Mentioned in this article Teams: Panda Global

The following is an excerpt from an interview included in The Esports Observer’s Esports Business Digest report for Q3 2018. Click here to download the report.

The most reliable way for an esports organization to grow its revenue is through sponsorships. While many endemic brands are eager to partner with big name organizations, the world of non-endemic sponsors is largely untapped.

Fighting game-focused organization Panda Global has found repeated success in courting and retaining non-endemic sponsors. The company has maintained a partnership with insurance company GEICO for multiple years, and more recently added lighter brand Zippo and animation distribution company Funimation to its portfolio. Panda Global CEO Alan Bunney said the organization has grown its pool of sponsors through creative activations and an authentic connection with its fanbase.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The first step in any non-endemic partnership is education.[/perfectpullquote]

Bunney explained that the first step in any non-endemic partnership is education. “There’s no non-endemic sponsors that really, truly understand the value of esports.” In his experience, most companies either have one or two employees who are passionate about esports or a person who is thrust into the esports partnerships role with little to no experience. In either case, Panda Global needs to not only communicate its value to that representative, but teach that person how to educate their superiors in order to secure a partnership.

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This can be a lengthy process. “It’s a mixture of proving value to the people that are trying to learn about it,” Bunney said, “and then helping them prove the value to those above them that still don’t understand esports. It’s not uncommon that someone else gets hired in and we have to teach them everything all over again.”

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]They were unconvinced of the crossover between esports and anime audiences.[/perfectpullquote]

The negotiation process with Funimation played out over the course of 18 months. The entertainment company specializes in dubbing and distributing foreign content, and is most well-known for bringing Japanese animation, or “anime”, to Western audiences.

Bunney said that a few Funimation employees were passionate about esports, and wanted to find a way for the company to get involved. The two groups began discussions about possible partnerships. While these representatives believed in esports, the decision-makers at Funimation took more convincing. They were unconvinced of the crossover between esports and anime audiences.

Further playing into the anime/esports crossover, Panda Global recently introduced its own anime-style mascot, Pan-chan.

To prove out the partnership’s potential, Panda Global created a series of anime-related posts on its main Twitter page. Bunney then took the traffic on those posts back to Funimation to show that there was a strong overlap in the two audiences. Having successfully educated Funimation’s decision makers as to the potential that esports holds, Panda Global was able to secure a rather unique non-endemic partnership.

Bunney added that, since the partnership, he has seen more case studies exploring the opportunity for anime companies getting involved in esports.

To read the rest of the interview, including how Panda Global helped launch a brand new vertical for Zippo, download the Esports Business Digest Q3 2018.