SG Esports

Author: seancallanan

  • SG Esports accepted in UQ HYPE SPIN Accelerator Australian program

    SG Esports accepted in UQ HYPE SPIN Accelerator Australian program

    We are proud to announce SG Esports successfully participated in the UQ HYPE SPIN Accelerator Bootcamp, securing a position in the 3 month global accelerator for Australian sports technology startups.

    After a 2 day bootcamp at University of Queensland focusing on investment, pitching and mentor interviews, Sean Callanan presented the vision and business model for SG Esports to a panel of judges, vying for one of 10 positions in the accelerator specifically for sports tech companies.

    Sean Callanan on the bootcamp process, “I enjoyed being challenged by the UQ mentors and refining our pitch to an audience of sports and technology executives.  I look forward to learning from the HYPE mentors and helping fellow startups succeed in the sports market.”

    Congratulations to our fellow 2019 UQ HYPE SPIN Accelerator startups:

    • BiiB– Community-based run motivator platform (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
    • HeartBit– The world’s first smart garment capable of real time medical grade ECG waveform monitoring, prediction and detection of heart anomalies (QLD, Australia)
    • Moovosity– Inspiring children to enjoy a life of physical activity by empowering educators with the tools and resources to teach the fundamentals of movement. (QLD, Australia)
    • PUML– Incentivising active movement and securing digital health data on the blockchain. (QLD, Australia)
    • Quipmo– The surf, bike and snow peer-to-peer gear rental marketplace for locals and adventurers alike! (WA, Australia)
    • SG Esports– An esports media business built on the pillars of sponsorship, membership and grassroots. (VIC, Australia)
    • Siren Media– Helping teams engage fans and monetise game day with content. (QLD, Australia)
    • SportsCube– A SaaS based marketplace built for community sport. (QLD, Australia)
    • Stattr– Data, video and social platform for grass roots sport. (VIC, Australia)
    • Status Sport– Paperless community sport. (QLD, Australia)

    About Hype Spin Innovation

    With partnerships in four continents, HYPE Sports Innovation has built the first global sports innovation startup accelerator network, hosted by academic institutions and sports clubs.

    The HYPE SPIN Accelerator helps startups from all over the world to convert their ideas into a bona fide innovation and solution, showcase it on the world stage and offer various opportunities to connect, learn from and interact with industry leaders.

    The Australian cohort is run by University of Queensland with cohorts in Italy, Sweden & UK running concurrently as part of the global sports innovation accelerator network.   Read more about the announcement here

    Interested in investing in esports?

    Contact Sean Callanan to chat about esports

  • Sean Callanan to present Esports for Brands keynote at Youth Marketing Australia

    Sean Callanan to present Esports for Brands keynote at Youth Marketing Australia

    SG Esports and Sports Geek founder Sean Callanan will be speaking at the Youth Marketing Australia conference in Melbourne, presenting his keynote Esports for Brands.

    Sean will be sharing what he has learnt about the esports industry through his Sports Geek interviews and his team ownership with Gravitas in the OPL.

    Brands will learn how they can connect with esports and gaming audiences through case studies from Europe, North America & Australia.

    Visit YouthMarketingAustralia.com and use code 100off for $100 off your ticket, as a friend of SG Esports.

     

    What is Youth Marketing Australia?

    YMA is a thoughtfully curated, single stream conference designed to help marketers & brands keep up with the fast-paced nature of GenZ.

    A careful selection of proven experts will share the latest actionable marketing tactics, future proofing strategies and candid insights from real life success and failures. ​

    YMA will arm you with the tools and know-how to win over the most ambitious, influential and diverse generation yet.

    YMA will be held on May 23 2019 at Encore, St Kilda Sea Baths 6/10-18 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda VIC 3182

    Why Attend?

    Learn from and engage with a number of industry leaders, all thought leaders and practitioners eager to share their ideas and expertise in targeting the Gen Z market.

    Speakers from Spotify, Vice, Pedestrian.TV, Adore Beauty, Junkee Media, MTV, Broadsheet, Girlfriend and Hardhat.

    Additionally the Top 100 Youth Brands report will be released.

    Who Attends?

     

    Book your ticket now with our discount code

    Visit YouthMarketingAustralia.com and use code 100off for $100 off your ticket, as a friend of SG Esports.

  • SG Esports Announces Community Partnership with Summoners’ Society

    SG Esports Announces Community Partnership with Summoners’ Society

    SG Esports and Summoners’ Society form a community partnership to strengthen ties between gamers and esports.

