How to start an eSports team (What You Must Know)
The time is now to start an eSports team
Do you want to learn how to start an eSports team? This article will go through all the steps to help you assemble your championship squad.
For years, you’ve been sitting in the stands watching those shiny League of Legends championship trophies go to some of the best eSports teams from around the world. But this year, being a casual spectator is no longer good enough. You want more. You’ve always envisioned yourself under the bright lines, on the jumbotron demolishing your opponents in League of Legends and bringing home the championship trophy for yourself. However, you don’t just want to be a pro gamer on any professional eSports team. In fact, you have bigger aspirations. You want to form your own eSports squad, filled with some of the most elite gamers that you hand-picked yourself. But you’ve always been hesitant to start your own eSports team because you don’t even know where to begin. It seems like such a monumental task and an unattainable goal. Well, look no further. Luckily for you, we’ve put together this article, which will give you the steps of how to start an eSports team. So what are the steps to start an eSports team? They are:
Start with the basics
Choose one game to begin with
Select your geographic area
Establish your team branding
Put your team together
Find potential team members
Select players for your team
Set up your team infrastructure
Make sure you have the appropriate hardware
Select a team meeting location
Compete at a higher level
Promote the team
Create a fan base
Secure sponsorships
The rest of this article will go over all these steps of how to start an eSports team in detail.
Start with the basics to learn how to start an eSports team To start an eSports team, you must first begin with the basics. You have to go through all these initial steps before you can even consider finding and recruiting players for your new team. But just remember, great things started from humble beginnings. Let’s get to work.
Choose one game to begin with
If you want to learn how to start an eSports team, one of the most important decisions is picking the right game.
When starting an eSports team, you don’t want to attempt to form several teams for multiple games in the beginning. Having numerous teams means you’ll have less time to spend on managing and focusing on each one, which will lessen the quality of the team. Instead, you should begin by creating a single team for a single game. Starting out small will eventually help you grow and expand. You should build up your first team to be successful before even thinking about creating a second team for a second game. So which game should you choose for your eSports team? This is the golden question! You’ll want to select a game that you know and understand both the basic and advanced mechanics and gameplay. This means, at the very least, you should have played the game before. It’s vital to understand all of the game’s rules, characters, objectives, and all other relevant details. You need to be somewhat of an expert on the game. Not necessarily in terms of playing it, but more so knowing how to play it. But if you’re looking to become part of the team yourself either as a player or coach, being decent at the game you play is crucial. You will have to have excellent skills and gameplay when it comes to whatever game you are thinking of choosing. Gamers are always looking to play with other good players, and having an in-depth knowledge of the game and vast experience playing it means you will be able to coach or play with other decent gamers. Nobody is going to join an eSports team that you play on or coach if you are terrible at the game.
Select your geographic area
If possible, build up a local team, represent your local area, and gain experience competing in local competitions.
The next important step in creating your eSports team is choosing your geography, meaning the local area that your team will represent. We recommend selecting a city, town or county, which are all relatively small geographic areas. Why do we recommend starting small? Because when you first start an eSports team, it’s much easier to coordinate live competitions with other teams in a local area, versus traveling to national competitions. Going this route will ultimately help keep your costs down and also optimize the time you spend practicing with the team. It’s much easier to meet, communicate, and practice with the team if everyone lives in the same area. And sure, you can start a team with members living across the country. However, remember the importance of camaraderie and never underestimate the collective power of each member being physically present during practices. Your team’s geographic area can also help you in creating your team branding. In some cases, you’ll want to include this in your team name. Think of the Overwatch League for example, in which all the team names include the city they play in, such as the New York Excelsior and the Dallas Fuel. Build up your local rank to the point that everyone in your area knows what your team can do. If you start local, you will begin to build an organic following, eventually leading to national recognition!
Establish your team branding
Your team brand establishes your identity, so take the time to consider the right logo.
Team branding is an essential part of creating an eSports team. Having a great name for your new team will definitely build awareness of your team and help attract more people. Your name and logo will become the face of your team quickly and will help people recognize your team a lot easier. For example, look at the eSports team Cloud9. They have a very unique and distinguishable name, and also have an awesome team logo that combines elements of both a cloud and the number nine. It’s hard to forget a team name and logo like Cloud9’s. A great team name and logo will also help you gain more interest for your team, whether it be from fans who want to support you or gamers who want to play on the team. Your team’s branding could eventually help you find more players interested in playing on your eSports team. Having a unique name, a well-designed logo, and a professional looking website for your team will help it become easily publicized and recognized. You’ll definitely want to avoid copying other logos and team names as you could run into copyright issues and negative public perception. Instead, create something that is unique and different from others. Strive to choose a name and logo that will ring a bell whenever it is brought up. Look for artists and content creators that can help you design your logo and team website. Having a website is crucial for the team’s success since it will help the fanbase get to know your team better and have one central place to find information and details related to your eSports organization. Finally, be sure to keep all aspects of your branding as professional and clean as possible as you want to avoid any extremities or PR nightmare that could put your team and brand in danger. Put your team together Once the basics are out of the way, you’ll want to assemble your team with enough players so you can compete.
