Licensing Disruption
In late 2015, while running the NYC office of Omnicom experiential marketing agency GMR Marketing, I was tapped to help launch the agency’s gaming and esports practice. As a 15-year veteran of the sports and entertainment industry, I knew little about the emergence of competitive gaming. The next three years would be a crash course for me in the business of esports, while building key relationships across the industry.
As I was leaving GMR last fall, I reconnected with old friends Ed Brooks and Mario Prosperino, who had launched ESPAT AI in 2018 along with fellow co-founder, Dante Simpson. I was intrigued by ESPAT’s business, applying the tried-and-true digital media licensing model of legacy companies like Getty Images to help gaming IP holders monetize their digital media assets. But it was Ed’s vision for how ESPAT will leverage technology to disrupt the traditional licensing model that got me particularly excited about being part of what the team was building.
I joined ESPAT as CEO in February, with the mission to help the gaming industry usher in the next phase of commercial growth. In doing so, ESPAT is committed to empowering the creator community by arming them with the tools and resources to generate new revenue streams of their own. We are still early in our journey, but if the past few months are any indication, we are making great strides. And we look forward to continued dialogue with the community to help us better serve its needs.
ESPAT & The LCS
ESPAT is thrilled to launch our new partnership with Riot Games and the LCS — the first major publisher-backed esports league to join the ESPAT platform. The LCS’ decision to partner with ESPAT is further validation of what we are building. And we value our shared commitment to the creators, who have helped make the LCS what it is today. Together with partners like the LCS, we will amplify the gaming community by bringing greater exposure to the industry at all levels.
The Life Blood of Content Creation
This commitment starts with the photographers/videographers, without whom ESPAT would not exist. Our business model provides radical transparency to licensing fees and champions the photographers, who are part of the life blood of esports content. We are developing a royalty structure that fairly compensates esports photographers on the sale of their images and videos. And through our emerging technology, these photographers will have opportunities to generate incremental revenue tied to their digital assets. We look forward to growing our photographer network and helping to shine a light on their amazing work.
Esports’ Editorial Engine
In addition, our goal is to empower the bloggers and content creators that serve as the editorial engine of the gaming industry. Esports’ meteoric rise can be directly attributed to this segment of the creator community, and we will work together to continue driving the industry’s growth. Through a pricing model that is equitable and inclusive of the global community we serve, we will make our digital assets accessible to independent content creators, while generating new revenue streams for our partners with larger media outlets and commercial (brand / agency) customers. And utilizing a tech-forward approach to licensing, we will arm these content creators with ways to unlock new revenue opportunities of their own through licensed images.
Creating the Marketplace of the Future
ESPAT is a startup, born of the gaming community. We take pride in our roots and the relationships and trust we have built over the past 3+ years. As we create this new marketplace, we are doing so in a way that will benefit the broader gaming ecosystem and help all stakeholders better monetize their content.
In conjunction with partners like the LCS, we look forward to continuing our work with the community as we evolve our platform. For the foreseeable future, we will be providing live event coverage and digital archives from the LCS complimentary to all users of the ESPAT platform. In time, we will roll out a tiered subscription model with an offering tailored to the needs of the creator community. We look forward to further input from our partners and customers that we serve. Thank you for being part of this journey with us!
