Interview conducted by Volamel on an older version of Esports Heaven.

Jordan Sherman, Former Director of Corporate Sponsorship with Major League Baseball and the LA Clipper has joined Gen.G Esports as Head of Sponsorships and Revenue Operations the organization announced today. “We are incredibly fortunate to have premier talent such as Jordan join the Gen.G team. Jordan’s unique experience working with premium sports and digital brands provides Gen.G with invaluable contacts and resources to further engage Gen.G’s valued fans,” said Gen.G COO Kent Wakeford in a press release featuring Sherman’s achievements. Whether it be digital, in-area activations, or social events, Sherman brings over six years of corporate sponsorship experience to Gen.G, the brand behind the Seoul Dynasty in the Overwatch and Gen.G Black and Gen.G Gold, placed 1st and 2nd, respectfully in the first complete season of the AfreecaTV PUBG League.

---

You come from a traditional sports background, working with Major League Baseball and the LA Clippers. What drew you away from that very safe, secure and tested environment to the new and budding esports industry?

 

I’ve been extremely lucky to work with and learn from smart, hard-working people who power two of the most innovative global sports leagues: MLB and NBA. Both leagues are always looking to improve in terms of the presentation of each organization’s games and the use of media (digital, social, TV, etc.) to grow the game and support teams and players. It’s then our job on the sponsorship side to get out there and develop platforms that give our partners the opportunity to leverage this established infrastructure to elevate their business against their competitors.

Now, everything I’ve just described is equally true for the business of esports. Yes, esports is less developed, and we will need to spend more time on industry education than the traditional sports need to…but in the end our potential partners are still looking for same thing from esports that they receive from traditional sports. They want to connect with fans in unique and authentic ways. They want to tell their stories to a large consumer base and they want to see genuine business results from the partnership.

So, now that we have that baseline established that sponsors in esports and sponsors traditional sports want the same thing then it’s easy to see what make the esports industry so attractive. The reason is this: esports is an opportunity to write your own narrative.

Right now, every brand in the world has a unique window of opportunity to become endemic and authentic to esports because the world of esports is being built as we speak. The smart brands will take a solid look at this and realize, “If we do this right we have an opportunity to elevate our business, get a competitive advantage on our competitors, sell more product and connect with the hard-to-reach young consumer base….and do so for generations to come.”.

What smart business wouldn’t want to be a part of this growing industry of esports? What if you had an opportunity to be what Nike, Gatorade or Spalding is to the NBA? What if you could be what New Era, Gillette or Budweiser is to Major League Baseball? This is an opportunity for all brands of all sizes to make an immediate impact in this field. Whether you are a traditional brand, a new brand or a revamping brand -- esports [is] your chance to gain a competitive advantage on your competition. All this makes this opportunity really exciting and I can’t wait to get started.

 

* * *

“They say that there are two international languages: math and music. But there is hope that esports will be a third language that can be viewed, understood and shared across borders and across cultures.” - Jordan Sherman

* * *

 

When people look at esports and video game streaming in general, many cling to viewership numbers as a metric of health. In what way does viewership correlate to revenue from organizational standpoint, if at all? Take the Overwatch League, for example – how does the OWL provide value to organizations and sponsors beyond viewership numbers?

 

The viewership numbers are impressive and it’s a great starting point. I think that as an industry we still have improvements to make on framing the viewership information uniformly, correctly and consistently. Like any industry, those improvements will come in time.

Going beyond the numbers, when you look at the Overwatch League you see the first traditional sports format of using location-based teams competing against each other in a regular season, playoffs and championship format. The results have been phenomenal. If anyone had doubts about esports as an industry, then the OWL helped put a lot of doubts to rest. The best part is that the OWL is just the tipping point for where this can go. I feel like OWL is the first “flag-plant” we are here moment for esports and it’s only going up from here.

