Canada is known for many things, but esports is not really one of them. Daniel Escott, the founder of Iceberg Esports plans to change that. Starting up Iceberg as a home for professional gamers and players has allowed esports to finally take a peek at what Canada offers to the playing field.

I sat down with Daniel and discussed the uprising of Canadian esports and what it’ll take to achieve his goals.

“So, Iceberg started as an esports team because there's basically no teams on professional level in Canada and because of that a lot of our best talent was moving away,” he began. “We've tried and continue to try to bring Canada's away stars home. But because the pro level in Canada was dead before us, sponsors were hesitant to get on board even with our star players. So we diversified into consulting and broadcasting.”

Canada is known for producing tons of games, with Ubisoft and EA’s studios located in the great, white north. That said, with a distinct lack of pro-level gaming, Escott has had to travel a lot with his team since August 2017, when Iceberg was founded.

“There's plenty [of competition] for amateurs and semi-pro,” claimed Escott. “But not quite enough to sustain a full-time team. So there's a lot of international travel, which really drives up costs.”

The line-up for Iceberg Esports' Halo team, featuring (from left to right) Jeremy "stress" Shoy, Mike "yiws" King, Coltan "TheOnlyZoltan" Gowan, Dallas "dallay" Seroski, and Chris "rpcommon" Dietzen

Escott, founder of Blume industries, has taken it upon himself to innovate the esports economy via unique methods. He has taken to working with professional soccer and NHL teams on their esports strategy. How does professional hockey intersect with esports? I had to ask.

“Well, where sports and esports meet is the sense of community built around it,” Escott explained. “We've worked out a strategy to utilize the support, infrastructure, and reach of hockey teams (and sports teams in general), to essentially make them a cornerstone of their local esports communities. With their support, we’re set to begin broadcasting for major leagues and tournaments in 2018.”

There’s a ton of sports team owners out there that are interested in investing in esports. With that in mind, Daniel has an idea on how business should operate within the industries. There is a natural fit for esports within the sports business, but the differences take shape pretty quickly when looked at it from another angle.

“There have been a great many teams buying esports teams and investing in them, but I really don't think that's the right approach on its own,” Escott said. “The business models just don't work the same way. Sports teams have all kinds of revenue streams and resources, and they don't need to really be concerned about anything other than their city. Esports currently only has corporate sponsorship and merch sales, and even as some leagues introduce revenue sharing it won't be enough. Esports should really be approached more as a kind of tech startup than a sports team.”

With the wind blowing his direction, Daniel has high hopes for the industry.

“I think it'll change,” claims Escott. “That's part of why we're working with sports teams, to really set up an environment and support system for amateur and semi-pro esports so they can grow organically, which will inevitably lead to a more sustainable and developed professional community. The esports community in Canada doesn't just need pro teams to show up and be around, it needs constant support to grow and develop the opportunities it has. Things like grassroots organizations and collegiate programs are the way I see it really moving forward. It's a long term goal and I've set us up to be in this for the long haul. I don't think you'll see many teams popping up on this level in Canada, simply because the traditional model of finding sponsors and running a good team just doesn't work here.”

Daniel went on to explain that the business models are unique in esports (and especially Canadian esports).

“There's a lot of opportunities for esports in Canada, and I don't think a standard team model is the right way to address them. As a startup. I think as you see a lot of investment into standard teams, you'll see a lot of those teams shutting down or being sold or ‘restructured’ because their business model has a sort of hard cap on revenue because of sponsorships versus the cost of running the team. Investors will absolutely not get a solid return on their investment from a typical team, and I think that's bad for the industry as a whole. But if a business approach is applied, the company would actually be a worthwhile investment opportunity in a young but promising market.”

Poor decisions can also affect the fate of a company and Escott had some insight into the risk and possibility of misfortune that can befall a team.

“Look at Immortals,” Escott stated as an example. The Los Angeles-based US esports team was denied entry into the North American League of Legends Championship Series, despite being one of three teams from the series to qualify for the World Championship Series a year prior. “Their business model, up until their Overwatch franchise, relied almost entirely on sponsorships. Then Riot denied their NALCS application over concerns that they wouldn't have enough money to contribute to the revenue share and sustain the team. Now Immortals' League of Legends team, regardless of how good they are, has their future and career in jeopardy because the management and owners made poor decisions. We're trying to create a sustainable environment for esports to grow organically in Canada for exactly that reason. As players develop along with the ecosystem, there should be enough supports in place to allow them to either join existing teams venturing into the pro world or start their own, and find little resistance from potential sponsors.”

The Iceberg Esports Halo team in action in October 2017 in the Halo Championship Series.

Near the end of the interview, Escott discussed Iceberg Esports and the players involved. Officially, Iceberg has a Counter Strike: Global Offensive team and a Halo team, with an upcoming Dota 2 team on the horizon. He plans for even more games in the future, but declined to reveal which ones at this time. One subject of interest was training and how and if the team approaches training across several games.

“There's obviously some shared skills and shared communities between games,” Escott explained. “but at the same time, each game has its own unique factors that make it it's own beast. The teams themselves all have a similar formula. No team in any game will ever be worth elevating to the pro level if they don't communicate and collaborate. The top five players in the world would be the worst team in their league if they only play for themselves.”

He showed pride in the players on his team, giving credit to his players and staff members for two current teams.

“On the management side, Shelby Parks, Dusan ‘Kai’ Stakic, and Spencer Clarke are the rockstars. Shelby manages our FPS titles, Dusan leads our MOBA programs, and Spencer runs our marketing and outreach. Really an incredible mixture of talent we have. Shelby is a former pro Counter Strike: Source player, Dusan used to be the Dota 2 team manager for Fnatic, and Spencer is an esports community leader in Calgary.”

The Halo team is comprised of four players. “Halo is captained by Chris, known as RPCommon. Very calm, very cool, and mature.” Stress, Dallay, and Yiws are the other members. Stress is very active on Twitch.

The CS:GO team has established themselves on the playing field, with 6 total members on the team, being led by John "Cruxie" Cogal.

“We had a rough start to the MDL season,” says Escott. “but they managed to make an incredible comeback for their first season in the league.”

Iceberg is out to make Canada a name in esports. With Daniel Escott leading the charge, they are bound to turn a few heads along the way. Only three months in, they’re in the process of obtaining sponsorships and building their army across several games and platforms and time will tell if this team can rise to the occasion when they hit the world stage.