As esports further establishes itself as an entertainment field that is here to stay, it’s easy to predict more public recognition of teams, players, and broadcasters. But as anyone already in the industry knows, there are so many opportunities for people with different skill sets, interests, and personality types that are essential to the ecosystem of esports. In this piece I’ll highlight a few different jobs in esports to pique the interests of readers who may have thought the field wasn’t for them.
Brittany Lattanzio
If you want to work with players directly and are highly organized and highly communicative, you may be a great talent manager. Brittany Lattanzio is Team Liquid’s Senior Talent Manager, where she supports players with everything outside of the competitive aspects of their careers from scheduling to their online presences to figuring out the values that will carry them forward as they make decisions about potential sponsorships. One of the top qualities she cites as important to her success in the role: empathy. She shares:
“Players have a lot of pressure on them that most people would not experience, so we have to be able to grasp where they are coming from emotionally and respect that in order to get the best out of them.”
If you like gathering people, throwing parties, and traveling, many of the big teams have their own events departments. Cristina Amaya, Head of Events at Team Liquid, shared with the*gameHERs in a recent interview: “when I realized that I could combine my passion for gaming with bringing people together, I was hooked.”
Cristina Amaya
Haley Broadway
Outside of individual teams, there are also companies and organizations who create esports events and tournaments for a roster of clients. For those who work in event logistics, multitasking skills and organizational skills are key. Haley Broadway, an Associate Manager at Esports Engine Ohio, a company that specializes in
Hollie Klem
esports events, explains, “in event planning everything is fast-paced, and you are doing ten things at once.” Hollie Klem, a Logistics Manager at the same company, elaborates that just a few of the elements to st
ay on top of include venue operations, requests for proposal, venue surveys and selections, security, travel, catering, COVID-19 protocols, and scheduling. With so many aspects to juggle, working in events requires a high degree of flexibility, and as Amaya puts it, “stress management” skills.
Yangsin Lau Vazquez
If you’re someone who enjoys wordplay, creative expression, and keeping your finger on the pulse, becoming a social media coordinator or manager for a team, organization, or esports agency may be the job in esports for you. Yangsin Lau Vazquez is Marketing & Social Media Manager at Andbox, the New York Tri-state area’s flagship esports organization.
She shares “Since social channels are the mouthpiece to establishing brand identity, [in my job]I need to find the words to express that.”
But writing jobs in esports don’t stop at social media. There’s a whole wing of journalism dedicated to esports coverage. Yinsu Collins is a staff writer for the online esports publication Upcomer, came to esports journalism after working in sports journalism. Comparing the two specialties, she believes “writing about esports is a lot more free and creative.”That said, you’ll still have to have strong writing and time management skills and a strong attention to detail. In addition to providing coverage to readers, esports journalists often have room to grow their own style and voice in writing.
Yinsu Collins
Yinsu elaborates: “In esports you don’t even have to be famous or have a huge profile to be able to get your personality across in your pieces.”
So if you’re a writer looking to make your mark, consider esports journalism as a possible path.
And if you’d rather be your own boss, there is plenty of room for that too. Entrepreneurs are everywhere in the world of esports. Breanne Harrison Pollock and Rachel Feinberg are the co-founders of Ateyo, an apparel brand designed specifically for gamers that Forbes deemed “the Nike of esports.” Fashion designers by trade, they saw an opportunity in apparel for gaming. As Harrison Pollock put it “We knew that we could design a sweatshirt that would make you a better gamer. So, we left traditional fashion and set our sights on esports!” Launching a business requires you to wear many hats, especially when starting out, but in an industry as new and constantly developing as esports, there are plenty of ways to find solutions to problems as they emerge or bring in new ideas. Perhaps you will be the next business owner creating more jobs in esports for others!
Breanne Harrison Pollock and Rachel Feinberg
Without much of a behind-the-scenes look into what makes this billion-dollar industry go round, fans or casual observers may not realize the incredible opportunities await them in the esports world, but as this article shows, there are so many ways to find and create jobs in esports.
Interested in hearing more from professionals working in this field? As part of its work to bring more gender equity to the esports world when it comes to workers taking on jobs in esports, the*gameHERs, a women-led community dedicated to amplifying and centering the voices of women, femme-identifying gamers and non-binary gamers who are comfortable in spaces that center women, have spent the past year and a half interviewing professionals who fill jobs in esports and other roles within the gaming industry. Check out the*gameHERs Career Spotlight series to read these interviews and get first-hand advice on breaking into the gaming and esports industries or leveling up your career.