Find potential team members
Before you get in front of the bright lights you will need an elite squad backing you up.
In order to compete in eSports, you’ll need the players to do so. That might sound obvious, but it definitely is one of the hardest things to when starting your eSports team. When you first start out, you don’t want to be a no-name organization trying to reach out to professional players, especially without any funding. It’s not like you can just email the top pro gamers like Sneaky, Faker, and Ninja and expect that they will want to join your team. So you’ll have to look to more grassroots efforts in order to find and recruit players. Your team doesn’t have to start out that big. At first, it could be just you and a bunch of your gamer friends playing together. We recommend not to bite off more than you can chew when creating an eSports team. Going after the big dogs may hurt your reputation as an organization which ultimately can lead to the downfall of the team. If you don’t already have friends or people in mind who are willing to join your team, this part may be a difficult task. Finding a team full of players that are just as equally dedicated as you at your preferred game is tough. The best place to start looking is online. You can look to Reddit, Facebook, and other social media platforms to find players in your geographic area who may be interested in joining a team. There are also websites like Seek Team that are entirely dedicated to finding you the perfect teammate to suit your needs as a player. Networking and asking your connections is another excellent way to find potential teammates. You probably don’t know every gamer in your area, but chances are you can get the word out through your connections. Ask around and see if anyone you know, knows of any gamers looking to join a team. Word of mouth is a great way to recruit for your team! Going to local gaming events or gaming centers (LAN gaming centers) is also a fabulous way to get the word out that you are recruiting. If you are able to hang up posters advertising your team recruitment, that is a great method to get noticed at local gaming hang-out spots.
Select players for your team
Did you think that choosing the best team members was only about skill level? Think again.
If you get a massive response from local gamers who’d like to join your team, it probably will make sense to hold tryouts. This will allow you to see how each interested gamer plays in real-time and will give you the chance to hand-pick the exact players that you would like for your team. Tryouts are a great way to judge how gamers perform in real-life and are highly recommended when starting an eSports team, so you know the exact player you are getting. If you can’t hold a tryout because you don’t have enough people interested, you should at least make sure to fill up all the spots on your team, which will include alternates and subs. It’s always a good and safe idea to have more players than you actually need. You never know when someone will get sick or abruptly leave the team and you don’t want to have to frantically search for a new player in the middle of the season. For example, if you only need five players to compete in a particular game like League of Legends, we recommend having at least seven people on your team. Did you think that choosing the best team members was only about skill level? Think again. Remember that certain intangible qualities may be more critical than just gaming skills. You want to pick team members who share your passion for success and have no problem dedicating themselves to team success. The road to eSports glory can be a long one, with more ups than downs. You need members who can persevere through the tough times. What good is a having a great sniper on the team if at the first sign adversity they get taken out with the first shot? Set up your team infrastructure Now that your team is fully assembled, you’ll need to set up the infrastructure that will enable your team to practice, play, and work together.
Make sure you have the appropriate hardware
When it comes to eSports, make sure to use gaming hardware that is as tough as your spirit.
In order to compete in eSports, your team will need the proper hardware. In this case, hardware refers to the physical equipment one needs to play the game. At the very least, this will include a gaming computer or console, a monitor screen, a mouse (or controller), and a keyboard. It also includes other helpful accessories like gaming chairs, headsets, and more. When it comes to hardware for your team, you have three options. The first is to rely on the team members’ own hardware. This means your team will use whatever gaming setup they already own. Obviously, this is the cheapest and easiest way to get things started, but it’s not necessarily recommended because it means that everyone will have and use different equipment and that the team won’t really be able to practice together. Most gaming setups are not meant to be mobile or easily moveable unless each gamer has their own gaming laptop (which is not recommended for eSports). This means that each player would have to play from their own house and everyone would connect and practice together online and communicate via headsets. It’s not necessarily ideal, but it is an option. The second option is to find a local LAN gaming center, which is a location where one can use a computer connected over a LAN to other computers, primarily to play multiplayer computer games. While a LAN gaming center is certainly not free, it does provide a physical place for your team to meet and practice together in-person. It also means you get access to decent gaming equipment.
