The Playbook for Running a Winning Esports Organization

Grant Rousseau, the Global Director of Esports and European Director of Operations for Team Falcons, the biggest esports organization in the Middle East, recently appeared on the Gamer’s Change Lives podcast with host Tom Leonard. During the conversation, Rousseau discussed a range of topics, including how to start an esports team, how to recruit players, how to manage teams as businesses, event strategies for esports teams, and the impact of culture on the esports industry.

Rousseau advised that the performance plan should come first when starting an esports team, as it will determine what game to enter, what players to look for, and what staff to hire. He emphasized the importance of finding the right players who are a good fit for the team and have the right personality and communication skills. Rousseau also discussed the importance of balancing training and rest for esports players and suggested that players prioritize their physical and mental health.

When discussing event strategies for esports teams, Rousseau suggested that teams should consider watch parties, tournaments and academies, and conventions that could attract different audiences to team sites. He also noted the importance of creativity and relevance in event planning.

Rousseau also discussed the impact of culture on the esports industry, highlighting that the challenge is to create content that matches different cultures and to find the aspects of culture that match and to convert followers to be more flexible as well as match cultures. He suggested that investing in HR departments and hiring can make a difference in the success of a company, emphasizing that when companies invest in staff and operational things behind the scenes, the company can run smoothly and do well.

The most important takeaway: ‘You can buy a follower but not a fan.’

Episode Webpage: https://www.gamerschangelivespodcast.com/the-playbook-for-running-a-winning-esports-organization

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Featured in this episode:

Grant Rousseau

Grant Rousseau is a 29year old currently working in esports as the global director of esports and EU operations for Team Falcons, the biggest esports organization in the MENA region, alongside having experience at director level across both North America and Europe for some of the biggest esports organizations in existence.

Combined with operational role experience, performance results is provided in the form of 12 major trophies won in the past 4 years, including two world championships.

Alongside this, Grant has partnered with a sports consultancy in Cultiv8sports to launch their new 'Digital and Tech' division, with the focus of bringing more UK sports organizations and entities into the esports space.

Email: grantrousseau1@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-rousseau/

Website: https://www.cultiv8sports.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantRous

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grantrous  

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PRODUCTION:

Creator and host: Tom Leonard (USA) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomeleonard/

Producer: Reginald Nsowah (Ghana) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginald-nsowah-09352929/

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Play Games. Create Jobs. Change Lives.

This is a show about how to build an esports business from literally anywhere in the world where each week we showcase the journey of esports entrepreneurs and others to learn how they solved a particular problem that everyone will ultimately face.

In Season Three our theme is “Building a Business: Esports 101”.

I am your host, Tom Leonard. I have a background in entertainment marketing. After working with many amazing esports entrepreneurs from emerging markets, they inspired me to create a show to tell their stories so that others can be motivated to create their own esports business. Gaming and esports can create jobs tackling the problem of global youth unemployment. Creating jobs from playing games. What could be better than that?

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