Esports Admin or Referee

What is an Esports Tournament Administrator?

Administrators will record the outcome of matches, make sure that the players are sticking to the rules, and hand out penalties if any are broken.

They will often have to communicate with teams to settle any disputes, keep track of the tournament brackets and offer support to the community where needed.

During live events for example LAN finals, admins will usually keep an eye on the teams, monitor matches and make sure all rules are adhered to, for example that the players are wearing the correct noise-cancelling headsets, and that no foul play is going on.

Admins may be required to help set up, test servers, chase sign ups, sort seeds and make sure everything runs according to schedule. This means you might have to work with the teams and make sure they’re all on time.

Admins are responsible for dealing with any in-game or on-stage issues, for example if a PC freezes or a keyboard breaks mid-tournament. Because of this, they will need to know the game and the tournament’s rulebook inside out, to enforce the rules and avoid any controversies or unfair decisions. They will also want to keep pauses, delays and downtime to a minimum.

How to become an admin

Junior positions are a good way of getting your foot in the door. Tournament providers will be on the lookout for volunteers, and putting yourself forward can help you gain valuable experience.

As mentioned above, you’ll need to understand the rules of the game and the tournament. Read the rulebook, watch matches online, look at examples of where things went wrong and learn from them.

Get to grips with different tournament bracket systems like Battlefy and Challonge, and ask the community for advice.

You can start small – offer to help a friend out with a smaller tournament, for example, and work your way up from there.