Esports
Broadcast &
Production

What are the different roles?

It’s important to understand that while some roles are often employed full time by esports production companies, many productions also make use of professional freelancers to undertake certain roles for a particular esports broadcast.

Roles often employed full-time by esports production companies include:

• Executive producer
• Producers
• Graphic designers/operators
• Technical managers
• Multi-skilled studio operators
• Content writers

Roles often given to professional freelancers include:

• Camera operators
• Sound operators
• Floor managers
• Technical directors/camera directors
• AV / lighting technicians
• Replay operators
• In-game observers
• Makeup artists

While there are many different skills that span across the different roles within broadcast, having strong technical skills is an absolute must for any role. Let’s look at some of the key roles within esports broadcast, and some key skills for each role:

• In-game observer: Excellent knowledge of the chosen game. An awareness of the technicalities of live broadcast in order to understand how gameplay elements fit into a wider broadcast flow.
• Live broadcast director/producer: Excellent leadership skills are recommended – they must be able to clearly communicate with large teams and deliver concise introductions, often during incredibly high-pressure situations. Must also have a clear vision of the live broadcast and able to take the lead on important decisions, taking into account all stakeholders on the project. A strong creative vision required in order to plan all elements of the broadcast.
• Technical director/camera director: A creative eye is needed for providing an interesting mix of camera angles to cover on-stage events. Clear communication skills are recommended to provide instructions to the camera operators, plus a technical ability to setup, program and operate complex vision mixing desks (panels with lots of buttons, used to choose the correct camera, gameplay or video feed).
• Instant replay operator: Good knowledge of specific games are a must in order to provide the best replay clips, plus technical understanding of the replay hardware in use. Usually, Vmix Replay or EVS systems are used within esports productions.
• Floor manager: They will have creative ideas for assisting the director/producer in deciding how parts of the show are staged – for example, how will player interviews take place, where will the presenters be standing, how will the winning team raise their trophy at the end of the show and so on. Good leadership skills are helpful, to take responsibility for managing the stage areas of a broadcast environment.
• Technical manager: Once a production crew has created a live broadcast, it’s often up to the technical manager to ensure a good stream is transmitted to the internet for viewers to watch in the highest quality. It goes without saying a technical manager needs to understand a magnitude of different technical systems – with a strong emphasis on networking and live video encoding.
• Sound Engineer: A strong passion and technical understanding for live sound is a must. Usually, the role of providing an audio mix for broadcast, and a separate audio mix for the speakers in an auditorium are split into two different roles. It is normally also the sound engineers’ responsibility to manage the communication systems that allow a production crew to all talk to each other on complex digital headset systems, known as talkback systems.

Hours and salary

Pay and hours vary. Some tournament providers will have an in-house broadcast crew with a set salary, while others will hire freelance staff or third party production companies, usually on a contractual basis per day.

According to the National Skills Service, starters can receive £15,000 to £18,000, while experienced crew members can earn £20,000 to £25,000 and above. Bear in mind these figures are for production crew roles as a whole, not within esports specifically.

Working hours depend on the event, but typically include regular long days; there will be many early starts, evening work and weekend shifts. Unfortunately, esports production teams are usually the first ones in and last ones out! With so many esports events taking place in different parts of the world nowadays, you may be regularly on the road travelling from venue to venue.