    SG Esports has signed Summoners’ Society as Community Partner to help connect aspiring gamers with the LoL esports scene via our esports teams Gravitas (OPL) and Gravitas Academy (OCS).

    SG Esports is the owner of professional esports team Gravitas, the newest team to the top-tier Oceanic Pro League (OPL).

    The partnership entails Summoners’ Society logo featuring on the Gravitas jerseys for Split 2 2019 and throughout 2020. Gravitas players will also take part in fan events and tournaments run by Summoners’ Society to allow the next generation of esports stars to take on current OPL & OCS players.

    SG Esports is focused on building deeper connections and relationships between grassroots gaming and professional teams, elevating the opportunities for individuals within the professional gaming industry.

    “I’m looking forward to helping Summoners’ Society grow and form stronger ties with the OPL and OCS scene. It’s important to help strengthen grassroots ranks if we want Oceanic to produce results on the international stage. The Summoners’ Society team have done a terrific job engaging Australia’s most passionate League of Legends players I look forward to seeing those players in the OCS and OPL in the future.” – Sean Callanan, CEO of SG Esports.

    ‘Loststardust’ from Summoners’ Society states “We are very excited to be working with Sean, Brandon and the SG Esports team. We believe it is important to support the OPL, as it’s the community that keeps it thriving. SG Esports shares the same goals with us, in helping promote the grass roots and building a strong and passionate community. Sean has done an incredible job in growing his team, players and promoting a healthy, engaging environment for esports. We are thrilled to start this journey together.”

    Brandon Defina, GM of Gravitas and former pro player on the partnership – “My path to pro was almost identical to that of the Summoners’ Society tournaments. I went from playing in community ran tournaments, to Riot run tournaments and eventually became a full time professional. This partnership will help create a healthy environment where amateur players can hone their skills for professional play, while other players can just participate in a fun and friendly environment”

    “I’m looking forward to versing players from Summoners’ Society community. I love playing League so it will be fun.” – Julian ‘Raid’ Skordos, Gravitas ADC.

    About SG Esports

    SG Esports is an esports media business built on the pillars of sponsorship, membership, grassroots and technology. SG Esports was founded in 2018 by Sean Callanan, following the successful acquisition of a team position in the Oceanic Pro League (OPL), from which Gravitas was born. Sean has successfully operated the business Sports Geek, a sports digital agency that offers expertise in sports technology and digital sports marketing, for the past 10 years. Sean’s interest in all things sport naturally extended into the esports space when he recognised the similarities in fans across esports and traditional sports.

    Visit https://sgesports.com and https://gravitas.gg

    About Summoners’ Society

    Summoners’ Society was created by founder Jessie ‘Vonangel’ Rozema, who was incredibly passionate about League of Legends. It was just a small group run by people that loved the game. In 2013 ‘Loststardust’ joined the team during a quiet time in the community and she started to run tournaments. The first few were messy, but over the years she started to build the community by expanding tournaments, plus running live events and fun, themed community events. The team started to grow, with Summoners’ Society hiring staff from social media to content producers, casters to community managers. Summoners’ Society now have over 40+ staff who help to grow the community every day, some have even moved on professionally to chase their esports dreams. Summoners’ Society aims to help grow the community in a positive way that allows players to find friends, to improve their sportsmanship and build on their passion for League of legends.

    Visit http://summonerssociety.com and follow @SumSocOCE on Twitter

  • Learning esports and building teams – Gravitas just getting started – Sports Geek Podcast

    Learning esports and building teams – Gravitas just getting started – Sports Geek Podcast

    Sports Geek & SG Esports founder Sean Callanan sits down with Brandon Defina GM of Gravitas to discuss our entry into esports and what we have learned after our very first season in OPL on the Sports Geek Podcast

    On this podcast you’ll learn about:

    • Brandon “Juves” Defina on how his sports career from playing soccer to esports
    • The challenges of managing a new esports team in the OPL
    • How the Sports Geek processes and tools helped in developing Gravitas
    • What does high performance looks like for an esports team
    • What were the hits and misses in Gravitas content point of view
    • Why Twitch is the primary game streaming platform
    • Plans for Gravitas in the OPL Split 2

    Reposted from SportsGeekHQ.com

  • Esports as the new frontier of entertainment – early adopter or left behind?

    Esports as the new frontier of entertainment – early adopter or left behind?

