As eSports continues to grow, Hitbox.tv has taken a unique approach in its sponsorship business model. The 4K livestreaming platform has invested in Dota 2 team OG (formerly Monkey Business), which is comprised of Amer Barqawi, Johan Sundstein, David Tan, Andreas Franck Nielsen, and Tal Aizik.
Hitbox is supporting OG’s individual players by ensuring that they have their own agency representation and profit from the brand’s success. The company is letting the players own their own IP, as well as steer their own direction. Martin Klimscha CEO and co-founder of Hitbox, explains why they’ve taken this approach and how they plan on expanding their presence in the eSports market in this exclusive interview.
Martin Klimscha
Why did you decide to take this new approach with eSports sponsorships?
We have long been looking for a team and cause to support to strengthen our involvement in eSports. Doing something new is how we operate, and “democratization” is very important to us. People all over the world have helped grow eSports with their passion, their enthusiasm and their hard work. There was no big money in the early days, no big prize pools or famous sponsors, we did everything because we loved eSports and games. Today the Hitbox team is lucky to be in a position that allows us to make sure that these players – who bring us these great moments of entertainment – are able to grow with this industry.
How do you see this model impacting the larger eSports ecosystem?
ESports has grown so fast and we all know it would be nothing without the players, so we think it’s time to allow them to have a say in where their brand is going and whom they want to represent. Similar to traditional sports we want to see individuals have the option to close their own deals and make their own decisions. We think this is the future of eSports and will sooner or later be picked up by other organizations within the industry.
How are you selecting which teams and players to sponsor and work with?
Right now we are opening a new chapter in eSports sponsorship at Hitbox. There are many talented teams and individuals out there. We want to continue working with people who inspire us and then get inspired by us. With OG, we saw the potential for them to play in top tournaments, and we liked the personality, mindset and aspiration of the players. The chemistry was right for partnership.
How are you working with teams like OG to help them chart a path to success?
Stability in a team = great basis for continuous success. We believe in forging your own success and destiny (with all power to the players). Our support shall give them the freedom to focus on their path to success.
How big an investment/commitment are you making on the sponsorship side of things this year and next?
We don’t want to disclose that to our competitors – yet, but we can say that since we are growing as a platform, we plan to grow our investments in sponsorship for both events and teams.
How are you selecting which eSports games to focus on?
Of course popularity in the eSports scene has an impact on our decisions. The Hitbox team has its own strengths and connections through their own involvement (past and present) in eSports. We work to leverage those. And, we are always looking to help others to grow along with us, so we’re watching smaller titles and newcomers with a strong community and great potential.
How do you see pro teams helping to attract more eyeballs to Hitbox?
This association will help get the word out about Hitbox as a platform. Team loyalty and player fandom are important. Some of the OG players are already experienced streamers with big viewership numbers. And we have found that increasing content in one area/game title leads viewers to stick around and discover other streams.
What separates the Hitbox experience from YouTube, Twitch, Azubu and others in this category?
Hitbox is in a great spot. We’re at this intersection of digital, social and technology, which is critical to reach this gaming/eSports audience of Millennials and younger. While Twitch and Google are in similar positions, there are very few others who understand this and have the technology to do it. Plus, we’ve put our whole focus on gaming. We’re building what gamers and eSports players and enthusiasts want and need — from 4K streaming to chat integration to a new approach to team sponsorships and more.
How challenging is it to gain market share with Twitch so entrenched in eSports and gaming?
There are still millions of gamers who have not watched a stream yet. Twitch has a huge lead in terms of users so far, but that’s only because a number of audience markets haven’t heard of Hitbox yet, which we are starting to change with this investment. Our offering is better for gamers because our only focus is games and we’ve invested in better streaming and chat technology. So the community can do a lot more with Hitbox than other platforms.
How large is your livestreaming audience today and how has it grown since launch?
We’re a young company and with relatively no marketing, we’ve grown to more than 6 million active users in less than two years. We invested in our technology and focused on building a platform and community designed for gamers. Now, we’re expanding our marketing efforts. Our numbers grow each month and we expect that growth to accelerate as we head into 2016.
What impact have you seen YouTube’s investment in gaming have on eSports?
Overall, we’ve seen a growing interest in both live streaming and eSports. Having YouTube (and by extension, Google) step up and support eSports further solidifies esports as a major media category which benefits all of us. We’ve just closed a growth round, while other areas of gaming are having trouble securing funding. If you have the right combination of digital delivery, a social community and innovative technology, then this is a very good time to be in streaming and eSports.
