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ISL and USYF (United States Youth Futsal – a US Soccer member) have been collaborating for the past 3 years in developing and growing futsal in the US, and are now launching a new program that will kick off this summer, directed by Futsal legend Keith Tozer.
ISL is the only organization in the country with two development academies, Charlotte and Austin, which have produced over 20 National team players and the 03 G National Champions of 2020.
Over the years, ISL has participated in USYF events (bringing 40 teams to the USYF National in Kansas), has run USYF national and state ID’s in multiple cities/states, and has managed the USYF international experience in Barcelona.
As a result of this solid collaboration, ISL will be launching an official USYF program in Charlotte, from July 26th to July 30th, with more dates and locations coming next year.
“We are excited to offer this new programming to our US Youth Futsal family. This provides another opportunity to engage kids and introduce them to futsal around the United States,” says Brian Catrine, USYF – Executive Director.
Led by former US Futsal Men’s National Team Head Coach, Keith Tozer, the ISL official Futsal camps are an exclusive opportunity to learn the methodologies of the unique USYF style, as USYF certified coaches will be delivering the training sessions and teaching the techniques of one of the most prestigious Futsal organizations across the US.
”I am very excited about the opportunity to partner with USYF and the ISL Agency to provide the first comprehensive futsal camp experience here in North America!,” explains Keith Tozer.
Players will experience a fun and energetic learning environment, with a guarantee of professionalism and quality. The trainings have been designed for players of all levels to improve the underlying techniques of futsal accurately, consistently and at match tempo. The camps will also include physical preparation, goalkeeper training and psychological sessions to develop true leaders on the court!
“ISL is proud to be actively participating in the development of futsal players, and contributing to the growth of futsal in the US. We aim to bring american futsal to the highest levels of competition in the world, while generating awareness for the sport and the amazing work done by the USYF – the best partner we could ask for in this mission,” says Adam Brundle, Director of ISL Futsala.
USYF official futsal camps are open to boys and girls between 8 and 17 years old and registration is available at https://www.usyouthfutsal.com/summercamp .
TODAY ON THE COURT: KEITH TOZER, FORMER U.S. FUTSAL MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM HEAD COACH, AND WINNER OF 1996-2004 CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIPS, ALONG WITH ADAM BRUNDLE, DIRECTOR OF ISL FUTSALA.
It is never easy to grow a relatively new sport, and it is especially complicated to promote it in the USA, under the shadows of American Football, Baseball, Basketball and Hockey.
The birth of professional indoor soccer in America dates back to less than 50 years ago, when in February 1974, the North American Soccer League staged two indoor exhibitions against the touring Red Army of Moscow club.
Despite its novelty when compared to other sports, coach Tozer has accomplished great results developing professional indoor soccer and was the Major Indoor Soccer Leagues first draft pick in 1978 for the Cincinnati Kids owned by Pete Rose of MLB.
After decades of playing and coaching, Tozer became one of the most successful coaches in U.S. soccer history, and the all-time winningest coach in North America Professional Indoor Soccer with over 700 wins, six league championships and nine “Coach of the Year Awards.”
Coach Tozer’s success at indoor soccer led to his role as the U.S. Futsal Men’s National Team Head Coach. He was the interim head coach at the first CONCACAF Futsal World Cup qualifier in 1996 with the U.S. winning their first CONCACAF Futsal Championship.
Tozer coached the National Team for 20 years with six CONCACAF Championship appearances, reaching the podium another 3 times:
– Bronze Medal in 2000
– Gold Medal in 2004
– Bronze Medal in 2008.
Tozer also led the team to a seventh place finish at the 2004 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Chinese Taipei.
On ISL’s side, Adam Brundle currently manages two Futsal academies, in Charlotte and Austin, that have produced over 20 National team players and the 03 G National Champions of 2020.
With hardwork and dedication, he has conquered important milestones for the sport, from partnerships with USYF, to implementing the only Futsal organization in the country with 2 development academies.
What are the next steps?
What’s the future for indoor soccer in the USA?