  • SG Esports partners with Pickstar to connect fans with esports athletes

    SG Esports partners with Pickstar to connect fans with esports athletes

     

    SG Esports has partnered leading sports talent marketplace PickStar to activate emerging esports stars in the Australian market.

    SG Esports is the owner of Gravitas, the newest team to the top-tier Oceanic Pro League (OPL) currently in Split 1 of 2019 season.

    PickStar is an online platform that allows brands, marketing agencies, organisations and fans to choose from 1200+ elite athletes and sports personalities for marketing campaigns, events and fan experiences.

    In a first for the esports industry, SG Esports and PickStar have developed an esports talent strategy to develop the personal brands of Gravitas professional players, whilst also growing commercial relationships and opportunities.

    “Esports is an exciting new space. Fans are extremely passionate and loyal, and I’m looking forward to working with PickStar to help brands understand the opportunities with both professional teams and players. Esports can help brands connect with fans online and via live event activations, providing a gateway to a largely inaccessible demographic,” Sports Geek & SG Esports founder Sean Callanan said.

    SG Esports talent are now available to book for events and marketing exclusively through the PickStar platform and PickStar will also be working directly with brands and marketing agencies to cultivate esports talent partnerships.

    “We are excited to help build this rapidly growing esports market and work with the athletes to build their brands, create commercial relationships and find their place in sports marketing,” PickStar head of marketing Andrew Montesi said.

    “The partnership helps us continue to innovate the world of athlete marketing, and with a wide range of clients and over 1200 talent across just about all sports on the PickStar platform, we look forward to sharing our unique learnings and insights with esports talent.

    “We can see exciting opportunities not only for marketers but also gaming fans, who can create their own unique experiences, events and access coaching.”

    The OPL, owned by Riot Games, is a top-tier professional League of Legends competition offering a direct path to the world championships which was watched by 200 million people in 2018.

    While the Australian esports industry is still in its infancy, already there are 1.5 million ‘fanatics’, predominantly comprising the lucrative 18 to 34 male demographic.

    “Esports offers partners a rare opportunity to connect with an audience that isn’t engaged on traditional platforms, our goal through this partnership is to grow the accessibility to this market. Our players at Gravitas will benefit, as will all OPL players and esports talent,” Callanan said.

    Book Gravitas team for your next event or activation on Pickstar

    What you can book Gravitas team talent for?

    • League of Legends – 1 on 1 Coaching – Work with our players and coaches to improve your LoL game.
    • League of Legends – Normal Game – Want to play a game with a pro player?  Book a pro player for a game with your friends or for your event.
    • League of Legends – 1 on 1 – Test your mechanics vs a pro in a 1 on 1 game.  
    • All other standard PickStar options – Appearance, Meet & Greet, VIP Event, Ambassador, Birthday Party, Social Media Post and more
    • Ask us what you want? We are helping Pickstar develop how esports talent can engage fans and brands.

    Key statistics

    Esports is the fastest growing sport category in the world. It is also gathering momentum to be included in the Olympics by 2024.

    According to Newzoo, the number of esports enthusiasts worldwide will reach 201 million in 2019, which translates to year-over-year growth of 15%. In Australia alone, over 1.7 million people are watching esports related content on Twitch every year.

    Esports revenues will grow 27% in 2019, to $1.1 billion, and reach $1.65 billion by 2021. Although esports is still an emerging sport in Australia, the potential upswing following the American and European markets is inevitable.

    About SG Esports

    SG Esports was founded in 2018 by Sean Callanan, following the successful acquisition of a team position in the Oceanic Pro League (OPL), from which Gravitas was born. Sean has successfully operated the business Sports Geek, a sports digital agency that offers expertise in sports technology and digital sports marketing, for the past 10 years. Sean’s interest in all things sport naturally extended into the esports space when he recognised the similarities in fans across esports and traditional sports.

    SG Esports is an esports business that provides esports consulting alongside owning professional esports teams.

    To follow Gravitas each week go to Gravitas.gg

    About PickStar

    Founded by former AFL footballers James Begley and Matthew Pavlich, PickStar is Australia’s largest marketplace to book sports stars for marketing campaigns, events and experiences. Australia’s leading brands as well as clubs, schools and fans use PickStar’s innovative platform to connect with 1200+ elite athletes and sports personalities for commercial opportunities.

    Visit Pickstar at Pickstar.com.au

    For more information contact PickStar head of marketing Andrew Montesi on 0422 163 430.

    For more information about esports industry and sponsorship options with Gravitas contact Sean Callanan on 0407 047 200.