eSports
Prodigy Agency strengthens its North American team and support to players with new hires
Prodigy Agency, a leading esports representation agency, has announced a series of new hires in North America to lead and expand its initiative to support the players from all angles in the region.
Prodigy Agency, founded and directed by Jérôme Coupez, represent more than 100 players around the world , including some of the biggest stars in esports like Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski on CS:GO, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Tyson “TenZ” Ngo on Valorant, Alexandre “Kaydop” Courant on Rocket League, or Kacper “Inspired” Słoma and Paul “sOAZ” Boyer on League of Legends (LoL).
Already representing nearly 20 world-class players in North America (TenZ, EliGE, SicK, Palafox, nitr0, steel and more), Prodigy Agency is developing its local team to continue to expand and always provide top-notch services and support to its players with the main goal to welcome new stars but also to focus on nurturing and providing full support to young and upcoming talents in the region.
Angela “woori” Yang and Taylor “Tailored” Broomall have joined the agency as Prodigy Agency’s new North-America FPS Coordinator and Agent, and LoL Coordinator and Agent respectively. Moreover, Amir Fallah has been hired as its North-America Sales & Partnerships Officer.
Prior to joining Prodigy Agency, Amir Fallah served as a Commercial Strategist for Infront Group’s digital arm, Infront X, where he supported the procurement of major sports contracts and collaborated on a number of accounts for strategic advisory including Activision Blizzard and Chelsea FC.
He will be leading the charge of commercialization and monetization for the roster of players in North America, through ambassadorships, sponsorships, licensing and more.
Taylor Broomall has worked as a coach for some of the best teams and organizations in NA, including Splyce or EnVy on CS :GO or TSM on Valorant, while Angela Yang has been working with collegiate and LCS teams on content and social media, having a close relationship with players for years.
Both of them will take over the local initiatives and support to players, by coordinating with all the services from Prodigy Agency.
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“Our main goal with Prodigy Agency is to always provide the best support and protection to all our players and I’m really excited to build a world-class team to develop our North American presence.
Angela, Taylor and Amir perfectly fit our strong values and mindset and will help us constantly raising the bar of players’ representation.
I’m proud to officially welcome them to the Prodigy family, and to already see some amazing results since they joined.
We are aiming to keep expanding our NA team and to open offices in 2022 in order to always be more efficient for our players and the industry, and to be able to provide a 24/7 support via our offices around the world.
Jérôme Coupez, Founder & CEO – Prodigy Agency
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“I’m honored and excited to join Prodigy Agency. This team understands the needs of players because we are passionate gamers ourselves. That passion is echoed in the mission statement of #PlayersFirst, where our values are strengthened by ensuring the business success of the players we represent. I’m confident that my ranged experience in sports will support that mission even further by developing long lasting strategic partnerships to nurture the growth of our athletes and agency. ”
Amir Fallah, North-America Sales & Partnerships Manager – Prodigy Agency
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“As someone who has always worked closely with LCS and Academy players, Prodigy’s motto of “Players first” really resonated with me. I’ve seen my fair share of tragic esports situations and while I’ve always done my best to help players out where I can, joining Prodigy gives me the ability to make a bigger impact. Prodigy is an agency that I can proudly represent – the work ethic and amount of effort and care that goes towards players is unparalleled. I know that players will be taken care of and they can focus on competing at the highest level while we’ve got them covered everywhere else.”
Angela Yang, North-America LoL Coordinator & Agent – Prodigy Agency
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“I feel honored to be joining Prodigy Agency. It was clear from my first meeting with Jerome that the Agency defines themselves by the wellbeing and support they provide their players. My primary goal as FPS Coordinator for North America is to help manage Prodigy’s expansion in the region, specifically in Valorant and CS:GO. I will be principally focused on improving regulations and standards in the region with regards to contract security, employee benefits, mental health practices, etc.
Above all, I want the #PlayersFirst mindset to flourish as our industry grows. Since the outset of my journey in esports helping protect and develop players has been my underlying objective. Jerome and Prodigy are giving me access to invaluable resources that will allow me to work with a wide breadth of talent. ”
Taylor Broomall, North-America FPS Coordinator & Agent – Prodigy Agency
eSports
CAPCOM’S STREET FIGHTERTM 6 GOING TO COLLEGE THIS FALL
- CSMG will create and operate College Street FighterTM Tour in North America for the 2024-25 academic year
- College conference Street Fighter 6 champions will punch their ticket to the national Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) & May Madness in 2025
eSports
R&D rethink needed for sportsbooks to harness esports’ power
Esports betting is still grappling with a perception problem amongst operators. Despite the leaps and bounds in product development made by suppliers – particularly in the last two years – esports hasn’t shaken off the image built in the late 2010s.
Our good friend, Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore, has been kind to share the below article with us.
There’s scepticism around esports betting’s value, how well it can actually perform and what’s needed to make it appeal to bettors. A big part of that comes down to perception, which shapes the research and development (R&D) choices made by each operator.
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Operators who have put the research and development (R&D) resources into esports are seeing excellent growth, while others are still treating it like part of a long tail. The lack of a uniform approach to esports often translates into hesitancy to be bullish and invest in esports.