Let ‘s find out!
Keith Tozer: In 1978 I was playing college soccer at Oneonta State University in upstate New York. I was preparing to be drafted into the NASL when I received a call from Keith Van Eron, the goalkeeper for Hartwick College also in Oneonta. He told me I was the first player drafted in the MISL for the Cincinnati Kids. I was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team player pool and our Head Coach Walt Chyzowych were good friends with Earl Formen and Ed Tepper who were the co-founders of the MISL. They asked coach Chyzowych to handle the inaugural draft and many of us then went on to play in the MISL.
Keith Tozer: I don’t know if I had the skill set to play professionally but I played ice hockey for many years growing up and played in the National Championships when I was a Bantam. I think because I loved playing ice hockey, playing indoor soccer was much easier for me.
Adam Brundle: Futsal has so many benefits to aid any player’s development. It encourages every player to be creative, and forces them to think quickly and find solutions to problems in various situations. It allows players to express themselves, and that is the beauty of sport. I wanted to be able to reach as many players as possible and give them the opportunity to develop and learn how to be the best creative versions of themselves through the sport!
Adam Brundle: There isn’t a sport I have played/experienced in the past which I have not enjoyed to play. I grew up playing Rugby, Cricket, tennis, field hockey, soccer and of course futsal. They all offer something different, and are so unique in their own way but yet so similar in what they teach. I would honestly work with any sport, as long as it allowed me to still be in the world of youth sports.
Keith Tozer: I love all forms of soccer! Outdoor, beach, indoor and futsal. However, my passion is for futsal and of course indoor soccer. Futsal is such a great game on its own as well as a great youth developer for outdoor players. Players can develop great technical ability from futsal, create quick and agile physical skills, hone tactical awareness and become very confident in their game.
Adam Brundle: Prefer in this situation is a strong word. Although many people associate futsal and soccer as the same, they are in fact very different. Both of them have elements that make them so great in their own right! What I love about Futsal is how quick paced the game is, and how purely entertaining it is. Players are more involved consistently, and get more touches, and score more goals!
Keith Tozer: Both versions of the indoor game being indoor soccer with boards or no boards for futsal has grown I believe in recent years because youth players love being around the ball all the time. Because the fields or courts are much smaller than outdoor soccer everyone feels they are more involved in the game which keeps young players mentally and physically engaged.
Adam Brundle: Futsal is growing because it is becoming more known, and more people are seeing the benefits. Large outdoor soccer clubs are now seeing that futsal has a big impact on players development, and are therefore implementing it into their clubs curriculum. Futsal still has a long way to go in order to break out of the shadow of soccer in the US, however it is definitely on the right trajectory. .
Keith Tozer: In order for the U.S. to become a power in the futsal world we will need the PFL to be successful. The top ten+ National Teams in the world all have professional futsal leagues to draw from. That would give many more young players the opportunity to either play outdoor soccer or futsal.
Adam Brundle:The main challenge(s) are the other sports it has to contend with. There are only so many days in a week, and if children are playing other sports it is hard to build futsal into the weekly training regime. From a tv rating standpoint, even soccer is still only the 5th most popular sport in the US. Therefore getting people interested in Futsal which is a very new sport in the US, ahead of staple American sports will be the main challenge that is faced.
Keith Tozer: If U.S. Soccer would create youth futsal National Teams both for boys and girls similar to their outdoor program that would be fantastic. Obviously we need a full Women’s Futsal National Team and I firmly believe in a short period of time we could become one of the best teams in the world. Creating these youth teams with full men and women national teams would have a huge impact not only in Futsal but also our entire outdoor program. What do we have to lose? Other super powers in the outdoor game globally have done so.
Adam Brundle: The ideal scenario is that more and more people start believing in the game, and more and more people become proficient in the education of futsal. This will allow Futsal to be seen as its own sport and not be seen as a compliment to soccer. USYF is doing a great job at leading the charge, and creating a pathway for players to get a true taste of what futsal is. With the creation of the PFL led by Mr. Tozer, it will give players a complete pathway. It will also allow players to realize there is a future beyond the game past the age of 14/15, and that they could turn it into a career.
