organisations that have invested in the e-Sport world are speculating. The whole movement is still evolving and, whilst there are some big prize pools around and plenty of big brand marketing opportunities due to the millions of people who attend/watch streams of tournaments, it's not a bona fide professional sport yet. The question I think clubs like ours are asking is "how can we make money out of this?". At the moment, sponsorships, naming rights, streaming revenue, mostly goes into the prize pot. You dont get a cut for being involved, like you do in AFL. So, really, the only way to make money at the moment is to win.
This may change down the track, but it's hard to say, because teams are so fluid. Today's heroes are tomorrow's losers and players burn out relatively quickly. If the model changes, so that teams pay players upfront (say $100-200k) but take the majority of prizemoney as revenue, there may be some longer term viability, but its a pretty big risk to pay 5 kids a combined $500-$800k for a strong chance of no return.
The other inhibitor, in my view, is the impact of gaming culture. Despite it's popularity, it is still not "mainstream" and the people who participate like that about it. Individuals stream their own stuff, a kid who is super twitchy can compete at any level without any real barriers apart from his ability to beat opponents. It's very organic and rapidly changing. I can see resistance to anything that tries to "organise" the sport, because attempting to do so will just not appeal to the vast majority of participants. This is a new market and I dont think existing models apply.
So it's hard to tell where the money comes from, but as long as it's revenue neutral I dont really mind. Knowing Fagan, he's more about our brand exposure than anything else anyway.
My lads tell me that gambling is beginning to become a significant factor in E-sports. If the teams do become more professional and start paying players larger wages then maybe the money may follow. If the betting companies want to attract market share in Australia then it might get to a point where some of their turnover (like racing,greyhounds and trots) has to go back to the industry itself. I'm not sure how organised e Sports is at present but if your betting on a product then eventually that organisation will put it's hand up for a percentage or share.
How does the AFL benefit from corporate and government betting at present? A percentage of turnover?
It's going to be interesting times to see how E-sports teams will transition into money making ventures. One thing for certain, if there's a big enough audience or demand someone will figure out a way to make money, hopefully the teams do too.
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/08/e-sports-betting-to-become-a-boon-for-gambling-industry.html
How does the AFL benefit from corporate and government betting at present? A percentage of turnover?
It's going to be interesting times to see how E-sports teams will transition into money making ventures. One thing for certain, if there's a big enough audience or demand someone will figure out a way to make money, hopefully the teams do too.
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/08/e-sports-betting-to-become-a-boon-for-gambling-industry.html
For me I'm less worried about it being revenue neutral and more about the drag of finite management attention and resources. It will take up our time and if it is worth that strain on management time then fine, but I'd rather we worry more about our core business
The other thing I don't accept is e-sports this e-sports that e-sports everything blah blah
In business terms there is barely any such thing as e-sports it's a generic catch all term without any real specificity
A bit like the Internet in the mid 1990's, Internet this, Internet that, Internet blah blah
In reality the Internet is not a business, it never was. E-sports isn't either. There are businesses and propositions within those fields, within those areas utilising evolving technology but just throwing around generic words doesn't make anything a good investment
Basketball is a multi-billion dollar industry globally, but that doesn't mean an investment in the 36'ers is like buying a piece of Lebron or Big Baller shoes
Colour me mega sceptical about this from the Crows and I'm guessing it will be quietly forgotten in a couple of years. Or instantly the moment Smart moves on
Agree on this - shades of the tech bubble of the late 90's. A lot of "very smart" asset managers lost a lot of clients' money during that little fiasco.For me I'm less worried about it being revenue neutral and more about the drag of finite management attention and resources. It will take up our time and if it is worth that strain on management time then fine, but I'd rather we worry more about our core business
The other thing I don't accept is e-sports this e-sports that e-sports everything blah blah
In business terms there is barely any such thing as e-sports it's a generic catch all term without any real specificity
A bit like the Internet in the mid 1990's, Internet this, Internet that, Internet blah blah
In reality the Internet is not a business, it never was. E-sports isn't either. There are businesses and propositions within those fields, within those areas utilising evolving technology but just throwing around generic words doesn't make anything a good investment
Basketball is a multi-billion dollar industry globally, but that doesn't mean an investment in the 36'ers is like buying a piece of Lebron or Big Baller shoes
Colour me mega sceptical about this from the Crows and I'm guessing it will be quietly forgotten in a couple of years. Or instantly the moment Smart moves on
I think "the money" will be around the edges - streaming, gambling, hosting - rather than direct participation. It's a marketing machine, not a professional sporting organisation, and I think the kids that reach the top like it like that. A quick bit of glory, a quick grab of loot, and then off to a real career. The turnover will be too high to provide enough revenue stability at "club" level. If the AFC started blowing money on gamer salaries, I'd be pretty pissed off.
As for being a drain on resources, anything that keeps Nige away from his day job with us is a bloody good thing imo
