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First place finishes bring sports teams value. That’s why in the traditional sports world, every major team has a dedicated training facility with doctors and nutritionists to help players perform at their best. And this mentality has started creeping into esports. Top teams are now creating dedicated training facilities for their players to not only practice, but to receive the physical and mental care they need to perform at their peak.
“HQs and training centers are really required to further push and legitimize the space forward,” said Cam Kelly, chief marketing officer for Complexity Gaming, an esports team based in Frisco, Texas. “From our standpoint, the training center was the culmination — or the finishing touch — on what is going to be a long term vision for improving player care.”
“There are teams that are spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions in rent for these mega-mansions that are really just content generators.”
Currently, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and CEO of Crescent Real Estate Holdings John Goff, own majority stakes in Complexity. This means that the long-running American esports organization now has access to the same facilities and expertise utilized by the Dallas Cowboys.
With the added investment, Complexity wants to bring the same sports professionalism and scientific rigor found with its sister football team. Earlier this year, Complexity unveiled the GameStop Performance Center, a facility that aims to give its players the services and technology they need to practice under any condition before competition.
But creating a facility like the GameStop Performance Center, as well as moving players away from team houses and into their own luxury apartments, comes at a great cost. But it’s one that Kelly thinks is worth it.
Credit: Complexity Gaming
“There are teams that are spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions in rent for these mega-mansions that are really just content generators,” he said. “Because you also have to house individual teams, some [esports] teams have four houses in LA, and another one in the EU, and all that cost adds up; I have a centralized cost, and it’s much easier to monitor, it’s much easier to track.”
Kelly is not arguing that paying rent on multiple luxury apartments over one house is cheaper, but instead that overall, given the long term benefits, it outweighs the short term costs.
“It’s certainly more costly if you look at it from the short term. But if you look at it from the long term, I remove player houses, which have a rent like anything else… I can reduce some of those costs that are going to come in on the back end,” Kelly said.
“It’s certainly more costly if you look at it from the short term.”
These backend costs and benefits include increased team comradery, decreased toxicity, and greater medical and mental health. For example, Kelly believes that if players were in a team house or playing remotely, Complexity’s staff wouldn’t be monitoring individual players as stringently. So if a player is dealing with repetitive stress injuries, living off-site might not make that problem known to team staff in a timely enough fashion. That could then affect in-game performance and cost the team a critical win.
“I’m pretty bullish on this overall, that centralizing the space will actually reduce costs,” he said.
Credit: ESL
Costs aside, clearly brands want in on these performance centers. Computer brand Alienware has partnered with Team Liquid on a facility in Los Angeles, and Dignitas has partnered with Caffeine.tv to build a new boot camp and content creation facility — as well as create an original series based on the team’s Rocket League and women’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team — next to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Team Liquid, much like Complexity, is moving away from the team house model. Not only that, Team Liquid wants to ensure that its players in Europe too have access to training facilities.
“We have plans to open a European training facility that will act as home base for teams who primarily train and compete in Europe,” Mike Milanov, COO of Team Liquid said.
“Mental and physical wellbeing are two of the most important things to any athlete…”
Like Kelly, Milanov too feels that the increased costs of having a training facility is worth it. “Our investors aXiomatic were a great resource for proper planning & forecasting. It is definitely more expensive than the gaming house model but it’s worth it for staff, players and brand affinity,” Milanov said.
Team Dignitas, on the other hand, has its training center and boot camp space split between two cities. Because Dignitas is owned by the 76ers, it’s players get their training and health evaluations done in Philadelphia. As for the new boot camp space in Newark, the team is currently working on building out more branding deals. Already, the team has partnered with gaming chair manufacturer Raynor Gaming and Mountain Dew Game Fuel.
Credit: Team Liquid
“We will be focusing on anything to look at in terms of the desks or furniture, computers monitors, even the naming rights for the facility, we will be looking to brand those and build partnerships around those,” said Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro and current VP of marketing.
Garozzo and Dignitas are also pursuing non-endemic brands that can partner with its new boot camp, such as mattress companies that can advertise how better sleep relates to increased in-game performance, or other fitness and health brands that can have a positive effect on play.
“We think that just slapping a logo on a Twitch stream or a social media header is no longer as effective.”
“Mental and physical wellbeing are two of the most important things to any athlete, whether it be for traditional background or esports,” said James Baker, director of esports for Dignitas. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
And much like Complexity, Dignitas is hoping the increased attention on player health and performance will translate to more wins. And more wins equals more sponsorship opportunities.
“I think when we work with our sales teams and pitching out to partners, a first [place trophy]… really resonates well when we’re talking to brands about our rich history,” Garozzo said.
Credit: Dignitas
While Garozzo couldn’t put an exact number on how much more value a first-place win brings in over a second-place finish, she did say that “it certainly resonates a lot better when we’re pitching out to partners.”
And when it comes to branding opportunities, these training facilities work as focal points for gaming fans to come together. Currently, Dignitas is aiming to start hosting Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate events at its facility in Newark. The plan is to start with one event a month, and to hopefully ratchet that up to once per week.
“We’ve noticed that lately in talks with brands, it’s less about logo placement. We think that just slapping a logo on a Twitch stream or a social media header is no longer as effective,” Garozzo said. “The most effective and greatest impressions will be from fun content. Content that you can engage with.”
“A player’s work environment might be worth more to them than just the extra paycheck.”
For example, during the Rocket League World Championships last month, which also happened to take place at the Prudential Center, Dignitas partnered with technology company CDW to have Jos “ViolentPanda” van Meurs play games with fans. According to Garozzo, hundreds lined up for the opportunity, and it’s those types of activations that Dignitas is after.
New facilities bring with it more opportunities for teams to not only increase player performance, but to also ink brand deals. However, as more teams up the game in providing amenities, soon it will become part of the pitch made towards rising talent or during free agency.
Credit: Dignitas
“A player’s work environment might be worth… more to them than just the extra paycheck,” Garozzo said. “That paycheck they have is not going to buy their team a better place to compete.”
If what Garozzo says proves to be true, new facilities and amenities can be used as a bargaining chip to attract the best talent in esports. And if that’s the case, a facility could completely redefine a company’s value.
But more importantly, by separating the training and living space for players, there can be that work-life separation that players in esports have been lacking. And ultimately, prioritizing mental health is where the industry is going.
