AIP-253: Bored Gaming

Proposal Name: Bored Gaming

Category: Ecosystem Fund Allocation

Proposal Name: Bored Gaming

Category: Ecosystem Fund Allocation

ABSTRACT

This AIP is to bring awareness to ApeCoin and ApeCoin DAO through sponsorship of Bored Gaming to create gaming content, activations, and winning teams that attract the millions of potential ApeCoin holders who game. The next wave of crypto and NFTs has already started and is driven by web3 gaming. Gaming influencers, professional players, and tournaments will drive attention to our space from the web2 gaming communities.

Bored Gaming’s initial target audience is the thousands of gamers who are beginning to explore web3. NFTs are viewed with apprehension by some web2 gaming communities, but Dookey Dash demonstrated that the right gameplay, entertaining influencers, and fun content will drive awareness and adoption. Content creation will drive much of the activity over the year from our creators who were web2 pros and are now making waves in web3 gaming. The team will create and manage a discord server to provide community and connection for gamers. Merch, team participation in web3 tournaments, activations at gaming events, and partnerships with publishers and other relevant brands will increase reach and revenue potential. Bored Gaming will also explore low cost sponsorship of up and coming teams in popular web2 titles like Valorant and Rocket League and will deliver engaging $1-10K prize pool tournaments throughout the year. Larger league sponsorships and million dollar prize tournaments are the ultimate multi year goal for any gaming organization, but are too expensive for ApeCoin DAO to sponsor until awareness is increased and additional sponsors and partners are secured.

Bored Gaming and ApeCoin DAO will provide scholarships to young enterprising gamers through 501c3 nonprofit Coalition of Parents in Esports (COPE), a leader in esports and web3 for youth. Founding members of Bored Gaming previously established this nonprofit to pay it forward for younger gamers. DAO members will have the opportunity to vote for the recipients of the scholarships in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 curated to a top list based on essay and/or portfolio submissions thus introducing ApeCoin to countless parents and their teenagers.

The Bored Gaming team includes esports, finance, marketing, and technology business professionals, as well as engaging content creators, and pro players.

Cost 62,500 $APE upfront with a possible unlock of 62,500 $APE at 6 months

Disclaimer: Bored Gaming is not an official organization of ApeCoin or ApeCoinDAO.






Author Description:
Demigodzx: Christopher “Demigodzx” Gervais, Bored Gaming Team Manager

  • Demigodzx has established himself as a rising leader with an engaged community of over 200 Twitter Spaces episodes and focused content creation.
  • Recognizing the incredible synergies between NFTs, gaming and the influencers, he realized an esports team was the next bridge ApeCoinDAO should use to educate and bring awareness to the gaming sector
  • Previously a Financial Advisor with top US investment firm Edward Jones focused on emerging markets
  • In crypto since 2017 after seeing the benefits of the technology on transforming businesses and funding models
  • Been in the Bored Ape Yacht Club since mutant mint
  • Joining Bored Ape Yacht Club led to a shift in his fundamental investment focus and realizing others needed help learning how to invest and engage successfully

Team Description:

Content Creators & Professional Players

Sceptic: Griffin “Sceptic” Spikoski

  • Sceptic brings years of experience in building successful pro teams, content channels, and his own internationally recognized gaming brand
  • Sceptic is best known for “blowing up” as a YouTube creator at 14 in the early days of Fortnite by creating a viral video about killing Tfue in a game
  • Many young gamers would have stopped there but Sceptic turned that overnight success into a marketing business across Twitter, Twitch, TikTok and now even LinkedIn and a successful and lucrative SnapChat show
  • Sceptic has amassed over 2+ million followers across all social platforms and is one of the most recognized faces in competitive gaming often requested for mainstream interviews
  • At 14 he was one of the youngest pro players signed to an organization, Misfits Gaming
  • During his tenure with Misfits, he qualified for the Fortnite World Cup, surpassed 1 million subscribers on YouTube, and entertained fans as he traveled around the world
  • Sceptic has also partnered with and made appearances for the Miami Heat, the Olrando Magic, and the PGA Tour, and also collaborated with Marshmello
  • Sceptic has done activations for Puma, American Eagle, Totinos, Intel, and Microsoft
  • Sceptic jumped into crypto in 2020 and has been a Mutant since mint day
  • In 2020 Sceptic co-founded the internationally recognized 501c3 nonprofit, COPE, supporting youth in gaming and web3 with programs and scholarships

