Gen.G’s Sherman says kids following players not teams is good for esports

International esports organisation Gen.G have added MLB and NBA experience to their team with Jordan Sherman as their new Head of Sponsorships and Revenue Operations.

Sherman has over 10 years of experience in sports business, working with the MLB and NBA team the Los Angeles Clippers. However, that won’t make the jump to esports any easier.

We caught up with him to find out more about his new role, how much he knows about esports and how he thinks his traditional sports experience will help him and Gen.G.

We spoke to Gen.G’s new Head of Sponsorships and Revenue to find out more about him

What are you hoping to accomplish at Gen.G?

My goal is to help build a world-class esports franchise group that competes for championships across multiple global leagues. Also, helping our partners gain a competitive advantage in their own industries by leveraging our reach, access, and hard-to-reach millennial audience demographic.

How will your experience with the MLB and NBA help you in esports? Do you think you’ll have to do anything differently within esports? If so, what new approach are you planning?

At Clippers games we’re always focused on the fan experience – particularly in-arena and on social media. For starters – we want fans to cheer on a world-class product on the court. Secondly, we want out fans to feel safe, to have fun, to learn something new and to create a bonding experience with their friends (and maybe make some new friends as a result of being a Clippers fan). Additionally, we give our Clippers sponsors opportunities to get involved in the action and to interact with fans during the game.

I think everything I just listed regarding engagement concepts is certainly applicable to esports…if not magnified even further. The esports games I’ve attended, the fans are very similar: they want to see a world-class product, they are into the game, they are knowledgeable, they are having fun with friends, etc. Once that’s established, it’s on us to come up with unique opportunities for sponsors to interact with fans in-arena in authentic and non-invasive ways.

One unique advantage to Gen.G is our global reach and presence in the biggest esports leagues across multiple continents. If you’re a brand you now have an opportunity to go global and to do it all with one partnership group and not a collection of different divisions from a larger league ownership structure. It’s going to make those partnerships even better and it’s a new approach that only until recently was this even logistically possible due to technology advancements.

So with that in mind, when you then look at the landscape from a partnership perspective you notice a ton of room for activation but a minimal amount of active brand participants. That’s a recipe for major success – because it’s wide open. Brands have an opportunity to write their own narrative no matter if they are a well-established brand, a new brand, or a revamping brand. There’s going to be a few brands that do their homework and take what may be viewed as a risk in today’s terms but ultimately cash-in big by becoming an authentic partner in the esports space. With that amount of creative freedom and potential I think you’ll find that esports will begin recruiting brands from industries all over the world – not just those participating in traditional sports models.

Have you followed esports for long? Why did you choose to move into this industry?

I’ve been extremely lucky to work with and learn from smart, hard-working people during my time at MLB Advanced Media and the LA Clippers. I’m very fortunate to have this background and unique business experiences within the world of traditional sports. Specifically, I’ve learned first-hand how both organisations are always looking to improve themselves by leveraging technology, digital/social media and in-game presentation.

As a result, I’ve always kept my eyes open for new tech and trends. Over the past few years esports has been this awesome blend of technology, fandom, expansive business growth and uncapped potential. The world of esports is being built as we speak and every brand in the world has a unique window of opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries by approaching this industry with full support. As a partnerships person – that’s a very exciting business to be in.

Once I identified that I was interested in esports, the question became where should I get involved? There are so many different avenues into esports: franchise groups, individual leagues, media platforms, agencies, consultants, etc. My thinking was that I could bring a lot to a franchise group coming from an NBA team. Additionally. when I met the team at Gen.G I was really impressed with their backgrounds, experiences, vision for the industry and long-term plan for building the company. I’ve always wanted to be a part of building something special and to get involved in the early stages of the game. So, when you put that all together with my background and Gen.G’s overall vision ahd the potential to truly write your own narrative within the esports industry…it became a truly unique and fun opportunity that I wanted to go for.

Finally, how do you plan to bridge the gap between the American, Chinese and Korean audiences? Will your focus solely be on introducing your Asian teams to the States or will you look to develop Gen.G’s following in those regions too?

When I was growing up I liked sports teams based on one factor: whoever my Dad told me to root for, that was the team that I was going to root for.

The new trend that I see is that kids are growing up fans of all types players (not just one team) and those players don’t even have to play in a geographic location close to them. That trend is something that makes me really excited for esports. There’s a lot of room for improvement and education but as long as we develop our team, our players and our content correctly I think we will see a lot of fan cross-pollination across continents. 

So, my prediction is that we’ll be introducing our Asian teams to the States but also our actions in the States to Korea and China. [And, of course, we can’t forget about the core demographic in Asia that already has supported us from the beginning]. There’s a lot to unpack there but if you break it down to one point it’s this: the concept of confining a team to a geographic radius of it’s home stadium is pretty much extinct for all sports – both traditional and esports. The teams that will be most successful are the ones who tell the best stories and connect with fans from all over the world. That’s our challenge with all of our teams and all of our potential fans across the globe.



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