Keith Tozer: In the next ten years the growth of futsal here in the U.S. will be substantial. I see more and more futsal facilities, academies, league and tournaments being developed across the U.S. giving more and more players the opportunity to experience this great game. Even though the game doesn’t need coaches per say, the game we still need more knowledgeable coaches who understand the methodology of the game of futsal and the USYF coaching education along with others will help immensely. When the PFL kicks off it will be a great shot in the arm for futsal here in the U.S. as well as globally. The PFL will attract some of the top coaches and players from around the world to the U.S. and will only help elevate the development of the American players not only for the league but also for the U.S. National Team..
Adam Brundle: I see it growing exponentially, and being played all over the US. As coach Tozer has mentioned the PFL will allow not only for players to see high quality professional futsal live in America, but it will also pave a realistic pathway for young americans to be able to follow. It will be the tip of the US Futsal pyramid. This will allow for more youth clubs to start engaging in futsal and only futsal, and I believe in the next 10 years we will see Futsal come out of the shadow of soccer, and begin to stand on its own as the sport it is!
Keith Tozer: All the top players in the world have said at one time or another, “I am who I am because growing up in my country I played Futsal!”
Adam Brundle: It is not really a motivational message. However I would just encourage anyone and everyone to try it.. I am positive that more often than not you will fall in love with the game.
Who Will Be On The Grill Next Month? Follow Us @ISLAgency To Find Out!
On April 17th, live from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, entrepreneur and WBA International hampion, Joe Fournier, will take on colombian reggaeton star Reykon on Triller’s Fight Club event. ISL has worked behind the scenes as a mediator to make this fight part of a fierce lineup leading to the Jake Paul, youtuber sensation vs Ben Askren, UFC legend, combat.
ISL & Triller Fight Club
Triller Fight Club is a partnership between leading music and social media platform Triller and Snoop Dogg, with a mission to provide the best boxing fights on pay-per-view for every audience, from the diehard to the casual fan.
Triller started as a video-sharing social media app, becoming the fiercest competitor of TikTok in a matter of months. Last fall, the platform started a new division as fight broadcaster and promoter, hosting an explosive fight on their first event with none other than the legendary Mike Tyson and the acclaimed Jake Paul.
The first fight hosted by Triller became the 8th most watched PPV fighting event in history.
ISL is proud to help build a legacy of exclusive boxing content and premium entertainment with a never before seen fight between a professional boxer, Joe Fournier, and an international singer, Reykon.
“With Triller we are seeing fresh, new, out of the box content, combining sports, entertainment and the unexpected element of surprise. As crossover fights increase with successful results, we wanted to be the first ones ever to mediate a fight between a professional boxer and a reggaeton artist”, explains Marc Segarra, ISL Managing Partner.
“As a sports marketing agency, we are proud to partner with a leading entertainment platform as Triller Fight Club”, concludes Alex Isern, ISL Co-Founder and CEO. The entertainment of the night is guaranteed to continue outside the ring with Justin Bieber and The Black Keys, among other artists.
As for the men of the hour, mediated by ISL, their rivalry started after a confrontation in a Miami restaurant, and will blow up on the ring on April 17th, 9pm EST.
ISL takes a step further in business development and cutting-edge trends, by helping to bring soccer to the frontline of digital technology.
Ethernity is a unique digital asset platform that produces limited edition digital collectible NFT’s and trading cards, by brilliant and elite artists featuring mainstream celebrities, notable and historical figures, athletes, musicians, entrepreneurs, gamers and much more!
Blockchain technology is used to ensure the scarcity, authenticity, and eternal existence of these collectibles.
The Winklevoss twins, Djs Dimitri Vegas and Alesso, Pro Skater Tony Hawk, MLB star Fernando Tatís, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and top artist Bosslogic, are just some of the names on the exclusive Ethernity collections.
