This is week two of a month long project I’m working on. This week I focused on obtaining sponsors for my Esports organization. To see more of what ive been able to accomplish, check out my projects main page here.
What I accomplished this week
The first project I focused on this week was creating a sponsor deck to pitch to potential companies that might be interested in working with our organization. One of the key aspects of running an Esports organization is obtaining sponsors. Just like in any other sport, sponsors provide necessary resources for both the team players and the content creation team, in exchange for exposure.
While doing my research, I learned that there are a number of ways for sponsors to collaborate with an Esports organization, such as
- Brand Activation
- Live steam Activation
- Media Activation
- Event Activation
- Social Media Activation
While creating the pitch deck, I felt it was important to include visual examples of what that could look like for a potential company if they were to sponsor our organization. I’ve included images of our team’s jersey, as well as images of our live stream, with examples of where a sponsors’ logo could be placed. This makes it easier for sponsors to envision what a sponsorship could look like with our organization.
I also learned that before a company is going to sponsor an organization, they will need assurance that your organization is credible and has a relatively decent audience. Because of this, I included a small page that breaks down our following base and broadcasting hours.
What I learned this week
Before I started this project, I knew very little about how sports sponsorships work, let alone how Esports sponsorships work. It was interesting to learn that even though they’re similar in a lot of ways, they also differ in many ways. Things like jersey sponsors and event sponsors essentially work the same. However, What make Esports special is that it can also rely on live streaming for an extra form of activation for a potential sponsor. In fact, some companies that sponsor Esport organizations actually require the organization to have a certain amount of followers on platforms like Twitch.
I would say that Esports sponsors rely on digital advertising a lot more than other sports do. I’ve also learned that there a number of different types of companies willing to sponsor an Esports organization, from endemic to non-endemic sponsors. The possibilities are endless, it’s just a matter of being able to market the organization in such a way that proves to companies that your organization has what it takes to produce the results they need. I’ve included a link to my sponsor deck, as well as a custom QR code I generated.
Team DVS Sponsor Deck(1.2).pdf
My Next Steps
As I finalize the sponsor deck, my next steps will be to create a list of leads that consists of potential sponsors. I will also be creating email templates suited for endemic and non-endemic sponsors. Stick around for next week’s update to see what I accomplish next.