Adelaide Crows
Can your business create value in another business?
We worked with the Adelaide Crows from inception to execution as they leverage their brands, assets and skills into the rapidly growing eSports market.
The Client Situation
With full stadiums, passionate fans and a solid team culture, the Adelaide Crows have a lot of experience and value they can leverage into new markets. After closely observing NBA teams and savvy investors buying eSports organisations overseas, they added eSports to the portfolio of growth opportunities they were considering.
The Australian eSports market has significant differences to its global counterparts however, and they knew that more information was required to properly analyse this opportunity.
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How We Became Involved
GLG Consulting had worked closely with senior members of the Adelaide Crows team in the past, and when the need arose for an independent, structured and strategic analysis, we were considered a safe pair of hands.
The Crows appreciated our agile approach that minimised risk and allowed each step to be contingent n the success of the prior step.
Our Solution
Rather than engaging an eSports specialist to define and build up the opportunity, the Crows engaged GLG Consulting to perform an critical independent assessment.
Our approach included a detailed investigation of local eSports leagues and the economics driving this as a business opportunity.
We knew it would be important to do deep dive into each individual eSport, and performed a realistic assessment of their future potential and lifecycle.
Work Performed
Our work included 10 clears steps designed to take the Crows from clarification of their objectives through a detailed understanding of the market and a prioritised list of opportunities for their participation.
After building a detailed understanding of how revenue is created in the eSports economy, we matched up the club’s core skills to see if and why they would be able to create value. Our final report included a logical framework for understanding the full scope of opportunities, and an assessment of which made most sense for the Adelaide Crows.
The Result
We provided the Crows with a detailed view of the local Australian eSports economy and identified 10 different opportunities for the Crows to participate and generate shared value. Our analysis determined that an entry into eSports would not be a leap of faith, but could be done in a cautious and commercially viable manner that would almost certainly create value for the organisation.
In May 2017 the Adelaide Crows made headlines by becoming the first Australian sporting organisation to acquire an eSports team, and big developments are underway for the 2018 eSports season. Since then they have expended the term roster, announced new sponsorship deals, and had multiple athletes compete internationally.
“GLG Consulting has been our trusted strategic partner through every step of our journey into eSports. Len and the team work flexibly with us and always offer outstanding value for money. We openly recommend GLG Consulting to many of our partners in this space, and have been so impressed with their work that we have entered into an ongoing commercial relationship.”
Nick McArdle, GM Strategy and Projects
Global Gaming Industry
Crows Club Members
Australian eSport Fans
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