ISL & Ethernity Chain
ISL is always at the vanguard of new sports and technology trends, thus it makes only sense to be Ethernity’s first and official partner for NFT’s creations in the soccer industry.
“As a 360 sports management agency, we are continuously focused on bringing value and new opportunities to our clients and partners.NFT’s have revolutionized the digital space and they provide a uniqueness and scarcity that match perfectly with our sports properties”, explains Alex Isern, ISL co-founder and CEO.
“This strategic partnership with Ethernity will allow us to create a unique digital artwork with world-class athletes, clubs, leagues and other sports organizations.We have already locked down several sport icons and we can’t wait to release their first NFT’s collection very soon”, says Marc Segarra, ISL Managing Partner.
The first soccer NFT collection will be announced in the next few weeks with a world renowned player.
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are “one-of-a-kind” assets in the digital world that can be bought and sold like any other piece of property, but can’t be duplicated, replaced or traded for something else, as they have no tangible form of their own.
For example: while you can exchange and trade money or bitcoins, and get the same value in return, an NFT is like a one-of-a-kind trading card, if you trade it for a different card, you will not receive the same value back. The groundbreaking revolution of NFT’s is that both physical or virtual assets, such as artwork, can be “tokenised” to create a digital certificate of ownership.
This certificate can be bought and sold, but can’t be duplicated, unlike most digital folders. NFT’s use the same technology as crypto currency: a record of who owns what is stored on a shared ledger known as the blockchain. The records cannot be forged because the ledger is maintained by thousands of computers around the world.
How much are NFT’s worth?
It is their unique non-fungible feature that makes NFT’s so special and valuable, and the reason why they have been moving millions of dollars around the globe!
The boom of the digital tokens became a reality when an animated GIF of Nyan Cat – a 2011 meme of a flying pop-tart cat – was sold for more than $500.000. The trend kept growing as musician Grimes sold some of her digital art for more than $6 million Dollars, and recently Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has promoted an NFT of the first ever evert tweet with bids hitting $2.5 million.
MORE EXCITING NEWS ABOUT ISL FIRST SOCCER COLLECTION x ETHERNITY COMING SOON!
Stay tuned!
ISL continues to support the development of US soccer by launching the first official recruitment platform of LaLiga for youth talent in the United States.
ISL, in collaboration with LaLiga, is launching LaLiga Select – a platform that will provide young American soccer players, between the ages of 13 to 18, the opportunity to showcase their talent and start a professional soccer career in a youth club from LaLiga.
The launch of LaLiga Select represents an important milestone for LaLiga in the United States, as it is the first legitimate scouting program for soccer players led by an international sports institution in North America. This project is part of an action plan drawn by the Spanish League and Relevent to contribute to the growth of soccer in the United States, while continuing to provide all resources and opportunities to help American talent in its preparation for the 2026 World Cup.
With these types of initiatives, ISL and La Liga are encouraging and facilitating the arrival of new American talents to Spain at an early age, such as Sergiño Dest and Konrad De La Fuente from FC Barcelona, or Yunus Musah from Valencia FC.
“La Liga Select aims to contribute to the development of young American talent, providing players an opportunity to showcase their potential, an experience that will step up their game, and , the chance to kick off their dream of becoming a professional soccer player and one day represent their country in the World Cup”,says Nicolás García Hemme, VP of Strategy & Business Development for LaLiga North America, “Our goal is to collaborate with local clubs to become their international recruitment arm and continue to add new locations every year in different American regions.”.
This unprecedented initiative will start in 2021 between June 21st and July 13th, with several Talent ID held across different cities in the United States, and is expected to gather thousands of participants. Approximately 60 players will be selected by LaLiga scouts to embark on a Spanish Showcase in Madrid. During a period of 10 days this group of players will train and compete with the best clubs in Spain under the supervision of different Technical Directors from LaLiga Youth Clubs, who will then recruit the best player from each age category to participate in a sponsored training camp with a LaLiga Youth Club.
