Our Comprehensive Guide to Starting an Esports Team

Thanks to the advent of online technology, we have arguably never enjoyed a more immersive relationship with sport. For example, you can now access the top daily fantasy sites on these shores, enabling you to compete in global leagues and even wager on your team’s virtual performances.

Then there’s the esports marketplace, which was is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21% between 2024 and 2031, eventually creating a global space that will be worth $5.48 billion. This allows you to become a competitive and professional gamer who can monetize your passion for certain titles. But how do you go about starting an esports team? Here’s our comprehensive guide!

• Starting an Esports Team – Evaluating the Cost
• Creating an Esports Team – Establishing an Initial Base for Your Team
• Identify Smaller Games and Winnable Tournaments
• Earning Esports Sponsorship – And Refining your Team
• Growth and Development – Launching into Social Media and Building a Fan Base
• The Bottom Line – Learning How to Launch a Career in Esports

Costs and Expenses – How to Start a Career in Esports

In terms of how to start a career in esports, your first steps should be to estimate costs and create a viable budget. Ask any established esports team of professionals, and they’ll tell you that this can be a costly pastime which must be budgeted for in a realistic and sustainable way. Firstly, you’ll need to understand the costs you’ll incur when launching a pro team.

Typical expenses include traveling, training and streaming, while the cumulative cost of creating an esports team will vary depending on the number of people included. On average, the cost of starting an esports team from scratch will range from $8,000 to $50,000, based on the size and scale of your team, your equipment and the precise level at which you intend to operate.

Certainly, you can establish an esports team on a relatively small budget, primarily by investing in lower tier gaming equipment and initially targeting national (and local) tournaments. Most grassroots esports teams start out with a relatively small budget, before scaling their efforts and investment over time.

Another key consideration here is location. We’re going to explore this in a little more detail below: but where you choose to base yourself can create minor or significant infrastructure costs. For example, large teams renting premium facilities will fork out considerably more than those who lease smaller spaces or locations on temporary contracts.

Creating an Esports Team – Establishing an Initial Base for Your Team

When initially organizing your finances and launching an esports team, identifying a viable place to call home is crucial. This is because your team will need a designated area in which you can play games, practice, hold administrative meetings with your teammates and carry out (or at least discuss) team-building activities.

Regardless of your budget or long-term aspirations, we’d recommend starting as small as possible and minimizing location costs where possible. Ideally, you’ll headquarter your team in a building or location that’s cost-free (such as a teammates house or living space), but this will have to be viable and large enough to house your equipment.

Of course, you may eventually expand and generate higher income levels, enabling you to invest in a new office space if required. The important thing, however, is that your scale your esports team organically and in line with your success and cumulative earnings. This is a key and potentially deal-breaking consideration when determining how to start professional gaming.

On a slightly less significant but still important note, it’s also crucial that you commit at least some of your initial budget towards creating a visible brand. This must be visually alluring and focused on specific games, as this creates consistency and enables you to create a wider identity that teammates, fans and sponsors can rally around.

Identify Smaller Games and Winnable Tournaments

In order to become a self-sustaining and generative team, it’s important that you start playing competitively as soon as possible. This is also critical when learning how to start professional gaming as an individual, as otherwise you won’t be able to generate income on any kind of scale.

The obvious choices include CS: Global Offensive, FIFA and Dota 2, but it should also be noted that these games are incredibly competitive and hard to play successfully. This rules broadly applies to all competitive video games, of course, but titles such as ‘God of War’ and ‘League of Legends’ are highly recommended for beginners.

The latter game also affords highly skilled and strategic players a competitive advantage over their rivals, so this may enable you to carve out a lucrative niche and earn generous sponsorships (we’ll touch more on this a little later in the piece).

You can also gain traction and earnings by targeting even smaller esports franchises. These include Valorant and Brawl Stars, while the basketball game NBA 2K may be included in this category too. The same can be said for Legends of Runeterra, which is an interactive 2020 digital collectible card game developed and published by Riot Games. This only has a relatively small, cult following at the time of writing.

Sure, the prize funds for these minor games will be much smaller. However, they’ll also easier to win and less competitive, allowing you to build revenue and eventually enter higher value competitions. You can also become synonymous with success and attract sponsors, while become more skilled at your chosen craft.

Earning Esports Sponsorship – And Refining your Team

At this stage, you can begin to see your team enjoy success and generate income. This may create your first moment of celebration since starting an esports team, while it also makes the prospect of earning lucrative sponsorship deals increasingly likely. This can provide a significant boost to your esports team growth and development.

But how do you go about earning sponsorship? Well, timing is everything here, as you can only earn sponsorship once you’ve begun to build on your initial brand and established a track record of success. You’ll also have to allow your profile to develop organically over time, as this will make the process of negotiating deals considerably easier.

However, even if you are building a winning team and brand, you’ll still need to be proactive and approach potential sponsors directly. Once you have a viable proposition and brand profile, you can engage sponsors through phone calls and emails, or make viable contacts through trusted networking sites.

You can also take a more direct (albeit less hands-on) approach by targeting resources like BrandOutreach and Mysocial. These tools allow you to gain sponsorship through your preferred platform, including the popular and wide-reaching YouTube gaming channel. This approach can also afford your access to predetermined databases with more than 3,000 potential sponsors and corporate brands.

As your team evolves and starts to succeed, it’s also important to become more professional in your organisation and ensure that your team is structured in the most efficient way. When learning how to start professional gaming within a team, you’ll need to attract the best talent and ensure that individuals are deployed as effectively as possible.

This may also require a level of ruthlessness. For example, you may be introduced to superior players of specific games over time, requiring you to either replace existing members within your team (if you’re able to) or expand the size of your collective. Regardless, this is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring, but keep in mind that hiring successful and renowned esports players can also attract sponsors with deeper pockets.

Growth and Development – Launching into Social Media and Building a Fan Base

Last, but not least, you’ll need to develop a considered and agile development plan that best serves your team going forward. From the moment you invest in creating an esports team, you’re striving to reach specific growth and development goals, including maximizing revenues, winning competitive tournaments and growing your team.

Similarly, the value of your brand and team’s intellectual property will grow as your team improves. So, protecting and maximizing this over time is crucial, especially if you want to optimize your returns and ensure you have the best possible team at all times.

As you grow, you may also need to cultivate and maintain a strong social media presence. This enables you to relate and connect with potential fans, creating opportunities to grow your brand further and build a viable network of contacts. Remember, having a core and large group of fans can also create revenue, through everything from increased stream views, paid subscriptions and even merchandise sales!

The Bottom Line – Learning How to Launch a Career in Esports

The purpose of this guide to highlight how to start a career in esports, specifically when constructing a commercially viable team. It also includes many of the considerations and pitfalls that must be considered if you’re to optimize your chances of success, including financial planning and organization, sourcing sponsorship and building the best possible collective.

You should also commit to continually refining and improving your team, as part of a wider commitment to esports growth. Expanding your online and social media presence is also key, as this creates new networking and revenue earning opportunities. Just remember, energy and determination are the most important characteristics when starting out, especially as you deal with setbacks and issues.