Orangie:

  • Orangie brings a robust experience from gaming being a recognizable name in the web2 space leading up to the release of Dookey Dash becoming one of the most leading names in the web3 space.
  • Orangie boasts an impressive online following, with 130K subscribers on YouTube, 60K on Twitch, and over 500K on other social media platforms.
  • The player has been instrumental in building Overtime Gaming from scratch and has also participated in the BAYC ecosystem for the past two years.
  • By playing Dookey Dash, they have successfully bridged the gap between Web2 and Web3 gaming, introducing Web2 gamers to the world of Web3 gaming and helping to boost ape passes.
  • He is passionate about expanding the reach of Web3 gaming and is eager to serve as a bridge between the two communities.

Cotal:

  • Cotal’s key value to the team will be in his roles as an established early content creator for Dookey Dash as well as other rising web3 games
  • Cotal was a creator for One Percent, the biggest Fortnite content creation organization later acquired by Ghost Gaming
  • He is a both highly accomplished content creator and pro gamer with a robust following across all social platforms
  • Cotal’s demographic reach is wide with audiences from his original home base in Dubai to his US audience after his move in 2018
  • Cotal entered crypto in 2021 as marketing and operations for NFT projects

Frostyjays:

  • Jay brings his years of experience he’s had from his web2 content creation and professional gaming experience as well as his early contribution from the web3 gaming space.
  • Jay is a professional gamer and content creator with an active following.
  • Jay’s competitive spirit was unleashed as a top competitive player in multiple tournaments and LAN events.
  • Jay entered the crypto/web3 space in 2021 as an active trader and helped market multiple NFT projects.
  • Jay has a loyal fan base and active community he’s been growing since 2017.

Nicolai:

  • Nicolai brings his active and loyal Spanish speaking audience which is a huge asset as one of the fastest growing and most viral audience sectors
  • Nicolai grew up on the streets of Medellin, Columbia, moving to the US as a young teenager. While adapting to his new country and language, he managed to establish himself as an accomplished professional gamer and content creator with a following of thousands from the game savvy Spanish/Latino communities.
  • Nicolai entered the crypto space in late 2021 and entered web3 gaming the following year

Further Team Accomplishments:
Top 3 Twitch Rivals, Multiple Tournament Wins (Fortnite) 4x DreamHack Online, 31st FNCS Finals, 26th Winter Royale, 20x Top 50 Placements across online events.12th Microsoft LAN Duos Grand Finals, 5th Fortnite Ultimate Gamer Lan, 10x Top 20 placements, Grand Finals in NeoTokyo Crab game & Top 500 Overwatch. World Cup Fortnite Finals.

Backoffice Team Players:

Shaemmon: Shae Williams, Advisor, Strategy & Operations

  • CoFounder COPE Coalition of Parents in Esports, a 501c3 nonprofit focused on leveraging gaming and web3 to inspire youth success and show parents and educators the benefits of their kids’ gaming and social metaverses.
  • Former IBM WW Sales and Marketing executive advising web3 and gaming founders.

COPE Chris: Chris Spikoski, Marketing, Events, & Content Management

  • Chris has 20+ years senior management experience in the healthcare industry before entering esports 6 years ago as a side gig managing the successful careers of professional esports players and influencers
  • He co-founded COPE in 2020 after recognizing a gap in the market of boomers not realizing that our youth had found the next big thing in Gaming and Web3
  • Chris currently works as a Marketing Director for a VC funded web3 tech startup while also raising funds to help kids turn their gaming passions into lucrative careers.
  • Resident team boomer

Blackline: Cameron Kruger, Social Media & Partnerships

  • Cameron “Blackline” has 4 years of experience working in esports organizations driving marketing, business development, and partnership management
  • He is currently employed as the Social Media Marketing and Web3 Partnerships Manager for a vc and “crypto whale” backed web3 technology company while also donating his time to run socials and secure partnerships for COPE.