LaLiga Select will open the doors of European soccer for American players, creating a quality reference in US soccer, while positioning Spain as an attractive market for young US players.
After a decade of providing the world’s leading sports organizations, brands, and athletes with first class marketing support the ISL founders decided it was time to establish a full on 360 marketing department which would focus on helping other industries.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marc Segarra one of the managing partners realized that ISL was not maximizing it’s capacity in terms of marketing services. Together with Alex Isern (ISL CEO) they decided it was time to capitalize on this opportunity since the company was facing loads of uncertainty, given the fact that the pandemic was having a rough impact on the company’s major programs. It was this very moment that led to the creation of this new department called Marketing 360.
Both Alex & Marc have always stated that service is the number one priority when it comes to ISL. The company is all about fostering & establishing long term partnerships, and this has been the case with families whose kids have attended the FC Barcelona camps throughout the years. “We have done such good work establishing proper social media campaigns together with mastering email marketing, that we need to share our level of expertise with other companies” stated Marc.
Marc insists that ISL would not be were it is today, had it not been for the support of the families whose kids have participated in the Barca academies, camps, and travel experiences. An important factor behind this new project was the fact that we want to offer marketing solutions to the families that have been with us all this years. Throughout the years, our soccer programas have enabled us the privilege of meeting executives from Fortune 500 companies to lawyers, doctors and business owners.
“We just want to thank the parents for the continues support throughout the years”. Were the words of Marc when describing the important role families have played in ISL’s success. Now we have a solution to offer parents who run small businesses or need help with marketing. Good service is an essence at ISL and we now have the tools to offer additional services not just to the families whose kids attend camp, although to the greater public.
It has different parts, but it can only perform properly when all those parts work together towards the same goal. At ISL, we enforce this interrelatedness and believe that an integrated approach is essential to attain the best results. Our 360 marketing approach takes strategies to a new level to communicate a consistent message through all the marketing mix elements. By implementing a broad strategy and the right tools, we will pursue and reach your target audience.
1 – Social Media Management Social media is one of the best ways to engage with customers and potential customers. Our Social Media Management team will successfully manage your platforms while strengthening relationships, raising brand awareness, and interacting with followers.
2 – Content Strategy Every successful business needs a solid content strategy. We transform your business objectives and goals into a plan that uses content to reach those goals and aligns with your target audience.
3 – Digital Advertising Digital advertising has become an essential tool to help businesses stand out and succeed among competitors. From awareness to purchase, we use digital media advertising to drive revenue to your business.
4 – Web Development & SEO We work behind the senses to make your website look great, perform its best and assure users a smooth experience. Our SEO experts will make sure you build better relationships with your audience, drive more traffic to your site and increase conversions.
5 – Email Marketing It is one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies to attract and retain customers with personalized messages that promote your brand, content, and product or service. We will keep your customers and prospects informed and engaged.
6 – Creative Design & Video From logos and images to videos, we create visual content that captures your company’s vision and values. Aligning content value to consumer goals is step one in better attracting, engaging, and converting the audience that matters to your business.
7 – Brand Development Branding makes an excellent impression on consumers and, as a result, lets your customers know what to expect from your company. Brand building has a lot to do with Psychology, and that’s why we will make sure your business’ logo and graphic identity align with the attitudes, aspirations, and needs of your target audience.
8 – Influencer Marketing & PR Tradition and innovation are powerful tools. That’s why at ISL, we believe in Influencer marketing and classic PR; at the end of the day, both concepts share the same goal: showing the public the right reasons to love a company. We have the right connections to help you build relationships between your business and a variety of media outlets and, as a result, increase your business’s brand awareness and reputation.
Joan Ocon, Director of Tandhem Representation Agency, explained to us the complexity of the soccer representation sector, the impact of COVID-19 , and the secrets to succeed as a Sports Agent.
Many dream of entering the soccer world as Player Agents. No early morning practices, best seats to the matches and millionaire commissions. Sounds like a dream job, doesn’t it?
