Esports Team Branding
Everyone knows that esports is growing at a rapid pace, but one aspect of the game that’s not keeping up is trademark protection. Players and teams alike often do not take the basic step of registering their names as trademarks, even though these names are often quite famous, especially among the relevant portion of the public. This article will walk through some of the pitfalls seen with esports team branding today and the benefits of registering their trademarks.
For a basic primer on what trademark protection gives you, feel free to read my previous article. In this article, I would like to note a few areas where trademarks can give much-needed protection (and economic benefit) to esports teams. Some larger teams have done their homework and registered their trademarks: Echo Fox (Reg №5122087) and Counter Logic Gaming (Reg №4417823) have received their marks, Immortals (App №87087134), Eunited (App №87272217), and Flyquest (App Nos. 87282836, 87282764, and 87282713) are currently undergoing examination, but others have not even started the process, such as Team Solo Mid, Phoenix1, and Dignitas.
Protecting Home Base
The first and most obvious area where a trademark can help your team is if someone is taking and using your brand name. Growing both your brand name and team can be an arduous process. Growing a brand is hard work, and keeping the brand going requires constant attention. The worst thing to happen for a growing brand would be for your name and following to be taken by someone else, or to be unable to secure sponsors because they sense legal issues surrounding you or your team.
Growing Strong
As more viewers tune in to tournaments, esports brands are becoming more valuable. A famous team’s trademark becomes worth more and more as its fame and prestige becomes greater. Generally, a team’s fame will grow due to winning tournaments, but other avenues have also increased the popularity of esports teams, such as Team Liquid’s Starcraft forums and Faze Clan’s extravagant gaming house. In the short term, having a strong mark means that merchandising opportunities increase: famous teams will be able to sell more shirts or mouse pads as its fans grow. In the longer term, a famous mark means that the brand becomes a real asset that brings value.
What Does This Mean in The Real World?
- Outside brands (for example, peripheral producers or hardware manufacturers) who want to work with you have to pay for the privilege. Not only are you in a better position to get favorable terms and work with brands you personally enjoy, you control the uses of your identity and each sponsorship deal brings in more money.
- Are you trying to get bought out? A number of traditional sports teams have already bought in to esports teams: the Miami Heat own part of Misfits and the Philadelphia 76ers own parts of both Dignitas and Apex. The larger your brand, the more it’s worth, and the easier it is to get a payday when selling a part of your team.
- Another line of credit. As trademarks and publicity rights have real value, they can be leveraged just like a mortgage on a house. If you have a valuable brand, you can leverage it for an additional line of credit to help you get where you’re trying to go, whether it’s building a bigger and better organization, or even just weathering unexpected emergencies.
Creating an esports team can be fun, but the prize money from podium finishes for most teams is often fleeting. The emotions and community-building efforts associated with your brand across different leagues and different games are where long term value resides.
