Adam Fitch: Guild Esports have proven doubters wrong GuildWhen British esports organization Guild Esports launched in June 2020 they were met with scepticism and cynicism, and I was among the crowd dishing it out. Now, nine months on, I believe I owe them an apology. The doubt aimed at the newly-launched organization at the time came from simple facts: they declared David Beckham as a co-owner, they planned on implementing a sports-style academy system, and they leaned in heavily on the mainstream press. In esports, we\u2019re used to things being done in a particular fashion and it was clear Guild weren\u2019t planned on fitting in. In retrospect, I believe I gave them a hard time partially because I didn\u2019t understand what they were aiming to do. Bringing in Beckham and planning to become publicly-listed with no achievements to date besides being in the BBC? Who do they think they are? Plus, we\u2019re used to seeing celebrity investors getting involved with a team and then fading into the background. In the public realm, they\u2019re useful for a momentary PR boost and that\u2019s about it. Perhaps they are indeed offering expertise behind the scenes, but they\u2019re under-utilised in a forward-facing capacity considering their fame. It appeared to be a quick cash-grab, listing themselves on the London Stock Exchange and making millions of pounds \u2014 effectively off of Beckham\u2019s name \u2014 with a hopeful valuation of \u00a350m. Esports is supposed to be about competitive excellence and vibrant personalities, not utilizing a high-profile celebrity to raise millions in a matter of months. It felt iffy. Wrongly, when I think of a new organization starting out, I envisage a start-up that begins small. Perhaps they just have one team, and it\u2019s not one of the best teams at that. They have to earn their stripes and prove that they\u2019re serious (and well-intentioned) before they earn our respect and make a killing in the process. Upon recent reflection, I was simply close-minded. When uproar followed a report explaining that Beckham would be paid $20m for them to effectively make a name off of his, I actually understood what they were doing more. This was a large-scale attempt at something we\u2019ve seen plenty of in online entertainment as of late, influencer marketing. You don\u2019t get much more influential than David bloody Beckham, that\u2019s for sure. While people were ranting because Guild didn\u2019t make a song and dance about the influencer deal they had in place with the former England footballer, the information was readily available. One under-acknowledged aspect of Guild Esports is that they\u2019re one of the more transparent organizations we have in our entire industry. They have to be because of their status as a public company. If they keep things shady, they\u2019re violating regulations. As soon as they sign a sponsorship deal, they have to make that known to their shareholders (for all intents and purposes, the public.) Easy. We are a public company and transparency is our brand. The exact deal fig isn\u2019t being provided due to commercial confidentiality requested by our partner, which we must respect.https:\/\/t.co\/lA498eBIqy \u2014 Carleton Curtis (@carletoncurtis) March 25, 2021 Since launching and successfully floating on the LSE, Guild have proven to be taking esports seriously. They\u2019ve signed teams in VALORANT, Rocket League, FIFA, and Fortnite, and are exploring an entry into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive too. They even grabbed their first trophy recently as well. They\u2019ve hired excellent creative staff to try and conquer one of the core pillars of the industry, content. Each announcement video they post is innovative and well-made, assets that wouldn\u2019t feel out of place as a television commercial during prime time. Just look at what they\u2019ve produced for player signings and sponsorship deals as solid examples. For their logo, and subsequently their merchandise, they were thoughtful upon launch. Whether you like the branding or otherwise, the organization tapped successful streetwear designer Fergus Purcell to devise their visual identity and first range of apparel. Let\u2019s revisit the widely-regarded three pillars of success for a modern-day esports team. Competition, content, and merchandise. They\u2019re not afraid to spend to sign players they feel give them a chance at success, they\u2019re creating what I consider to be some of the best content in Western esports and have signed plenty of creators, and they\u2019ve tapped an iconic figurehead of streetwear to spearhead their clothing offering. As far as I can tell, they\u2019re taking things seriously and should be considered as such. The pillar of their business I can\u2019t yet judge is their academy system. There\u2019s been a lot of talk, just as there was for competitive excellence among their ranks, but I haven\u2019t seen any action just yet. That\u2019s fine, of course. Things take time, they\u2019re having to build the plane as they\u2019re flying it and we\u2019re in the middle of an almost-global lockdown. This is an area I\u2019m interested in though. If they are the ones to implement a working, logical academy initiative that helps new talent be discovered, hone their craft, and then go on to greatness that this would be a lucrative talent pipeline. We see it in sports like football and, with Beckham\u2019s first-hand experience with Ridgeway Rovers before he joined Manchester United, this would cement Guild\u2019s spot among the top tier of esports team brands by my standards. It\u2019s not just myself who\u2019s recognizing what they\u2019ve done in their still-short lifespan. After March 25\u2019s Subway announcement, other community members commended what Guild are building. Guild Esports hasn\u2019t even been around a full year and with David Beckham\u2019s name have raised $26 million, entered 4 Esports, signed almost 20 pros, and now signed a multi million $ deal with Subway\u2026 6 inch meatball sub anyone else? \u2014 Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) March 25, 2021 It is indeed worth noting that Guild have announced three partnerships so far. These deals are somewhat the lifeblood for many organizations, helping them to keep afloat as they work out how they can actually generate meaningful revenue. So far, Becks\u2019 org have announced a deal with household gaming brand HyperX, a \u00a33.6m three-year sponsorship with a fintech company, and a \u201cmulti-million-pound\u201d two-year deal with the aforementioned fast-food chain. If we were to use partnership acquisition as a metric for organization performance, as some people no doubt do, then they\u2019re also doing well in that arena. I reserve the right to be sceptical when companies enter the industry out of nowhere with interesting plans (to say the least) but I will say that Guild have opened my eyes and widened my perspective. It would be a boring industry if no innovation took place, if nobody had the willingness and the spunk to try something new. Hell, perhaps Guild are currently constructing the blueprint in which future organizations follow for a successful launch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Adam Fitch: Guild Esports have proven doubters wrong GuildWhen British esports organization Guild Esports launched in June 2020 they were met with scepticism and cynicism, and I was among the crowd dishing it out. Now, nine months on, I believe I owe them an apology. The doubt aimed at the newly-launched organization at the time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}