That is only what you see on television, but behind it there is a job in which you do not rest, that you live far from your family and friends and from which you never disconnect. If you are able to assume these three concepts, you can take the first step. But only the first.
Can you explain what is really going on behind the scenes in one of the most competitive jobs in the sports industry?
As I said, this job demands a lot from you. Don’t let your guard down. The competition is fierce and if you want to survive, you must demand yourself the maximum every day. There are no schedules, there are no excuses, and there is no rest. You have to differentiate between two worlds. The formative and the professional. Both have really the same operations on a day-to-day basis but with a greater tension in the professional world.
You are the director of Tandhem, a Representation Agency, but you are also a lawyer. Why did you choose to enter the business of soccer representation/player management?
The question that everyone asks me. There was a time in my career as a lawyer when I realized that I was not born to sit in a chair for hours. I love law and I love sports, so I studied sports law, and thus step by step I entered this world.
Now that you are a Player Agent, does the reality correspond to your expectations? Why?
Although I am an agent, when asked, I always answer that I am a lawyer. It is something that has cost me years of dedication and that is part of my personal stamp in this profession.
What is the biggest challenge you face in your job?
To mark with my work team a style, a unique way of working and a unique philosophy. There are many representation agencies, therefore you have to seek excellence and make a difference. Tandhem has its own style and we must maintain it and enhance it day by day, that is the biggest challenge.
What is the biggest reward of being a Player Agent?
Work together with your player and achieve what we both have set out to do. It sounds easy, but it is not, because there are infinite risk factors. Gladly, I manage to achieve every goal I set with a player by working for it day by day.
What is the importance of press and social media in this business?
Today, it is key. Who does not know you, judges you by your social networks. Maybe before this didn’t happen, but now social media plays a leading role. Luckily, in our company we have a wonderful team of experts to help us and our players.
How did COVID-19 impact the players’ contracts and the transfer market in 2020?
The market is stopped. It should be borne in mind that the football market did not suffer the crisis of 2008, and that it has registered growth year after year until the Covid has stopped it. Salaries have also gone down and the disbursement for player transactions has been reduced by 70%, according to the information published by sports media outlet Palco 23.
Has player management changed with COVID-19?
There is a very important human factor in this work. If human relationships have been cut or reduced, that has affected work. Now it seems that we can travel more and meet with caution, hopefully we continue like this. It is very difficult to convince clubs and sports directors through a virtual meeting. Some clubs have also modified their methodology, replacing scouting travels by players’ data analysis to choose the new players. It is the first time in the soccer industry that clubs have given big data a leading role in recruiting players.
Do you get personally attached to the players or is it just business?
I do not like to give clues of what our style is. But in our case, the personal relationship with the player is key in our work. It is a business, yes, but the business is made up of people, we cannot treat players like trading cards. For us, they are our family. This is how we feel it and this is how they feel it.
What are your top 3 success rules?
Honesty, professionalism and ambition.
What is your best advice for someone who dreams of being a Player Agent?
It seems like a cliché, but in that profession I consider it essential. I would tell him not to give up. When you start and are small, there are many obstacles and everything seems to be a problem. Not giving up and being persistent is key.
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Pepe Nogues is the Director of the Barça Academies managed by ISL across the USA.
Every year, Pepe organizes and coordinates a team of 6 people, responsible for 2,000 aspiring your soccer players in 6 different states of the United States.
The Barça Academy US includes boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18, and offers all year long soccer programs and events and tournaments, with the goal of developing new soccer talent and spreading the FC Barcelona sports’ values.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, the Barça Academy’s dynamic has been affected, as have most sports activities.
The esports popularity keeps growing and it is expected to reach over half a million viewers in 2023.
We have designed a pretty solid BA calendar that we use as guidance to plan and organize in advance for the following year/s. It is true that, since we operate in different states, different regulations apply, therefore adaptations also need to be made accordingly.
Well, when the pandemic hit and new safety measures were dictated by health departments and soccer federations, the whole operational model had to be quickly re-edited. Changes such as: carefully managing cash flows, adapting from tryouts to renewal strategies, expanding our customer base experience, rewriting policies… to make it short, almost everything changed in a way.