MOTIVATION

Gaming influencers and competitive players hold significant influence over millions. ApeCoin needs to tap into the influencers who will drive interest through not only their own gameplay but in supporting influencers and competitive players who will drive awareness in ApeCoin. While esports professional teams have struggled to be financially viable, gaming influencer organizations have proved much more financially stable with opportunities to earn significantly through sponsorships, content creation channels, tournament prizes, and selling merchandise. Bored Gaming will reach gamers with awareness while building toward a profitable business model. Having an esports team powered by ApeCoin would attract sponsorships from endemic and non endemic brands. The crazy interest and excitement around even a mini game like Dookey Dash demonstrates the power of gaming and the Yuga Labs brand to attract new web3 enthusiasts and ensure all things ape continue to lead the way. The influencers that played in those tournaments were key in driving interest and would be even more powerful as a supported, focused team driving awareness of ApeCoin.

RATIONALE
ApeCoin DAO’s Mission Statement

As ApeCoin DAO exists to support the future growth of the metaverse, we feel the time is now to have a representation within esports. We recognize this is a challenging market to break into successfully, but we have the established leaders to ensure success. Having taken the time to gather established and professional gamers across multiple growth segments we feel Bored Gaming is poised to make an impact and convert from awareness to participation within the ApeCoin ecosystem.

Gaming Context:

For the gaming and esports enthusiasts, you get why this is important. For the non gaming voters, here is a bit more context on our rationale behind Bored Gaming. As we all know ApeCoin is successfully building awareness through the Otherside metaverse game. Otherdeed holders have had access through the first and second trip of the Otherside and its features are similar to multiplayer virtual world game Roblox.The game is expected to draw on the success of Roblox platform. As of October 10, 2022, Roblox has 5.7 million users at its all-time peak usage. There are 9.5 million developers and over 40 million games on Roblox.

Most gamers got their start in Roblox and Minecraft and still play them, but as gamers reach their teenage years many become more focused on watching content creation or competitive gameplay around many other titles including Fortnite, Valorant, and Call of Duty. A growing number of web3 publishers are also creating competitive games with professional players and enticing prize pools with growing viewership as more web3 tournaments are held.

Esports Marketshare:

Twenty years ago, if you told someone that you wanted to change the channel from football to watching others play a video game, they would have thought you were crazy. Times have changed. Content around gaming, gaming influencers, and gaming tournaments continues to grow astronomically compared to other sports.

2021 Highlights (not even including China, which is on a whole other level here)

  • M2 World Championship had a peak viewership of 3.08 million viewers

  • M3 World Championship raised that bar with a peak viewership of 3.19 million viewers

  • PUBG Mobile Global Championship had an impressive 3.8 million peak viewership

  • 2021 League of Legends World Championship had a peak viewership of 4.01 million

  • Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore had the most extensive peak viewership of the year, with an incredible 5.41 million concurrent viewers across various platforms.

  • The Fortnite World Cup 2019:

  • One of the largest prize pools in esports history ($30,000,000)

  • Average viewers of 1,149,324 peaking at 2,334,826

  • Sceptic participated as one of the most recognized celebrity gamers

Global esports revenues grew 20.5 percent to $2 billion in 2021. In 2019, 593.2 million people watched livestream gaming content, per data from Newzoo. In 2020, that number jumped 11.7 percent to 662.7 million. Throughout 2021 esports audiences grew a further 10 percent to 728.8 million viewers. This number is expected to reach 800 million by the end of 2023.

To put that into perspective, consulting firm Activate predicted that in 2021, 79 million people in the U.S. will view Major League Baseball content, versus 84 million watching esports. This year, Activate suggests that NFL viewership will be the only sports audience larger than esports!