 

Gen.G now has its roots in China, South Korea, and the United States. Undertaking three of the largest esports consuming ecosystems at the same time is no small feat. Can you walk us through a layman's strategy guide on how your approach varies from region to region?

 

This is really exciting and it’s what makes Gen.G such a unique team in the esports landscape. It’s one of main reasons that attracted me to this position. Being new to the team I’ll need to work with our founders to get a better understanding of our long term and short-term strategy, but the elevator answer would be that having teams in multiple regions allow us to bring a unique flexibility to our message and platform. In the past if you’re a brand that wants to expand globally you’ll need multiple deals in multiple countries to get it done right. In fact, even within the big traditional sports leagues you’ll need to work with the various departments within the sports leagues themselves to get the global reach. It can be a daunting process.

With Gen.G it’s an opportunity to reach a global audience under one team umbrella with a consistent message that will resonate within each culture. I don’t think that exists in many other places and that’s what so exciting about this franchise group.

 

When you approached esports and competitive gaming from a business perspective for the first time, what surprised you the most?

 

Over the weekend, I’m at an event telling various family and friends about my new job and the field of esports. It was a great study into the current state of the industry. It takes me 2-3 minutes to explain the industry to the average adult who isn’t familiar in esports. It takes me 2-3 words to explain it to a typical teen in the target demographic. That's what make this exciting.

I remember pitching Facebook to advertisers in 2009 who still weren’t sure about it. Or Instagram in 2010-11 or Snapchat in 2011-12. Years later it seems so clear that these platforms would be the world’s largest. But at the time is required a lot of education and trust. I think that’s where esports is today and we’ll all have 20-20 hindsight looking back but the brands that jump in now are the ones that are going to carve a specific niche for themselves for decades to come.

 

Some people are still terrified of the possibility that esports is a giant bubble that may pop at any moment. Let’s set the record straight – in your opinion, is the esports industry going to stick around?

Well, I don’t think I’d be going all-in on something if I thought it was going to be a bubble so maybe I’m a little biased. I think what we’re going to see is a consolidation and evolution in the industry. Right now, we’re still in the stages of education and growth - everything is happening in real-time. What I like about this industry is two main items: (1) there’s a sense that we’re all building this together and with that comes with a feeling of comradery across teams, leagues and platforms; and (2) we’re writing the future of this industry day-in and day-out. It’s going to look dramatically different a year from now and even more different a year from then. That’s exciting.  

What do you think is the future of monetization when it comes to esports?

 

In some ways it will be very similar to traditional sports: in-game signage, jersey patch sponsorships, connections to players, ad breaks for video, social media content, category-specific deals, arena management, large-scale events, etc. You will also see similar dichotomies for teams, leagues and platforms signing various sponsors for their own companies just like you see in NBA and MLB.

But what’s most exciting about esports monetization is the ability for the world to connect with these video games in real-time. Logistically we may never have an NFL or NBA team based full time in Asia or Europe. But with esports we’ve already been able to connect continents through sport in real time. It’s an incredible advantage to have the ability to have international cities and cultures compete against each other while playing in the same league.

They say that there are two international languages: math and music. But there is hope that esports will be a third language that can be viewed, understood and shared across borders and across cultures.

 

Many people think the mobile platform is the future of esports viewing and the entire ecosystem. Do you subscribe to that idea, or should we be looking elsewhere?

 

Gen.G has recently announced an expansion into the mobile esports world with Clash Royale. So, of course, we are bullish on the mobile platform being the future and it’s obvious that nearly 100% of our audience uses mobile phone as their primary screen.

I think a great advantage for esports is not only will mobile be huge but there will always be a standing platform for desktop and connected TVs because fans and players will always be looking for larger screen and the highest computing power to compete at the highest level. Just like a basketball player wants the best equipment to take the court, so does an esports player needing the best to be at the top of their game. So, while mobile will always have its place due to its ease of use for the common player, I think the highest computing system will also have its place for the top-tier gamers.

 

---

 

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment and Gen.G Esports