Make sure your team is equipped with the right weapons before going into battle. The third option is to fund everything fully and to purchase all the hardware and equipment yourself. This is not necessarily a cost-effective option and will set you back a few thousand dollars. However, this also gives you full control over the hardware your team practices and competes on. Having a team use subpar equipment isn’t the best option when creating an eSports team. Common issues like lagging and frame drops are the last thing you want to be thinking about in a hectic match. Having great hardware will only benefit the players’ gameplay. For example, better hardware means lower input lag, which could change the outcome of a gunfight in certain first-person shooter games. Furthermore, using high-quality monitors, keyboards, mice, headsets and more will allow your team members to perform consistently at a high level. Gaming peripherals such as these can be just as critical to performance as the PC or console. With certain games, having a better monitor will give you a higher refresh rate, meaning the graphics you see on the screen will be more accurate. This can decrease the amount of ghosting that occurs, which is when your screen is outputting an image that isn’t actually happening. Having a high refresh rate creates a more accurate image more often which reduces ghosting from the servers. Also, headsets are an essential factor because you want to be able to communicate with the rest of your team. Using high-quality headsets with mics attached will help your team communicate more often and easily. When you fully purchase all of your gaming hardware, you have way more control over what the team plays on and with. And this could ultimately help your team become even more competitive.
Select a team meeting location
If possible, pick a dedicated location for training and team meetings.
Setting up in-person meetings for the team is an essential part of managing an eSports team. Seeing each other face-to-face is arguably the best way to build team camaraderie. That’s why having a team meeting location is so important. This location should ideally a place where the team can practice, compete, and hang-out. The location might start out at someone’s house. That is obviously the most cost-effective option, but someone will need to be willing to host the team semi-frequently. It also could be a bit too scrappy and chaotic. Or you can look into holding team meetings and practices at a LAN gaming center. This will obviously cost some money, but it eliminates a lot of headaches, such as having to find the physical space for it and set up hardware on your own. If you have enough funding, it might be a great idea to find legitimate office space for the team. This will be the most expensive option but will give your team all the privacy they need to train, practice and compete. It also gives you more flexibility because you can use the office space whenever you please, rather than relying on someone else’s schedule. Regardless of which option you choose, you’ll want to make sure that you have a team meeting location sorted out before you start practicing and training as a team.
Practice makes perfect
Remember this, when you aren’t training someone else in the world is.
Once your team infrastructure is set, you’ll want to get your team practicing and competing as soon as possible. Determine your training regiment In eSports, there are two main types of training: skill training and team training. Skill training relates to efforts on improving the fundamentals and overall knowledge and proficiency of the game your team competes in. A popular example of skill training can be seen in CS:GO, where the mechanics are so developed that entire gaming community-made maps are explicitly dedicated to learning and mastering the shooting and recoil patterns of each and every gun. Following that, there are even maps to learn and develop unique arcs for intricate smokescreens or molotovs that offer wholly new opportunities and advantages for your team. Though these types of training are usually done alone (like in SoloQ), as they are intended for honing one’s individual skills, there are maps involving one-on-one duels or even deathmatch servers consisting of many players made for conditioning players to be alert and cautious in preparation of real games. Although skill training may seem overwhelming at first, it is much easier to tackle piece by piece rather than all at once, so it is advisable to make skill training a routine. Keep in mind that patience is key to improvement in gaming. The other type of training is much more based on team-coordination than individual skill level alone. No matter how good an individual player is, in a competitive game, they are practically nothing without the rest of the team. This is where the other type of training comes in. Working on improving team communication is vital so that everyone can perform to the best of their abilities. Individual gamers will get crushed by an enemy team with undoubtedly more coordination than their own. The first step in team building is to establish a camaraderie with the team and create a lasting goal that everyone can all work towards. After all, a machine isn’t exactly useful if the gears aren’t all working in tandem. Part of this training is usually playing together in the game, working on techniques and scrimmaging with each other to notice and work on flaws as individual players. There are also many other aspects of team training, including physical and mental training to keep everyone’s physical performance and decision-making sharp as a razor. These two are staples of practice in any team-based field, even outside of gaming. Staying in good physical shape will keep the team both physically and mentally healthy, which will ultimately help enable them to compete at a higher level in eSports.
Create a team schedule
It’s essential to create a team schedule to make sure everyone on the team is on the same page. This schedule should have all team-related activities documented on it, including practice, competitions, meetings, and other gatherings. We suggest creating a team calendar on Google Calendar, which is a free online application that allows multiple people to view, add, and edit the same calendar. This will help each member of the team knows the dates, times, and locations of all team-related activities, and will ultimately ensure that everyone shows up where they are supposed to be on time.