Stacked Studios Fortnite Valhalla Invitational:

  • Our members placed 1st & 4th Place in the first ever Web3 Tournament hosted by Valhalla with Clone X, Azuki, Nouns esports, Pixelmon, Sappy Seals, Doodles, & Cyberkongz

6

But what about web3 gaming? It will drive the next bull run.

SPECIFICATIONS

  • Bored Gaming social and content channels
  • Bored Gaming Discord Server
  • Bored Gaming Tournaments
  • Bored Gaming Spaces
  • Bored Gaming Merchandise: Team Jerseys, casual wear, and giveaways
  • Bored Gaming Activations online and at events

BRANDING

Content Thumbnails & Overlays

Stream Overlays

Team Member Branding Requirements:

  • Player name branding - Player names will include Team Bored in their in-game names e.g (BORED Sceptic) as well as all social media bios
  • Players will include Bored Gaming logo overlays and ApeCoin logo image while streaming per agreed legal parameters and Twitch guidelines
  • Team jerseys worn at irl events and in online content

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT: How we will use the funds

Proposal is for one year, broken down into two 6 month time periods, after receiving feedback in the idea phase to extend the timeline in a single proposal.

Funding Phase 1: First 6 months

Phase 1
June 23 July Aug Sept Oct Nov
Talent Players/Creators/Team Mgr $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000
Engagement Incentives $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000
Marketing Social Media & Advertising $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000
Editor & Graphics $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Marketing/Content Mgmt $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Contests & Mini Tourneys $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Online Tournaments $13,000
Merch + Jerseys $2,000 $1,000
IRL Events & Travel $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Ops Legal/Accounting $3,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000
Biz Dev/Ops Mgmt $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Misc Expenses $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000
Charity COPE Scholarships $6,000
Total/Month $42,500 $38,500 $38,500 $38,500 $51,000 $44,500
Costs by Phase $253,500

Funding Phase 2: Second 6 months

Phase 2
Dec Jan 2023 Feb Mar Apr May
Talent Players/Creators/Team Mgr $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000
Engagement Incentives $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000
Marketing Social Media & Advertising $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $4,000
Editor & Graphics $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Marketing/Content Mgmt $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Contests & Mini Tourneys $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Online Tournaments $13,000
Merch + Jerseys $1,000
IRL Events & Travel $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Ops Legal/Accounting $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000
Biz Dev/Ops Mgmt $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
Misc Expenses $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000
Charity COPE Scholarships $6,000
Total/Month $38,500 $38,500 $39,500 $50,000 $44,500 $38,500
Costs by Phase $249,500

TIMELINE

Month 0: Completed, Already in Progress, or will be started at proposal approval

  • All founding team members committed
  • All marketing, operations, and management resources committed
  • Bored Gaming rev 1 branding kit complete (by respected esports artist)
  • LLC incorporation in Florida
  • Accounting and payroll plans secured
  • Procuring social media handles
  • Building Discord server
  • Building Social Media Calendar
  • Building Content Strategy Plan
  • Snapchat Show pitched

Months 1-3

  • Announce team online
  • Announce team live at a gaming event - if June: Dreamhack Dallas or XP3
  • Announce discord server
  • Social and Content Execution begins
  • Giveaways and Contests on Spaces and in Discord to build engagement
  • Design Merch and build order plans
  • Tournament plans created (web2/web3 games, mini monthly plans, larger 10K tourney)
  • Secure partners for tournament organization and irl engagement
  • Begin establishing sponsorships with software, hardware, and non endemic brands
  • Determine Bored Gaming Stream Team plan (Anyone can apply to create gaming content as Bored Gaming/ approved stream team members will receive support, education, editing/social services, and the possibility of compensation with growth)
  • ApeCoin DAO & Bored Gaming scholarship opportunity created and posted through COPE on Bold.com
  • Identify Valorant, Rocket League or Overwatch up and coming teams with potential for low cost sponsorship and experienced support
  • Create submission form for sponsorship for content creators and for teams for up to $5K sponsorship funding for events, tournaments, or teams

