Shahin Rasti has over twelve years of broad experience in the world of sport & entertainment marketing, working across agency and rights holder sides – including time at global advertising groups, WPP and Omnicom Media Group, as well as leading rights holders, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the Lawn Tennis Association. During his career he has also consulted for and worked with a multitude of international brands and properties such as FedEx, Santander, Subway, Samsung, Allianz, Toyota, Panasonic, UEFA Champions League, Arsenal FC and Formula 1. He is currently in the role of Commercial Director at GIANTX, a leading European esports team. Sha will be a guest speaker at “Road to SPORTO 2024” event, focused on esports, and organised as part of the gaming spectacle Game Gang Show in Ljubljana in early April.
SPORTO: »It felt like the right time to move into the ever-growing esports space …« was one of your quotes for Esports Insider when moving to esports team from your previous role. What was that trigger point to make you switch to esports?
SHA RASTI: Prior to GIANTX (GX) I spent most of my career in traditional sports but with the huge growth of gaming and esports over the last decade, as well as its integration into mainstream entertainment, the time felt right to take on a new challenge. There was no trigger point as such, but the rise of the industry was undeniable, with 532 million global esports fans accounted for in 2022, with a forecasted growth of 8% by 2025 (640.8M) – leading to more brands entering the space and the requirement for proven partnership expertise, which was naturally very appealing to professionals like me.
How do you see today’s esports space compared to “traditional” (elite) sports ecosystem? How are they different in commercial opportunities and fan engagement for example?
Clearly there are lots of similarities between the two whether that be high performance, team infrastructure, fandom, or of course cultural relevance. From a commercial perspective however, there are some clear differences outside of sponsorship; traditional sports properties will have a major reliance on media rights, ticketing and merchandise – which contrary to popular belief, esports simply does not have, bar a few exceptions. Esports teams have had to work harder for their digital equity and fan engagement, through a dedication to daily, digital content, rigorous community management and providing constant education to brands on how to activate effectively within this ever-changing landscape.
You are now in the role of the commercial director of leading European esports team GIANTX. GIANTX was formed as a merger between British esports organisation Excel Esports and power-house Spanish team, Giants Gaming. How is the team positioned, what are the main goals and challenges in terms of commercial partnerships?
The main reason for the merger was very simple – growth. Both teams were in similar positions – ambitious organisations in tier 1 competitions (League of Legends EMEA Championship and Valorant Champions Tour), but naturally were striving for more. Fortunately, the cultural fit and narrative felt right – a challenger from Northern Europe – Excel Esports, and a legacy team from Southern Spain – Giants, combining to disrupt the power balance in European esports. The goal from a commercial perspective is about using our newfound scale, rights and fandom (24 million strong) to provide a more attractive offering for both existing and new partners. The biggest challenge we will face is asserting ourselves as a new, exciting proposition in a more competitive marketplace, as we’re now going up against bigger teams/rights holders and more sizable budgets, so positioning GX in a credible and compelling way will be absolutely critical.
Esports teams have had to work harder for their digital equity and fan engagement, through a dedication to daily, digital content, rigorous community management and providing constant education to brands on how to activate effectively within this ever-changing landscape.
Sponsorship is one of the main revenues for esports teams. You collaborate with brands such as EE (winner of the 2023 European Sponsorship Association Award in the Gaming category), Diesel, Opel, Burger King, HSBC … Can you share some of the assets/topics of the partnerships?
Each partner is obviously going to have a different set of objectives based on the goals of the brand and the business but generally speaking they are all looking to target a young and engaged demographic through impactful and creative activations. Our job as a team is to understand these needs as best as possible and to use our resource to help deliver a world-class partnership, as well as providing a clear role and purpose for the brand. A good example of this is EE, who have two main objectives – drive awareness and preference of their gaming offering (retail and broadband) and help to promote female equality in the world of gaming and esports. As a result, we made EE the lead partner of our all-female Valorant Game Changers team and have created a pioneering UK development programme for women gamers, called the EE Power Up – with the content being housed on EE’s new digital hub, allowing for more fans to be driven to their gaming eco-system.
We want all our brand partners to play a pivotal role within our organisation, e.g. financial guidance to our players from HSBC, EE broadband and internet in our performance facility etc. There also needs to be a true value exchange for our fans – whether that is brilliant content, rewards, or exclusive access – to name a few.
What would be your advice to brands exploring the possibilities to enter esports/gaming?
I think I would categorise it into four main points. Understand your ‘why’ – this is really critical in terms of how the brand shows up effectively; for example, if your only focus is building a brand experience in Roblox or Sandbox, one could argue how relevant signing an esports partnership would be to that particular brand.
Be inquisitive – use the briefing process to learn as much as possible, either from the rights holder or the agency, and if the agency doesn’t have that expertise, go find one that does. In my experience, education is where brands generate the most value from organisations like GX – the information you learn prior to the partnership is invaluable to the journey.
Play a unique role – don’t just be wallpaper – we want all our brand partners to play a pivotal role within our organisation, e.g. financial guidance to our players from HSBC, EE broadband and internet in our performance facility etc. There also needs to be a true value exchange for our fans – whether that is brilliant content, rewards, or exclusive access – to name a few.
Commitment – gaming and esports isn’t going anywhere – it’s here to stay and is now an integral part of popular culture due to its exponential growth over the years. If you are going to invest into this space, be committed and avoid the temptation of activating half-heartedly, as it will only negatively impact the property you sponsor, fan perception of the brand and ultimately your potential ROI. Sponsorship as a marketing vehicle generally only sees optimal value after a three-year cycle so stay focused on your defined strategy and hold all stakeholders accountable.
Esports went through evolution from an underground movement to mainstream pop culture over the past decade. We live in the creator economy and content creators play an important role. How do you see the future of the space?
I think during the boom of esports we saw a lot of organisations spend significant amount of money in hiring content creators to join their teams to boost overall audiences, which made sense given the huge cross over with gaming/esports and the creator community (the biggest influencers in the world started from gaming – Sidemen, MrBeast, Ninja). This is still happening to a lesser extent today but is this approach sustainable, perhaps if budgeted correctly, but what I think we will see more of, are rights holders looking to farm a group of small/medium sized creators with genuine passion and longevity, with the aim of providing them with a platform of resources and expertise to grow organically and sustainably.
If you are going to invest into this space, be committed and avoid the temptation of activating half-heartedly, as it will only negatively impact the property you sponsor, fan perception of the brand and ultimately your potential ROI.
You will be a keynote speaker at the SPORTO esports event, which will take place before the official opening of the 2nd edition of Game Gang Show in Ljubljana. Is this your first visit to Slovenia and could you share some insights from the presentation?
It’s not my first time to this beautiful country as I once took a corporate trip with the Chelsea FC team to see them play NK Maribor in the UEFA Champions League! In terms of insights from the presentation, you will have to wait and see but it will have a real focus on how esports rights holders can be commercially successful now that the initial growth bubble is coming to an end.