You are going to need to make a budget of all your expected expenses and income. The biggest mistake esports organizations make is forgetting to plan. Having financial plans for the next year, two years and even three years, helps your organization and demonstrates to your community that you’ve got things under control.

Consider the following categories when building your budget:

Facilities

If you do not have access to rooms that can easily be transformed into an esports room / arena / center, talk to the local municipality to see if they have some available to lease. Alternatively, talk to other nearby sports clubs, schools, libraries, businesses, or youth clubs and find out if they have rooms that can be borrowed or made available.

Tables and chairs

Initially, common tables and chairs are a fine solution. The organization/sports club may also have some you can borrow but another good alternative is IKEA, where you can find tables/chairs for a reasonable price.

Internet

Depending on the room you use, you may need to have internet installed. Prices and internet connections can differ significantly but as a starting point, you should have approximately 5 MB per active user. Thus, if you have 10 stations, you’ll need a minimum of 50 MB. Internet for esports should always be wired and not Wi-Fi.

Insurance

Call and speak with the organization´s insurance and security company. Esports equipment requires a new evaluation of your insurance and in some cases securing the esports room requires installing new security measures and alarms.

Salaries

Depending on your team and/or organization, you might need to hire people and pay them a salary. Some passionate people will join you as volunteers because you have a great project or a great vision and they share your values. Others, you’ll need to pay. Always negotiate salaries, but be fair and reasonable.

Clothing

Will you require team clothing, tournament jerseys, hoodies, travel clothing, t-shirts, etc.? Many teams, as in other sports, like to dress alike in order to demonstrate unity.

Media & content production

Will you pay for photography, video production, writing, infographics, memes, podcasts, streaming and casting? Perhaps you can find volunteers or parents to help with certain elements.

Travel and accommodation

How will you pay for team travel to events, meetings and tournaments?

Tournament fees

Paying for participation in tournaments. Consider how many tournaments you will want to participate in each year, and how many players will compete.

Software, hardware and gear

Will you have your own facilities/esports center or will you practice and play online? Your organization and players will need hardware, software and gear to participate. Consider the following: PCs, monitors, keyboards, mice, programs, etc.

You’ll benefit from developing a relationship with your local IT business. Try inviting them for coffee and pitch the idea that you want to become partners. They are likely well connected in the industry and could be a good resource both for technical and professional reasons.

Be aware that it is your needs that indicate the price for the gear and equipment. The games you want to offer and your use case (training, events, tournaments, etc.) create the framework for which computers are needed and thus the price you have to pay.

Sales and marketing

You need to allocate budget to sales and marketing expenses such as the following: meetings, campaigns, software, PR, and advertising activities.

Summary

List all of your expected expenses and create a budget for the goals and initiatives you are looking to accomplish. You can make approximations of course but remember that the budget will be unique based on your individual situation.

Now that you have an overview of your expenses and the goal for your esports organization, you can really start working on finding relevant partners and creating revenue streams.