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:
eSports
SuperGaming Reveals Nationwide Grassroots Indus Battle Royale Esports Tournament Series With Rs. 5,50,000 Prize Pool
Made-in-India battle royale Indus is hosting its first ever series of nationwide grassroots esports tournaments dubbed Indus Inferno. This is SuperGaming’s summer special of tournaments with prizes and bragging rights on the line — but most importantly: a chance for players to experience Indus at the highest skill level and be the best in India’s first new-generation battle royale.
Created by award-winning Pune-based developer SuperGaming, Indus is an Indo-Futuristic battle royale slated for mobile, PC, and consoles with pre-registrations live on Google Play for Android. Pre-registrations for the game have crossed 10 million already.
Indus Inferno kicked off with the Regional Scrims featuring a Rs. 50,000 prize pool this week. The scrims were met with immense excitement, with players hailing from multiple cities across India.
The Indus Inferno Finale scheduled to take place on 1st June will feature a lucrative prize pool of Rs. 5,00,000.
Player registration for the Open Qualifiers is now open and will end on 19th May. The Qualifiers are set to run from 20th May to 24th May. It is important to note that only the top 2,000 players from the Inferno in-game Leaderboard will be eligible to register for the qualifiers. The top 10 winning teams from the Open Qualifiers will earn coveted spots in the finale, joining the invited esports teams for an epic showdown.
The following teams have been invited for the Indus Inferno Finale:
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Team Moggers
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Team Redlock
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Team Pushpa
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Destruction of Game
In addition to this, teams of Indus content creators, community members, several esports organizations as well as winners of past playtests will be present for the tournament. There’s a total prize pool of Rs. 5,00,000 with the winners netting Rs. 2,50,000 and the runners-up, third-place, and fourth place getting Rs. 1,00,000, Rs. 75,000, and Rs. 50,000 respectively. The most valuable player will get Rs. 25,000.
More importantly, the finale will feature India’s top esports team owners so Indus’ best players can have face to face opportunities to be scouted for a career in esports playing Indus. These include:
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Godlike Esports
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Revenant Esports
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Orangutan
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Entity Gaming
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Reckoning Esports
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Carnival Gaming
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Chemin Esports
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True Rippers
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Enigma Gaming
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Team Tamilas
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Marcos Gaming
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TWOB
“With Indus Inferno and previous Indus esports tournaments that we’ve been running since last year such as the Indus Invitational and Indus Unchained, we want to lay the foundation for a sustainable esports ecosystem for our community and the nation at large,” says SuperGaming CEO and Co-Founder Roby John. “Having India’s best esports team owners at the finale is our small way of making that happen.”
SuperGaming is also going to have exclusive rewards, developer panels, and more, so head on over to the official Indus Discord server for all the details.
Players will be able to share their thoughts on various aspects of the game and impact the direction of how SuperGaming crafts its most ambitious title yet through this official esports tournament.
This is inline with how SuperGaming has crafted its biggest hits — MaskGun and Silly Royale. Popular multiplayer shooter MaskGun has amassed over 80 million players since its launch with a relentless focus on putting its players first leading to some of its biggest community members featuring in-game as well as celebrating India-specific events like Diwali.
eSports
ANICHESS PARTNERS WITH ESPORTS LEADER TEAM SECRET AHEAD OF PVP LAUNCH
Anichess, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and the progressive chess-based online strategy game developed in partnership with Chess.com and five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, today announced a partnership with global esports brand Team Secret to further connect competitive gaming and Web3. John Yao, CEO of Team Secret, will join Anichess as an advisor.
Anichess is an innovative chess-based Web3 game developed in a collaboration between Animoca Brands and Chess.com, the renowned global online chess platform. Anichess provides a novel tactical twist on the classic game of chess by implementing spells that open up new strategies and gameplay, and that require players to rethink the rules of traditional chess as they uncover the expansive lore within the world of the gameboard. Anichess recently raised a funding round of US$1.8 million, led by Sfermion and Amber Group with participation from Fenbushi Capital, Aspen Digital, SNZ Capital, and others (see announcement of 25 April 2024).
Team Secret is a global esports brand dedicated to bringing together the best gamers to compete worldwide, while also delivering entertaining experiences to its fans. It offers advertising and promotional sponsorship, talent and team development, business management, coaching, and other forms of support to both professional and aspiring players in the esports arena.
The partnership between Anichess and Team Secret aims to solidify chess’s esports status by combining a new platform to play and learn on for an engaged audience of up-and-coming online chess masters. Ahead of the player-versus-player (PvP) mode launch later in Q2 2024, Anichess will receive input from Team Secret on its game design as well as support in bringing the spellbinding game to a dedicated community of esports players.
“Esports has always been a core pillar of Anichess’ modernization of chess’ legacy,” said Brian Chan, head of Anichess. “Anichess’s engaging visuals, tools to improve and thrilling spells make it an amazing platform for all competitors, regardless of chess experience. We look forward to those willing to take on the challenge when PvP arrives in-game soon.”
“For how ancient the game of chess is, its esports scene is a fresh, rising star in terms of viewership, player base and tournaments,” said John Yao, CEO of Team Secret. “Anichess is a promising twist on chess, with even more of what makes the original great: compelling tactics, broad recognition and rewards for players willing to think outside the box and surprise opponents. I’m looking forward to guiding Anichess into the realm of esports and integrating the new chess platform into our dedicated community.”
eSports
Kambi and Abios Join ESIC as Anti-Corruption Supporters
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has announced Kambi and Abios, its esports data subsidiary, as new ESIC Anti-Corruption Supporters. This partnership signals the alignment of Kambi’s longstanding commitment to corporate probity and sports integrity with ESIC’s ongoing battle against match-fixing and corruption in esports.
Kambi and Abios join a distinguished class of other Anti-Corruption Supporter stakeholders who have historically worked with ESIC to ensure that attacks against the competitive integrity of esports competition are appropriately reported and dealt with. Anti-Corruption Supporters assist ESIC in investigating suspicious betting activity, supporting ESIC’s broader mission to combat cheating and betting fraud in the esports industry. Kambi and Abios’ entrance into the Anti-Corruption Supporter class will see the entities actively work with ESIC to assist in ESIC’s mission to disrupt, prevent, investigate and prosecute all attempts to compromise competitive integrity in esport competition.
Abios’ Managing Director and Founder, Anton Janér, commented: “Our mission at Abios has always been to enable the sustainable growth of esports. As such, we’re incredibly excited to join ESIC in their mission to future-proof esports through combatting match-fixing and other integrity-related malpractices. Fair play is a crucial component in ensuring the viability of esports as a long-term community and investment and we hope to be able to support the industry together with ESIC going forward.”
Stephen Hanna, ESIC’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are pleased to welcome Kambi and Abios as Anti-Corruption Supporters. Kambi and Abios are well trusted and recognised operators in their respective industries, and their entrance into the Anti-Corruption Supporter class of ESIC membership emphasises their shared commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and fair play within the esports industry.”
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