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The comparisons between esports and traditional sports are a constant when examining the development of the business of esports. So those who step from one world to the other bring new perspectives that are exciting to explore.

Jack Harari is one of those executives. After almost five years at the NBA, Harari joined Activision Blizzard in mid-2018 as VP of international partnerships for the company’s esports leagues. From Overwatch League and all Blizzard’s esports portfolio to the effort to grow the Call of Duty World League, Harari overseas the development of partnerships outside US borders.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I’m pleased by the level of sophistication of our esports products and how we bring those products to brands, to fans, and to media properties.”[/perfectpullquote]

When we opened our interview, Harari admitted that, while he felt confident in his transition to esports, he still underestimated the maturity of the industry he was about to join.

“I probably had some common misconceptions for people with a sports background before I’d gotten into esports, thinking that it was still up-and-coming as opposed to fully arrived, which is what I know now – that it is a mainstream product,” said Harari.

“I’m pleased by the level of sophistication of our esports products and how we bring those products to brands, to fans, and to media properties.”

In many respects, Harari feels that the core sales approach in esports is “not too dissimilar” to the way traditional sports are commercialized.

Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

“At the end of the day you’re representing an audience and you’re trying to convey to your partner that your audience is highly engaged. It has purchasing power, it is educated, is savvy, all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“I think one of the really exciting things about esports compared to traditional sport is how much our audience pushes us. The level of quality that they hold us to and their expectations. That really requires us to be on top of our game at all times and to be innovative. And to be strategic about the partners we’re working with and how we’re bringing our products to our fan base.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The place that we’re in and the size of our industry for what is really a relatively young space is really remarkable,”[/perfectpullquote]

But as common as the comparisons are, Harari is quick to point out that focusing too much on esports and its similarities to traditional sports can be something he tries to avoid.

“It’s a trap that we all fall into because it seems to be the easiest thing. But we’re a form of entertainment. The way that concerts are a form of entertainment, the way that movies are a form of entertainment, whatever it is that somebody does for fun. That’s what esports is,” said Harari.

And its explosive rise has more in common with broader entertainment industries than sports – where so many sports have taken more than a century to reach the scale they have today, esports has done so in just two decades.

“The place that we’re in and the size of our industry for what is really a relatively young space is really remarkable,” he said.

Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Harari sees a big strength in Activision Blizzard’s focus on end-to-end control of its esports ecosystem when it comes to his sales pitch to partners. When he offers an opportunity to a partner, he knows he can present a complete package from top-tier through grassroots in a way no traditional sport can match.

“When you look at traditional stick and ball sports the youth level for baseball is not the same entity as the collegiate level. It’s not the same entity as Major League Baseball. And so you don’t have that relationship with the player throughout the entire ecosystem. You have to partner at different levels. We’ve simplified that for brands,” Harari said.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”They could understand who their fan bases are there and they can create this anticipation, groundswell and thirst.”[/perfectpullquote]

One of the big gambles attached to Blizzard’s development of the Overwatch League was the creation of globally distributed, city-based team franchises. From Harari’s perspective, the signs of how this is working – ahead of true home game arrangements starting in 2020 – has been very positive.

“The fact that we’ve seen such incredible local engagement by our teams even though their player base spends a significant amount of time out of their market right now is incredibly encouraging,” he said.

“We’re trying to do something that has never been done before – a truly global city-based, franchise-based league. There’s a ton of logistical hurdles along the way but we see a ton of interest in the markets where we have franchises and in the markets where we don’t have franchises, frankly. Because there’s been a really strong set of marketing that’s gone behind Overwatch League and a lot of PR and that’s not just from the League standpoint from the team standpoint as well.”

While there have been two seasons of Overwatch League played out of an LA studio and not attached to home markets of most of the league’s teams, Harari says it has been helpful for the teams to have that time to develop their grasp of who their home fan-base is and how to engage them.

Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

“They could understand who their fan bases are there and they can create this anticipation, groundswell and thirst. By way of example, our China teams have partnered, and the league as well, with a movie theater chain who does weekly viewing parties out there at their theaters,” Harari said.

“Those have had an incredibly high engagement. It’s an opportunity for fans to again be excited about what’s coming to their market and to cheer their teams on. That happens in New York as well. They’ve done pop-up stores and the teams are starting to announce local partnership deals. Philadelphia Fusion announced a dedicated esports arena that they’re breaking ground on and that’s going to be state of the art, first of its kind in the world. And all of that really works to get a localized fan base really excited about what’s going to be happening in 2020.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Thirty percent of the esports audience does not consume traditional television.”[/perfectpullquote]

Talking about how the teams have been developing different personalities, particularly in their approaches to social media, Harari also sees the benefit in the mix of both territories and ownership groups in creating these differences.

“I think that’s one of the cool things about having teams from different marketplaces and ownership groups of different backgrounds and different strategies. They can learn from each other, they can share best practices and they can all embrace what their core identity is,” he said.

“It essentially becomes a competition – who does the best social, who does the best local events, and who celebrates their fan base in the best way. That’s the beauty of what it is and it takes on a life of its own and it continues to grow and prosper.”

As for what he feels is the strong selling point for esports as an industry, Harari has a clear sense of the strength of the access to an important commercial demographic that simply cannot be found in other ways.

Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

“Thirty percent of the esports audience does not consume traditional television. They are digital natives or not traditional sport fans, all these kind of things,” Harari said.

While Harrari would not comment on the impact the debate surrounding violence in video games has on his discussions with potential non-endemic partners, he did give a clue to the way they focus their discussion on the positive impact of the games they represent.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I think that’s one of the cool things about having teams from different marketplaces and ownership groups of different backgrounds and different strategies.”[/perfectpullquote]

“Our esports create an environment of teamwork and community, of strategy and leadership, and that’s something that anyone can understand and anyone can relate to – brands, media platforms, and fans alike,” he said.

Overwatch League has also seen broadcast partnerships around some of its big events, from ESPN to ABC. For Harari, these partnerships are a recognition that some broadcasters see esports as an important part of their future.

“They see that they need to improve their relationship with a young, elusive, coveted demographic. They are ahead of the game and have strong strategies around how to approach esports and they don’t see it as a risk to get involved in esports. They see it as a risk not to get involved in esports,” said Harari.

“Those are the partners we want to be talking to. Because the ones that aren’t thinking that are the ones that are going to be left behind because they are going to lose their entire youth audience.”