Creator-first and competition-first approaches reflect the DNA of esports organizations

By Alexander Lee

Every prominent esports organization features both competitive players and content creators. But most elevate one or the other, with some following a competition-first approach and others a creator-first strategy.

While each method has its benefits, even the largest esports organizations don’t necessarily have a “why” that sets them down either path; teams tend to naturally fall down one or the other based on the circumstances of their founding.

FaZe Clan is one of the most well-known esports organizations in the world, valued at $305 million by Forbes last year. It fields championship-winning teams in popular titles such as Counter-Strike, Call of Duty and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. But if you were to ask the average esports fan to name their favorite FaZe member, they’d probably mention one of the organization’s influencers, such as Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengston or Brian “FaZe Rug” Awadis. After all, FaZe originated in 2010 as a crew of trickshot-making YouTubers, only branching into competition years later.

According to FaZe Clan CRO Jeff Pabst, the organization took advantage of this creator-first approach in its recent partnership with McDonald’s. “This first iteration is focused mainly on our more high-profile content creators,” Pabst said. “I think that’s where you’re able to have a more scalable message with the largest audience possible.”

On the other end of the competition–creator spectrum is T1. A top-level esports organization in its own right, T1 openly focuses its branding on the success of its competitive teams and star players such as Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. “For us, the history of success and winning was already there before all this other stuff came about in recent years, with influencers and creators and hype houses,” said T1 CEO Joe Marsh.

Just as FaZe’s YouTube origins define its creator-first approach, so has T1’s history of competitive excellence granted it the confidence to lean on its professional players. T1 has won three League of Legends world championships, and some consider Sang-hyeok, a part-owner of the org, to be the greatest League of Legends player of all time. Even when the team brings on influencers or creators such as Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp, Marsh said, “they’re predominantly known for League of Legends — so we try to amplify the games that we’re [competing] in.”

Team Liquid is another top-tier esports org whose competitive roots inform its approach to branding and sponsorships. Co-owned by Steve Arhancet, himself a former League of Legends pro, the organization was founded in 2001 as a StarCraft community forum. “It was a celebration around watching other people play video games at the highest level,” Arhancet said, “and that has continued through the business decisions we’ve made in order to field top competitive teams.”

It’s an approach that’s worked well for Team Liquid, whose competitive players, such as Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma, have become influencers in their own right. “We make decisions to enter into games where we can provide value in that respective community and field a competitive roster,” Arhancet said. “And then along the way, while we’re in that community, we also …read more

Source:: Digiday