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Business Models in Professional Electronic Sports Teams
João Pedro Brito Cício de Carvalho
2015
«Since the beginning of the century, a new form of competition has surfaced through the use of computer technology and global communications. Over these recent years the competitive play of video games, dubbed as electronic sports, or simply esports, has grown from a pastime to a fully professional activity. From all over the world, hundreds of players battle each other in virtual arenas for a chance to reach the millionaire prize pools the top competitions offer, and for the amusement of the millions of the fans who follow them. Not to mention, for a chance to play in some of the biggest sports venues, as these competitions have started to step out of the digital realm to fill live stadiums. Still, despite the fact that esports have grown so much in the latest years, not much is known about the teams that compose this universe. So, this research aimed to bring clarity to how electronic sports teams work, by using business models as conceptual tools to display the different elements of the team’s businesses. To do so, sports and esports managers were interviewed in order to better understand how they run their teams. Starting with traditional sports, identifying the essential details that teams need to operate and building their business models, and then moving to esports, where business models were not only identified, but also improved. Additionally, three generic business models were designed for teams with different objectives and in different organizational levels. Moreover, this research also identified common elements between sports and esports, as well as the main catalysts behind the esports success.»
