Besides players, there are lots of people, who stay behind the scenes, involved in the esports industry: they support players, manage organizations, work on tournaments and broadcasts - they do everything to make the viewer watch the spectacle of the highest possible level.
Organizations and who works in them
A modern esports club can be a pretty big structure and it demands various specialists. Accountants, HRs, sales managers, and others work in organizations. Such persons as a CEO and a manager attract the most attention - they work on the development of a club in general and must have a global vision. You can read about some of them on the news but the others are not that public but still important.
Usually, a sports director is responsible for rosters - he headhunts players and works with them, people who hold this position frequently used to play professionally. Finally, those who deal with the audience directly should be noticed - SMM managers, an organization’s image and the number of its fans depend on them mostly.
People around a roster
Every team and even one esportsman in solo disciplines is surrounded by people who have to provide such conditions, so the players only have to think about how to perform better. First of all, it is a roster manager - a person who solves problems. His duties can significantly differ depending on the organization and the team’s needs but it usually includes managing the players’ life conditions, their practice, logistics, and cooperation with tournament operators. There are two managers sometimes - for example, in the Dota 2 roster of Team Spirit, the reigning champions, which will participate in The International 2022.
Also, a team needs a coach and it can even be a coaching team. Frequently, coaches used to be professional players in the past but there are exceptions. An analyst or a statistician can reinforce a coach, there can be a few of them. They work on collecting data about their players and their opponents, analyze the performance, and offer solutions to improve it.
Those who organize tournaments and broadcasts
Tournament operators are extremely important for the industry. Their staff includes all common positions for pretty big companies like accountants and HR specialists. It is worth noting administrators and judges. They make sure everything goes smoothly on the technical side and the rules are followed.
Viewers are often more interested not in who organizes a tournament but a coverage studio - because it depends on whether they hear their favorite casters. The community is very sensitive regarding this topic, good coverage is one of the important parts of the success because a big part of viewers can go to unofficial broadcasts instead if they are allowed.
Analysts in a studio are important too - they are usually former professional players, some of them continue their career, they just do not take part in the tournament they cover. Their objective is to review a match or entertain viewers during a break and it is even better to do both at the same time. Besides employees viewers can see and hear, there are the ones who stay behind the scenes - operators and sound engineers, lighting experts, costumers, designers, and many others.