Months 4-6

  • Prepare second half plans for approval by the DAO to unlock remaining funds on Jan 1
  • Execute on all strategies, plans, and partnership agreements
  • Evaluate metrics for all revenue streams, awareness plans, channels execution, tournaments to determine next steps
  • DAO votes to select recipient of first two ApeCoin DAO & Bored Gaming $3K scholarships (grants for some countries)

Months 7-12

  • Execute all social engagement and content plans
  • Continue to secure partnerships and sponsorships
  • Sell merch
  • Deliver tournaments and activations
  • DAO votes on second set of scholarship recipients
  • Evaluate metrics for all revenue streams, awareness plans, channels execution, tournaments to determine next steps
  • Explore growth opportunities and revenue potential for like higher prized tournaments or additional pro team sponsorships into year 2

OVERALL COST

Costs for Bored Gaming are split with an unlock vote to continue Phase 2.

Phase 1: 6 months (June-Nov) 62,500 $APE

Phase 2: 6 months (Dec-May) 62,500 $APE

Bored Gaming Phase 1 Phase 2
Talent $126,000 $126,000
Marketing $86,500 $84,500
Operations $35,000 $33,000
Charity $6,000 $6,000
Total $253,500 $249,500
9 Likes

superb idea very well structured with a huge potential considering the generation in which we are. if you need members make me sign I will deposit my CV haha! I validate in any case :slight_smile:

8 Likes

Comments reserved for change log.

1 Like

Totally loved this ideia , voted!

5 Likes

I think we’re ready for something like this… And given my (limited) understanding surrounding the costs to enter this industry, I think the ask is fair to test the waters :+1:

AC

7 Likes

GM, The next wave of Web3 adoption will likely stem from gaming IMO… I’m tuned into this industry and a realistic progression according to industry leaders is 20M current Web3 gamers to 200M gamers… the team you built for this endeavor is solid and accomplished… the gaming industry is where $APE allocation is well spent and gamers should be the target audience 100%

4 Likes

Love that we are talking gaming/esports again!

Looking at the budget you only show a $8,000 budget for online events/tournaments over the course of an 8 month period. That is only $1,000 a month. Would you consider reallocating funds from other areas to allow for more funding here?

I have said it before in conversations with DAO members who are part of your team, but I truly believe that content is KING right now within the gaming world. TikTok, YT, VODS, etc. are the best way to reach the biggest audience and the “cheapest” barrier to entry. Pumping all your money into people who can make good content consistently with high quality editors IMO would do more for brand exposure then attending IRL events.

I also noticed when looking at the socials for most all the proposed team members that they haven’t really been active. Sceptic hadn’t posted a YouTube video for over 4 months until just 11 days ago. Twitter accounts were also pretty inactive until very recently. Just curious why they are now starting to come back around to gaming/content/esports. That may be a question they could answer assuming they are part of this forum.

Can’t wait to see the final form of this proposal!

8 Likes

Thanks for the feedback! Fair question on tournaments. We spent a lot of time deciding what the focus of the first 8 months for Team Bored should be for the most sustainable long term impact. Options include high dollar tournaments with expensive TOs that make a splash quickly. We could have also focused on funding promising Valorant & Rocket League teams to gain quick fans across two of the most viewed current titles. Talent here would also be quite epensive. We decided instead to focus on building awareness first so we can secure 3rd party sponsorships of the team and possibly these higher cost items going forward. You said it exactly Content is KING. These first 8 months will be focused on generating content that is relevant to gaming and ApeCoin. Lots of focus on web3 games, but also less costly activations across traditional esports events leveraging partnerships we already have with publishers, gaming conventions, and TOs. We also want to do some mini tournaments as our awareness building. We are definitely open to shifting more funds in this direction.

