Understanding Esports Q&A / AMA

If you have not seen it already, the Essendon Facebook page posted a fantastic video of the team in the lead up to the Grand Final.

Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/EssendonFC/videos/593525024455716/

Can you give me some idea of what the long term plan is for esports at the Bombers.

If everything went exceptionally well, what could it look like in 10 years.

No I wonā€™t hold you to it.

I watched a few of the lads lead up games. Was good fun. Never watched an esports game before and have not played LoLā€¦ but enjoyed it anyway.

Iā€™m looking forward to tuning in to watch the grand final.

As a complete novice, is there anything in particular I should look for that indicates we are doing well and That the game is going our way?

Question: Which Bjork song do you like most?

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This might sound counter-intuitive but itā€™s dangerous to plan too far ahead when it comes to the esports industry.
At the moment, esports is in a very rapid growth period globally. It was only a 2-3 years ago where the tournaments were played completely online with players all over the country.

Now we have a dedicated broadcast studio in Sydney where the official matches are played, teams are set up in gaming houses with dedicated training facilities, the grand final takes place at Melbourne Esports Open which is a government-funded program to support esports events and now, the AFL has partnered with the OPL to help grow the league.

I have no idea what the esports ecosystem will look like in 10 years and anyone that says otherwise is pulling your leg.

With all this in mind, we just have to be smart about what we do. Invest money while it continues to make financial sense and ensure we are in a position to pivot should the industry change over the next few years.

The gold lead.
Donā€™t get sucked in looking at the Kills. The gold lead is pretty much the only thing that matters.
A 2-3k gold lead is significant pre 15mins.

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Delisted.

The lotta them.

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I have no idea what esports is. But werenā€™t we good at this?

Thatā€™s why it got turfed. Playing group demanded an apology.

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AssuredMistyFlee-size_restricted

Say it cost $500,000 to run the esports program p.a.

Can we, maybe put that money into our football department so we can WIN A ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā–  FLAG

There is a cap on the footy department so I doubt that would make any difference whatsoever.

Would we though?

Iā€™ve been saying we should be spending outside the football department cap. I still think we should be. But I donā€™t think the club would be willing to pay a 50% tax outside soft cap.

soft cap

so the 500k becomes 250k.

Given that the league was subsidised and had minimum salaries of $10k, I suspect that $500k pa is a massive overestimate of the operating costs. Iā€™d guess Riot removing the subsidy in fact prompted us leaving.

Whatā€™s the price for success? We are a wealthy club, we can afford it.

If it makes an even 1% improvement then I think they need to spend as much as they need to.

BINGO!
Pay for a full time tackling coach and goal kicking coach, who cares about the tax

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I totally agree.
I just doubt that the cost of running the E-Sports team will go directly to the football department spending.

Spending 100% of the football department cap should be an absolute non-negotiable when the club is making million dollar profits.

Spending outside the cap should be putting us amongst the top clubs in the country.

We made a 60k profit last year. There was no more money, soft cap or otherwise.