We received great support from FCB on the new coaching models that were applied through virtual training and online learning experiences.
There have been 3 major challenges I should point out:
1) Adapting our teaching & learning model to virtual trainings.
2) Creating a Covid Committee and adding experts on the matter.
3) Applying strict safety measures to get back on the field.
Timing was one of the biggest issues I faced. The quick decision making was critical because at the very beginning no one had the absolute truth on how things should be run. I had to quickly provide new guidance for my team, for them to provide guidelines to their staff, players and families.
Very strict safety measures were applied on the “get back to the field phase”. We literally looked like a moving hospital giving soccer lessons. We purchased so much sanitary equipment and materials that our coaches looked like doctors. Gloves, masks, sanitary stations, temperature check points, covid control cases, etc… It was a challenge but I can gladly say that we did an amazing job in this matter.
I have to give full credit to the local staff because they reinvented themselves. It was not only the leadership team providing new guidance, but technical directors and coaches reaching out sharing great thoughts and ideas to engage with players and families in this new and challenging adventure. It was definitely difficult at the beginning to get high rates of players’ attendance, but as we shared on social media how we were safely operating, players and families started to trust the method and found the strength to get back on the field despite the pandemic.
The pandemic and new operational model obviously raised a lot of questions and concerns to parents & families. They were mostly concerned about financial support and about the safety for their kids which we took very seriously and responded to the best of our capabilities. We have to THANK them all because a great deal of understanding and comprehension was shared by the majority of the families.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is far more severe than many people want to recognize. We do still face challenges that the pandemic continues to present such as cancelling very important regional and national tournaments that are critical for completing the competitive cycles, or directly affecting international travel which blocks players and families from discovering and experiencing different soccer cultures.
João Carvalho is a die hard fan of esports and an expert in the matter.
He was the Founder of Prémios Esports Portugal (Portuguese Esports Awards) and has been working with the esports industry for 10 years.
We asked him to explain to us what esports are and how they have grown so fast, to tell us about the leading esports games, and to share his insights from a business perspective.
But before, let’s take a look at the latest facts and numbers about esports and the video game industry:
The video game industry has been generating more revenue than the movie box office and music industries combined over the last decade, reaching $159.3 billions in 2020.
The esports popularity keeps growing and it is expected to reach over half a million viewers in 2023.
Esports is the competitive side of gaming. I always explain it like this: a person juggling a football ball is not playing a football match. He’s using the same tools (football boots, the ball, might even use a net and a goalkeeper), but he is not competing against anyone other than himself. It is the same with esports: when you are playing video games against other people, in a competitive way, you can call it esports.
I would attribute that to 2 main reasons: the technological advancements of our society, that created the infrastructure needed (high speed internet, accessibility and affordability of video game consoles and gaming PC’s) for people to connect online like they were in an offline environment (no lag, no difference in ping, etc.) – vital for competitive integrity; the eager that human beings have to compete. Since the beginning of time humans are competitive animals in everything they do, so it is just natural that the same applies also to video games.
Tandhem Esports is an extension of Tandhem itself. Tandhem is a global talent agency, with expertise in athlete management and sports marketing. Tandhem Esports shares the exact same values and principles, but applied to the esports industry.
We aim to help semi-pro and pro esports athletes to achieve their goals, both professionally as well as personally. The majority of the athletes in the esports industry are very young and still very naive. They just want to compete and there is nothing wrong with that. We try to defend them from people who know exactly how to take advantage of that, giving them financial, legal and representation advice.
We see ourselves as partners of the players, more than their agents, in the traditional sense of the word.
They are aware of the phenomenon. They know that not entering now may jeopardize their business in the future.
Traditional sports are seeing their fans and viewership grow older as the time goes by. They need to do something to reverse the trend and one way to do it is to target the kids who give the majority of their attention to esports competitions, other than traditional sports ones.