As for the content creators here, they were mainly chosen based on their profiles and knowledge not just in pro esports and content creation, but their experience in web3 and NFTs. Each of them has been less active in traditional esports recently as they quite frankly have found web3 way more fun and rewarding but still have strong ties and connections into esports. We felt it was more important to have creators who were already ApeCoin holders and valued the mission and could clearly articulate it in all content. An example is Sceptic, whom you mentioned. He did reduce his time on Twitch and YouTube in the previous two years as he focused on web3, mainstream content, and lucrative marketing activations. He was just kinda bored with Fortnite, looking for new opportunities, and bought a Mutant. lol. Just one example of his current activity is running a successful SnapChat Show generating $40K/month pure profit with an idea to pitch Snapchat a Team Bored show with approval of the proposal. With our strong relationships to platforms, we bring some unique opportunities for Team Bored and ApeCoin. and hi, I am Shaemmon, Marketing & Operations Advisor for Team Bored

4 Likes

Hi Shaemmon nice to e-meet you and thanks for the quick response!

Do you have a link to his snapchat show? I would love to check it out!

Also, it seems weird that Sceptic finds Web3 so fun and much more enjoyable than Fortnite but doesn’t post a single thing about it. No YT or Twitch content. No tweets. Nothing. No tweet about buying a Mutant (A pretty big achievement if you ask me) also seems crazy, when did he buy it? If these are going to be the people who represent this Web3 team they should be vocal advocates for the space as a whole IMO.

I am a die hard gamer and haven’t found a single game other than DookeyDash that was even worth my time. Would love to know what they are playing/plan to play to create content. Warzone is getting boring so I need a new game to play haha.

I hope none of this comes across as me just trying to tear this proposal down, as I mentioned in my first comment I LOVE that we are talking about gaming and esports as a DAO. But I also understand that 98% of the people here don’t have a clue about the gaming world/industry and so if we don’t crush the first AIP that gets approved in this space it will leave a bad reputation in voters minds about gaming/esports.

4 Likes

This is awesome to see! Very bullish on the team, esp Orangie as someone who was great representation for the recent Dookey Dash game.

My question is what is the reasoning for that specific time period of 8 Months (June to February 2023)? Why not a full calendar year? Is it due to gaming seasons or something? :eyes:

Just would like some clarification :blush: Thanks!

3 Likes

My thoughts exactly, I figured start small then scale from there.

Appreciate the feedback and support.

-Demi

1 Like

Thank you Sera!

As far as funding is concerned, the ask should last 8 months, a full calendar year would require more.

-Demi

1 Like

I agree and feel that its imperative that ApeCoin has an esports team to represent them in web3 games as well as web2.

-Demi

The possibilities are endless, there could be tryouts in the future. Growth and expansion for Team Bored is the ultimate goal.

-Demi

Hey Sera! great to see ya here. The timing was based wanting to keep the ask as low as possible but have time to secure partnerships and sponsorships to push it to the next level.

3 Likes

you are preaching to the choir! - and honestly the reason we are all here. Many of the traditional esports pros and creators have questioned whether there really is an audience yet for web3 gaming content. With DookeyDash especially, these guys realized it is time to start producing more of that content. Stay tuned to their channels as it’s ramping up now.

2 Likes

The concept is impressively well-structured and presented with clarity, leaving no questions or concerns for me. The addition of esports to our DAO is a delight and I’m excited for the opportunities and transformations it will bring to the community. The potential impact and growth from these changes are thrilling to consider as we move forward. Best wishes to you and the team!

4 Likes

This wasn’t his first, but the one he holds. As for other web3 games, Sceptic has also been playing Dr. Disrespect’s game. I am a fan of Duskbreakers and the BoredBox games.

2 Likes

You present a good opportunity for Apecoin to make a name for itself in the web2/web3 world of esports. Exclusive branding across media content, tournaments, and clothing merch, I’m all for it. Hearing that the project will also provide scholarships to young gamers through COPE shows dedication to our future community.

I think Web3 gaming is just getting started, and to have you position Apecoin early while we enter the next bull market, IMO is a no-brainer. I’m bullish on this proposal. Thanks for wanting to take this on, Team Bored. Excellent presentation, by the way.