Establish good team communication
Communication is everything in team-based competitions. If the team does not communicate well, they will fail fast. This is why it’s crucial to establish good team communication early on. Team communication skills should be worked on during training and practice. That is the best time to sort out all of the effective ways that each player individual player prefers to communicate with each other. For example, you may find during practice that the team works best when there is a “captain” managing the show by giving instructions and helpful information to the rest of the team. It’s also a great idea to encourage the team to communicate with each other outside of training and competition. Using social media and other communication applications is a fantastic way to start building teamwork. Apps like Discord and Teamspeak are great messaging platforms that can help your team communicate better and make friendships outside of gameplay. The more comfortable the players on the team are with each other, the more this will show when it counts.
Utilize competitive gaming platforms
Practice is great, but the real experience comes with competition. If you want to expand the team’s experience in competitive gaming, using a third party platform is the best way to go. Prebuilt matchmaking in a game can only take the team so far. Instead, third-party programs are much better for team play because it will allow you to play against other teams. This really tests the team’s skill not only as individuals but as a collective unit. ESEA and FACEIT both now offer leagues for multiple games, including the worldwide mega-hit known as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). ESEA has CS:GO open ladders as well as lower ladders, and higher ranking ladders such as Mountain Dew League where semi-pro players play against each other. FACEIT is also implementing a new system where there will be team-based play similar to ESEA. If you’re unwilling to pay the price for the paid system, you may want to resort to various amateur leagues on social channels such as Discord, Facebook groups, Reddit, and more. The competition in these leagues may vary but can provide a great learning experience.
Compete at a higher level
As the great hip-hop group Outkast once said, “You can’t be the king of the parking lot forever.” Make sure to push your team’s competitive boundaries often.
Once the team has trained together for a while and meets a certain threshold of success, the next step is to enter in higher level competitions. These competitions include various leagues, tournaments, and ladders that offer prize money to winning teams. High-level competitions are a great way to establish your team’s legitimacy. Some teams have turned into eSports sensations by winning or doing well in a tournament or league. These competitions will also help you on your way to earning the title of a legitimate professional team. A team will only earn the distinction of being professional once they have consistently won some serious competitions. Promote the team Your team is now at the point where they are training and competing against other teams. This means it’s time for the final step in how to start an eSports team, which is to promote your team so you can create a passionate fan base and also lock-in potential sponsorship and financial opportunities.
Create a fan base
Fans come with success. Keep developing your team’s skill and the fans will take notice.
Finding fans isn’t something that you can buy. Instead, it has to happen somewhat naturally. You can’t force people to like and respect your team. This must be earned. As your team starts to compete and play more and more, you’ll find that you’ll begin to gain fans, especially if your team is successful. We all know that the better your team is and the more they win, the more fans they will have. The one thing you can control is getting the name of your team out there. And this is why the team’s branding that we spoke about earlier is so important. The best place to promote your team is on the internet. Your website will be instrumental in doing so because it’s a central place where anyone looking for information on your team can come to learn more. We recommend going big with social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr. Make sure your team has an official page or account on all of those platforms and post regularly. Participate in subreddits that are relevant to eSports, gaming, the particular game your team plays, or even your geographic area. Create YouTube videos with team gameplay and interviews. And definitely consider starting a Twitchchannel for your team so that you can live stream your practice and competitions! Aside from promoting your team online, we also suggest going to LAN gaming centers frequently and putting up posters or flyers that have more information on your team. Attending various eSports events in your area is also a great way to network and get the name of your eSports team out there. Hopefully, through all these methods, you can begin to build up your fanbase over time.
Secure sponsorships
Once your team starts to compete at a relatively high level and build up a decent size fanbase, sponsorships can be a helpful way to increase revenue and exposure for your team. These sponsorships may be as small as an advertisement on the team’s website or sponsored clothing and gear. Even if you can find local companies or businesses to sponsor your team, it’s worth it! Every bit helps and aids the team in gaining recognition.
Now you know how to start an eSports team
While starting an eSports team is certainly not an easy task, it is totally possible! Creating, maintaining, and growing your team will undoubtedly take time, heart, and effort. But if you start small and follow the steps outlined above, your team will eventually grow together and has the potential to be super successful. Keeping a sharp mind and relentless attitude is the key to experiencing success with your eSports team. Now it’s time for you to get involved and keep this conversation going in the comments! What did we miss? Tell us about your eSports journey and remember to share with friends!
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