Whereas in the United States, post-PASPA sports betting has exploded and operators are seeking to capture as much territory and market share as possible because in most cases, you switch the lights on and the money comes in. It’s, of course, good business sense to take opportunities like this – you can apply the same templates used elsewhere on an incredibly lucrative market.
This kind of approach has been attempted for esports and hasn’t found the same success. Granted, the legislation for betting on esports has been somewhat slower than that of sports betting and iGaming.
However, bullish operators have acknowledged the fact that esports hasn’t found the same success in regulated states and asked what can be done differently, while for others, esports has been thrown into the too-hard basket or relegated to the bargain bucket.
For the latter, the fate of the esports vertical becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – especially if an operator already using a budget esports product that throttles its very growth.
It takes two to tango
When esports is discussed in broader betting circles, you’ll often hear different versions of the same talking point: the problem with esports is no one is doing it well, it doesn’t innovate.
This argument is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Esports is a driver of innovation, and it is sportsbook R&D that is holding it back.
Multiple suppliers on the market are investing significant resources into R&D, and bullish operators are leveraging these product innovations to acquire new customers and create engagements made for the internet age.
There are understandable reasons why sports betting doesn’t innovate. It’s largely because operators focus on acquisition, entering new territories and spending money on data rights. But the actual R&D on sportsbook products is left lacking, with ever-increasing cost-per-acquisition (CPA) numbers a clear symptom of this.
It means that if an operator does decide to use or acquire an esports specialist supplier but does little to cater its product and attempts to just lay the sports betting template over the top, of course performance will be throttled.
It’s like putting a Ferrari engine in a Prius – no offence to Toyota or Prius owners.
The same problem exists on the platform supplier front. Platforms are understandably focused on compliance and getting customers live, not necessarily improving models or their products.
Even the idea that if you just acquire an innovative company the problem is solved or you have found the solution, doesn’t hold water. In many cases, the company is acquired and plenty of noise is made about it, but there’s little organisational investment in R&D afterwards.
It’s not just in esports
These problems extend to customer acquisition and marketing for most emerging markets, not just esports. There’s a rush to use the same old playbook in newer sectors because it’s easy.
The fantasy vs. house sector in the US is already experiencing an acquisition arms race. As analyst Dustin Gouker points out, deposit match bonuses for new users on fantasy vs house products have jumped from $100 to as high as $500 in some places.
This is the same race that played out in sports betting and despite the costs, there’s little effort from most operators to try something different. There’s less work when you just put the same acquisition template on an emerging sector and call it a day. This seems to be an accepted practice in the industry, for better or for worse.
Esports betting success requires ongoing dialogue
Rather than attempting to wedge esports into hegemonic sportsbook approaches, sportsbooks need to take a completely unique approach.
The fact is the betting sector has barely scratched the surface – communities of esports fans are still dormant. Canadian operator Rivalry has built a successful, esports-first business by embracing the ever-changing internet culture that esports inhabits. French esports organisation Karmine Corp recently sold out a 30,000-person stadium for an event with no prize money up for grabs.
Innovative products developed on the supplier side like microbetting and betbuilders are only half of the equation.
Maximising esports revenues requires institutional investment, ongoing R&D and collaboration between suppliers and operators to create products and experiences. This includes having staff on the operator side that can drive and push the product further, and crucially, rethinking current sportsbook strategies and practices.
Building experiences for betting’s greatest emerging market – one that caters to your future core audience – takes investment, innovation and a willingness to experiment. If the industry wants to make the most of the Millennial and Gen Z audience that will become its primary customers, investment into R&D and close collaboration between suppliers and operators is needed. Many hands makes light work.
eSports
North Star Network Acquires Um Dois Esportes
North Star Network has acquired Um Dois Esportes, a sports coverage and analysis site created from the merger of Gazeta Do Povo and Tribuna do Paraná in 2020.
Julien Josset, co-founder of North Star Network, said: “Thank you to the team at GRPCOM for their faith in us to take the brand forward. Um Dois Esportes is an established and renowned site in Paraná State, and we’re excited about the challenge of developing this asset.
“We’re happy to maintain the collaboration with the existing editorial team, and look forward to working with them, bringing our unique NSN approach, to take UDE forward.”
NSN’s signing of Um Dois Esportes is the media house’s fourth acquisition of 2024, following the recent deals to purchase UK-based SportsMole and MrFixitsTips, as well as Chilean site AlAireLibre, which was announced in March.
The latest addition to the North Star media portfolio joins existing assets including Top Mercato, Afrik-Foot, and Vringe. The Paris-based company already oversees a significant Brazilian operation, delivering over 6 million sessions per month, from the likes of Trivela, Premier League Brasil and Lakers Brasil.
NSN will retain Curitiba-based journalists from the Um Dois Esportes legacy team to maintain the asset’s unique tone and popular coverage of the Paraná sports scene across site and social.
Rafael Mello, Director of GRPCOM, said: “We were surprised by the interest, and initially had no intention of selling Um Dois, but as the conversations evolved, we realised this was a serious group with good intentions. We were very happy to see our project being valued by a large international group and going global, demonstrating the quality of the content we produced.
“We’re also proud that North Star inherited our journalists, who are truly responsible for the success of the product we offer readers every day.”
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