5 Likes

Hi Orangie and everyone else, thank you for the time you’ve put into this. Cotal - shoutout to Ghost Gaming, I was there when the team formed, competed with them for some players.

And, plz do forgive me - as a diehard gamer and someone who’s founded/built from scratch and ran for 5 years a world championship-winning esports organization (2015-2020) with 7 teams and 35 pro players under my management at our peak (and never worse than top 8 worldwide placements), I will have some hard-hitting, nuanced questions.

The idea of web3 gaming content is awesome. I’d love to see more and would vote yes myself. The idea of esports team is a whole different beast, however.

  1. Why did you choose to go esports route vs content team route? You and I both know that esports is not only not profitable (for any team), but also is not growing in the West and essentially doesn’t exist here outside of top titles like League, DOTA, CS, arguably still Overwatch, COD, Rocket League, RS6, and to a degree, Fortnite (no reliable event structure, no league really hurt exposure there). (I’m talking esports side, not content side.) And for most of those listed you need franchise spots to compete on a level of note, and those spots cost millions (some, tens of millions). Any way you slice it, esports is extremely hard to both get into and survive in, especially on PC where most of the viewership and sponsor money is. And it’s a money sink for quite literally all teams who are currently in esports, big or small - not a single one is making money off their esports teams. Content? yes. Other properties - yes. But esports? No. Sponsors care far more about content than they do if you’re in esports (and securing any sponsorship, i.e. dollar amount not just product, is soooo hard for any esports team that’s not in the top 16, i.e. has a franchise). Then, even the most known orgs (Cloud 9, whose owner Jack I know personally, TSM, whose owner Andy I met at various social events for esports leaders, and TL) all survive from content or content-based website properties such as Fortnite stats website and betting sites for TSM and liquipedia for TL, etc. Finally, web3 has no esports to speak of, no games to participate in.
  2. Which audience would you like to target, specifically? Marketing ApeCoin to web2 gamers seems like a loss right now since they hate apes/nfts mostly and, to be fair, ApeCoin provides no use case right now. From Asmongold’s videos to SkillUp’s reviews to all the Reddit posts - the hate is obvious. It’s like marketing wedding locations to catholic priests. Meanwhile, you have large crypto population both within and outside NFTs primed to hear about ApeCoin DAO as they already know what a DAO is, know what a token is, and love helping build web3. But if the target is crypto people then, why, again, pick esports, which few of those people have time to watch, and when they do, it’s mostly franchised teams?
  3. What are you planning to market/promote? As I alluded above, ApeCoin has no sinks yet. In absence of ApeCoin-powered products, Otherside not being ready yet, etc. what exactly do you feel would be marketed with this sponsorship? As in, if someone sees the jersey/logo on a video, what would be an action that person could take that would be of benefit to ApeCoin/ecosystem?
  4. Now, you have Jose and Nikolai on the team, that’s great. Are you planning on operating in South America as far as esports team(s)? And whichever region you answer - would you mind elaborating on why that region?

So as I look at this proposal, the main, big question is - why “esports”? In your entire current roster listed in this proposal you have mostly content creators (ex-esports, but not current esports). Content is king, it’s content that drives sponsorship revenues, and top content on youtube/twitch has no esports in it. It has gaming, but not esports. Any content on esports that has decent viewership comes from franchised leagues, to which you don’t have/will not have access for years, likely ever.

Esports is hard. Almost unimaginably so. I lost my wife having to grind 16 hours/day for years. I know this path too well; it both gave me some of the best memories, and took everything away from me. So if you have the people for a pure content org, and you (I assume) know that content audience is far bigger than esports audience, then why not just “Team Bored” instead of “Team Bored Esports”? Maybe even a content house instead of tourney travel. Stream web3/web2 games mix instead of dealing with unreliable esports players (who just go to whoever pays the most, mostly) and relying on low chances of exposure (good exposure only happens when you win tournaments). Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you :handshake:

10 Likes