Football and non-football sports institutions know this and see esports as an amazing opportunity to captivate younger audiences.
It is very difficult to tell which teams generate more revenue as the majority of them don’t disclose their annual income in full. One can only grasp and assume, based on the teams they build, the players they hire, the content they produce. Which is not exclusively related to the revenue they organically generate, because some teams survive via continuous outside investments from people still trying to enter the scene.
As of the games with more audience: League of Legends and Counter Strike have been producing top numbers for quite some time and I would consider them top 1 and top 2, respectively, based on the longevity of the numbers they’ve produced.
However, Fortnite and FIFA have been producing amazing numbers too, in platforms such as Twitch and Youtube, and it is very interesting to see what the future holds.
It is important to remember that there is a HUGE gap between the amount of professional teams in traditional sports compared to esports. Top esports players can earn multiple million dollar deals a year, but there are only a few of said players in the world, while in traditional sports it is rare that a player from a top league does not earn those amounts.
This is changing however, because esports players are more keen to create content and to share certain aspects of their daily routine (like training, exercising, habits), something that the younger fans want to see, because they want to emulate their idols.
Could you imagine the hype if Cristiano or Messi would train with a gopro on their heads? The world would stop to see it.
It depends on different factors, but right now I would say it would cost more than one million dollars a year. Two years ago, with talent from Europe (the best region in terms of talent besides the Asian market), you could build a great team with half a million a year.
The salaries increased a lot since the players perceived their power and how much they were generating for the teams just in exposure and stream numbers.
Currently, sponsors are the biggest source of income for team organizations.
I would say that TV Rights will play a huge role in the next 5-10 years, because only now the teams are understanding their importance to the Leagues: the Leagues capitalize on the teams’ exposure to close multi million dollar contracts with sponsors – League of Legends European Championship – LEC – is the biggest example of this.
Other than that, esports have the same revenue sources as traditional sports teams: merchandise, player buyouts, prize pools from tournaments, events’ ticketing, etc.
It is one of the best investments one can make still of today. Esports exposure will only go up, as more and more kids change their hobby habits to playing video games on a daily basis, because they now have the access to the technology (mobile phones, tablets, computers, consoles, etc.) that we didn’t have 5-10 years ago.
5G will also play a huge part in the dissemination of mobile competitive gaming, as we will only need our cellphones to be able to compete at the highest possible level, from anywhere in the world.
I believe that because all of this, associated with the streaming tools that exist today, in 10-20 years esports the number one sports in the world.
La Liga Select is the first official LaLiga platform to recruit talent in the United States.
This project gives young players with ages between 13 to 18, the opportunity to showcase their talent and start a professional soccer career in a LaLiga youth club.
LaLiga Select will open the doors of European soccer to American players, creating a quality reference in US soccer, while positioning Spain as an attractive market for young US players.
As soon as the announcement of this unprecedented initiative was made official by LaLiga, several media outlets picked up the news and communicated it around the world, valuing the contribution of ISL and LaLiga to the development of American soccer and to bringing countries together through sports.
In Spain, home country of La Liga, the main sports media like Mundo Deportivo and AS gave a full page coverage to the story, while in the United States prominent informative platforms such as yahoo! finance or ESPN Deportes delivered the news highlighting the positive impact La Liga Select will have on US soccer.
The press coverage of LaLiga Select reached over 50 media outlets and 113 Million visitors in 4 different continents. Below are the major publication covering the launch of LaLiga Next:
Yahoo Finance: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/laliga-north-america-creates-platform-154000374.html
ESPN Deportes: https://espndeportes.espn.com/futbol/espana/nota/_/id/8034001/laliga-lanza-programa-captar-talento-juvenil-estados-unidos
Mundo Deportivo: https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/20210114/491562506918/laliga-proyecta-captar-talento-en-estados-unidos.html
Sports Finding: https://sportsfinding.com/laliga-plans-to-attract-talent-in-the-united-states/78129/
US AS: https://us.as.com/us/2021/01/14/futbol/1610650465_385309.html#menu