Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez is the hotshot owner of G2, the strongest European team in League of Legends. He looks at e-sports and what other LoL teams are doing to build their brand and make money: He can only shake his head.
G2 at LoL in upheaval, nevertheless doubling company value in 2 years
Why is the growth of G2 so remarkable? From 2020 to 2022, G2 in League of Legends did not go as strong as in previous years, when they had a solid team together and actually won constantly, even making it to the finals of the 2019 Worlds:
- In 2020, everything was fine – the team became the champions of Europe in the summer of 2020 with aplomb and at least made it to the semifinals of the Worlds
- In 2021, however, everything went wrong – they gave away top player Perkz before the – Season , finished only fourth in the 2021 summer playoffs and missed out on World Cup qualification: the first time in the history of the franchise
- Now the LoL team of G2 gave away 3 more players, reorganized and then in the spring of 2021 could convince again after all
However, it was by no means as if everything went brilliantly between 2020 and 2022. On the contrary, of 5 regular players with whom they started the phase, only 2 are now there.
From November 2018 to November 2020, these 5 played together for G2. A rarity for a team to stay together unchanged for 4 – Season s.
If you rely too heavily on individual creators, you become unattractive to big brands
What is their key to success? The head of the team explains in an interview with Forbes what they do differently from the competition:
We monetize very differently than our competitors: they often monetize only their individual creators, which brings a very low margin, and is neither scalable nor sustainable.
Rodriguez said a company with such a large focus on Creators also has trouble finding high-quality partners to work with. Whereas G2 works with heavyweights like Red Bull, BMW, Mastercard and Phillips. G2, he said, focuses on using entertaining storytelling to build its brand and logo. If you successfully build teams and specialize in storytelling, you are in control of your own success and become extremely attractive to advertising partners:
Sponsorship deals are a great element of how to sustain a business. We’re able to create more value for our partners than they pay us, that ultimately leads to them being willing to renew their deals. That’s something we’re proud of, and it shows how we’ve been able to add more value to them over the years.
You don’t just have to win, you have to win entertainingly
According to Rodriguez, it is not only important to win, but also to entertain. This is achieved, for example, through exciting storytelling. Everything must always be connected with the brand.
Everything is a bad investment if you don’t build a brand.
According to Rodriguez, an e-sports team doesn’t function like a typical sports team: there, people who live locally would simply show up to support their team. In e-sports, he says, that’s not the case. As long as you create content in English and appeal to video gamers, people from all over the world will see the content and turn into fans, he said. Meanwhile, some in North America would rather stick with G2 than a U.S. team in an international tournament because the brand is more important than the nationality.
“What do other teams do all the time – maybe a lot of parties?”
That’s what he says to other teams? Rodriguez elaborates:
So many teams are failing to make a profit, and that doesn’t surprise me much at all. Some teams have lost tens of millions of dollars. That’s about what I’ve invested since G2 was founded. I have no idea what our competitors are up to – maybe a lot of parties? But what exactly are they celebrating?
He exempts some teams from harsh criticism:
- 100Thieves, for example, is very close to modern culture and understands gaming, hype, street and fashion.
- Team Liquid has an extremely ambitious ownership group and would invest an insane amount of money to keep the company relevant.
- FaZe is now “too big to fail” – it will certainly be around for a long time to come.
If you’re developing a new game, you need G2.
For his own team, Rodrigeuz now plans to do what FaZe has already accomplished:
“If I’m honest, we’re also getting to the point now where we’re too big to fail. We have too much of a head start on reputation – too much credibility built up over the years, on business and fan levels. That’s true for publishers, too: if you’re developing a new game, you need G2.”
Those interested in e-sports, he said, would most likely gravitate toward G2. If you’re a brand that likes to sponsor a top team, you’re very likely to end up at G2.
Here’s what’s behind it: What G2 succeeds at and other teams don’t: G2 has big names in the team, like Perkz or Caps, but always makes sure that the brand “G2” is the most important thing and is known for an “own style”:
- Rodriguez does not even mention the formerly “big name” Team SoloMid anymore. TSM is in crisis after all the stars and franchise players like Bjergsen disappeared there.
- But G2 can pass on their franchise player, Perkz, and put 3 relatively unknown players in the starting five and still double their market value. The G2 brand remains constant.
G2 has built a reputation as a “cool, somewhat trollish team” that doesn’t take LoL too seriously and likes to taunt opponents and even joke among themselves. This reputation has been cultivated for years:
Follow us and check out our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook & YouTube ►
● on Twitter ► esport.directory
● Facebook ► esport.directory
● Youtube ► esport.directory
LoLtips, LoLtricks, LoLcheats, LoLhacks, LoLhacks2022, LoLtipspro, LoLpaidcheats, LoL, LoLtipsandtricks, LoLtipsandtricks2022, LoLtipsandtricksforbeginners, LoLtips, LoLtricks, LoLtrickshots, LoLhacks, LoLhacksfree, LoLhacksfree2022,