Owners of Panda Global and Circa eSports discuss what they're looking for in sponsoring players

It's a question that has been asked more than once: "Why is this player so good, but not signed yet?" The answer is never a simple one.

Many factors, such as marketability, the player's personal life, or other elements may be to blame. While a skilled player might earn top placements at major or local tournaments, they may easily slip out of the collective consciousness.

What do organizations look for when signing players, then? What makes a competitor memorable? I turned to the owners of Circa eSports and Panda Global, Marc Leikach and David Wu, to better understand the dynamics behind player sponsorship:

ext0pdoll: What are some characteristics you look for in players when seeking additions to your organization? What stands out to you, and why?

Marc Leikach: There are multiple things we look for when signing a player to Circa eSports, but the main characteristic we look for is personality, because it's easier to market someone who is likable in the scene compared to someone who everyone hates. We also like when we receive resumes compared to a mass paragraph email.

David Wu: Great players tend to have common traits of drive, ambition, and passion. Players who constantly look to be better than they were yesterday, both in and out of the game. You can tell who wants to dedicate their life to eSports and those who just want to live the 'eSports' life.

ext0pdoll: Do you have any requirements for players on your team? If so, what are they?

Marc Leikach: One thing we require is streaming. We require a minimum of two hours and thirty minutes per week. This keeps their channel active and promotes their brand a little more.

David Wu: They have to speak English, be able to enter a contracted agreement, and really love their game.

ext0pdoll: Do you believe that marketability ranks higher than a player’s skill, or should they go hand in hand? How does a player’s image, personality, and origin story play into their marketability, and does this make them a likely candidate to become a team member?

Marc Leikach: I feel marketability and skill are both important. From experience, it is very hard to market a player with very little skill. Like I mentioned before, it is a lot easier to promote someone who is willing to get themselves out there more compared to a person not doing anything in the scene.

For example, Nicky, our Killer Instinct and Injustice 2 player, had the skill and personality, but lacked the streaming side of things, so we pushed him to streaming more and now he streams at least 10 hours a week and averages 30+ viewers. He is growing every day.

David Wu: They go hand in hand, with winning as the best form of marketing. However, at the end of the day, marketability plays a crucial role in the current economic model, which means it should inherently rank higher than skill.

It’s nice to already have a strong image and personality to build off of, but we can always work with our roster to develop these. All 3 are all good tools to use, but it’s not all that factors into marketability. Personally, I value those who want to better their skill/marketability and put in the work to do so.

ext0pdoll: What is your advice to players looking to get signed?

Marc Leikach: For new players looking to get signed, one thing that most players struggle with is their brand. Players should focus on their brand and, like I mentioned before, one thing we LOVE to see is players that put together a resume. A resume will make your chances of getting signed go up a lot.

David Wu: Just keep in mind it’s a two-way street. Both sides should be getting more value working together than individually. Don't burn any bridges. You've got a long career ahead and the eSports community is actually quite small. ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ YOUR CONTRACT!!! Most of all, don't give up and put in the work. Prove with your actions why I should invest in you.

While it's nice to get an organization's perspective, I wanted to see what some top players had to say about their experiences getting sponsored. I asked Grapht|Gllty and Rise|Smug, two competitors who just recently signed with their teams, to fill me in on their side of the story:

ext0pdoll: How do you feel your image, personally, affects your popularity as a player? Do you feel it helped you get signed with your organization?

Gllty: I mean, image is basically intrinsically tied to popularity, isn't it? Almost by definition really. Some people love to hate me, some people just love me, and being divisive puts me front and center.

Smug: I love my image and I think it's a huge part of me because I just be myself at all times, and people love that about me.

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lindgren

ext0pdoll: Is skill the most important trait a player needs to be noticed? Why or why not?

Gllty: You can get noticed for a lot of reasons, good or bad, skill notwithstanding. Attention is pretty hollow in itself if it's not paired with direction or work ethic.

Smug: Skill is definitely 85% of why people follow players, because there's players that have over 50K followers because they win a lot of majors, but have no personality. Having a personality brings more fans and [makes] more people attracted to what you do in your daily life.

ext0pdoll: How do you market yourself as a player?

Gllty: I put myself out there instead of praying that winning locals and having a super high internet nerdpoint quotient is enough to make me stand out from everyone else doing exactly the same thing. Initiative removes chance from the equation.

Smug: I market myself to bring fun to the FGC and make people entertained by my sense of humor in serious matches, which is why the cameraman points the camera on me because they expect I will do something funny for the viewers.

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lindgren

ext0pdoll: What would you suggest to players who are looking to get signed?

Gllty: Actually try instead of just talking about it and pretending you're serious, but won't actually commit to making sacrifices or letting others dissuade you. Most people are super boring, lazy, and not that talented, but in their head, they're the hero of their own story.

Then, when they show up to tournaments, they want to socialize instead of trying to make connections, so I don't think they're honest with themselves, much less setting themselves up to be attractive to an org's business model.

Also, don't complain jealously about the success of others, because game recognizes game, and if you're whining about someone else having what you want, then you ought to give them some legit credit and get your lazy ass back to the drawing board. If you go to tournaments to drink and socialize, you're doing it wrong. If you go to observe, collect information, and train, you're doing it right.

Smug: If you want to get signed, practice hard, travel to tournaments, get your name out there, have a good image, be active on social media, and stay consistent.

It’s every gamer’s dream to pursue their hobby as a profession. Getting paid a decent salary to travel the world competing in your favorite games for ludicrous amounts of prize money sounds like the perfect life, doesn’t it? However, it’s certainly not as easy as it might seem, and it takes more than just winning a few locals to warrant a sponsorship.

To achieve this sought-after lifestyle, players must juggle a combination of dedicated practice, networking, resume building, and determination. Don’t let this discourage you, though. Some of today’s top competitors have risen from incredibly meager circumstances to become celebrities in the Fighting Game Community. We all have to start somewhere—why not get cracking today?