Management

Q&A: The University of Oklahoma’s Esports Director on Building a Student-Centric Business (Part Two)

Mike Aguilar discusses how to reduce the risks of esports investments and get leadership on board.

Amelia Pang is a journalist and an editor at EdTech: Focus on Higher Education. Her work has appeared in the New Republic, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Sunday Review, among other publications.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In part one of this Q&A, Aguilar shares his insights on how to build a popular esports program while supporting student mental health.

EDTECH: The program has its own media site. Is it a revenue generator as well?

AGUILAR: Sooneresports.org was originally designed to follow the OU Athletics Department IP, soonersports.com, which houses our team information, news and media. This is the focus of our media and news pillar, which is currently led by our student Media and News Director Derek Snow, a computer science major.

Every month, this team produces content such as articles, documentaries, interviews, opinion pieces and event coverage, as well as hardware and software reviews. The long-term goal is for this to generate revenue. There are opportunities for ad placement, brand sponsorship and marketing deals. This will further sustain our program while providing real-world experiences for our media outlet and team.

Sooneresports.org has only existed since Spring 2018, but it is averaging 21,000 unique annual viewers. It grows about 10 percent to 20 percent a year. As we continue to evolve the brand, it can possibly be leveraged for all sorts of alignments and intentions.