Turner Sports’ experiment with a homegrown e-sports competition this summer provided a glimpse of what others can expect if they try the same thing. ELeague GM Christina Alejandre said that one key sponsor, Arby’s, enjoyed “double digit lifts” in brand awareness thanks to its tone-appropriate creative, which created a bond with the young-male fan base. “We had people in the audience chanting, ‘Arby’s!’,” she said. “How many sporting events do you go where people are chanting name of sponsors?” Alejandre, speaking at the '16 E-Sports Forum, said, “We had hundreds of thousands of tweets about the Arby’s commercials.” But it was not without its struggles. ELeague dealt with common challenges in e-sports, including working around the schedules of other, completely unrelated tournaments in its chosen game title, “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” and dealing with frequent roster changes -- and even entire teams moving to other organizations. "We had to make adjustments constantly,” Alejandre said. “With traditional stick-and-ball sports, you have a schedule for your season and it doesn't change.” ELeague made several changes to the concept for its upcoming season two, including cutting the competition schedule from four nights weekly to two, and cutting the season from 10 weeks to five. That will mitigate player fatigue and simplify scheduling, she said.
