While esports events can be just plain fun to watch, it’s important that we keep in mind what we’re searching for so we can continue to learn while we enjoy the show. Some of the major elements that we can take away from other event broadcasts include operations, publicity, and the broadcast itself.
When you watch an event online, the first thing you notice is the actual broadcast production. How is the game information being conveyed to the viewers? What themes are they playing off of or using? What’s the tone of the tournament: is it serious or lighthearted? How do different assets or personalities help to tell the story of the event?
The goal of the event broadcast is to help tell the story of what’s happening and why should you care.
Activity: As a class, watch a tournament broadcast for a game of your choice.
Take note of things that you think work well and not so well and ways you can implement similar ideas into your event. Setting up a broadcast can be one of the most challenging aspects of an event, so don’t expect to be able to replicate everything you see onscreen right away. Even the most complex of ideas can often be boiled down to a simpler form.
Some things to watch out for:
Commentators
Camera Controllers
Screen Transitions
Player/Commentator Cameras
Highlight Playbacks
No matter how well an event is organized, produced, and executed, viewers aren’t able to enjoy the fruits of your labor unless they actually know about the event in the first place. Publicity is all about getting the word out there and getting viewers interested in either competing, attending, or watching the event. This can be done in a multitude of ways, but physical promotion and social media presence are two of the most widely used formats.
Activity: Dig deeper into the social media campaigns for a few major esport events.
Who are the advertisements made for?
How are they being shared?
How do the ads convey the themes of the event?
What kind of action are they trying to get the viewer to take?
Keep these questions in mind as you find new ways to apply the ideas of these events to your very own.
The least flashy of these three sections, but certainly just as important. Operations details everything that goes into running the event.
It’s a very wide range of functions that can be summarized in a few points.
How do we make sure the competition goes on as planned?
How do we ensure the live viewers have a positive experience with the event?
Within those simple questions lies a lot nuance and details that will have to be researched and developed, but a good operations plan lies at the heart of any good event.
Activity: When researching other events, keep an eye out for a few additional details.
What are the rules of the event and where can they be found?
What are the ways a team can get disqualified?
How do they keep the fans engaged and entertained?
What accommodations need to be made for the players?
How is a fair and competitive environment maintained?
What are the backup plans in case something fails or goes wrong?
How would you report rules infractions or other relevant information?
What can be done to further increase the enjoyment of all parties attending the event?
When it comes to the world of live events you’re going to find a whole lot of different examples to choose from. The sheer amount of options may even seem overwhelming. Here are a few places to get you started on the path to planning your own event.
For many high schools, hosting competitive events with production, publicity, and operational challenges is nothing new. While certainly a different type of event, traditional sports are a fantastic way to begin your delve into the event production space. If your school has sports teams on campus, stop by a game or two, and take notes. If sports are unavailable at your campus, perhaps a field trip is in order or better yet, check for remote broadcasts of other local schools. Seeing what high school event production looks like will most likely give you the best look at how to produce great live events with limited resources.
Although it is a new and emerging scene, many high schools and colleges have already taken those first steps with their own live esports events. These types of events will give you the most accurate reflection of what may or may not be possible from a resource perspective. Every school and event will have different resources and limitations, but investigating others should help you start to set that bar going into brainstorming.
Living somewhere between the collegiate and professional space, amateur and semi-professional play combine some of the best of both worlds. You’ll often tune into these events to see some of the big ideas and polish of a professional event with some of the budget-saving moves of a collegiate event. The main thing to pay attention to with these sorts of events is how they make the most of their resources or rather how to make less feel like more.
Professionally produced events are often the best of the best in the esports world. They showcase the best players with the flashiest broadcast, the most professional operations staff, and the most effective publicity teams. While a majority of ideas implemented at the professional level will be far beyond the scope of what we can accomplish at our level, we can take note of the things that work well for the professionals and break them down to its core components which we could replicate for our own event without breaking the bank.