“The beauty of eSports is the target audience”: Jogesh Lulla, COO, Cornerstone Sport comments on the rapid growth of eSports in India

Esports is now being recognized as any other sport as many companies are trying to enter this space. One such company is Cornerstone Sport who are known as one of the leading talent management agency in India. The organisation decided to explore the eSports industry by acquiring the Battlegrounds Mobile India roster of GodLike Esports. It has further expanded into a female roster of BGMI as well.

Jogesh Lulla, the Chief Operating Officer of Cornerstone Sport had a conversation with us on how the future of eSports looks very bright and promising. He believes that this market will eventually grow in India if every organization works hand in hand and contribute towards the industry.

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Here is an excerpt from the interview with Jogesh Lulla, COO, Cornerstone Sport

Q. What drove you to enter the world of eSports?

Jogesh: Cornerstone is a talent management agency at heart. We, however, as a company been very innovative and first to move in whatever happens. Esports was something that was seen having a market growing very rapidly. If you see the eSports trajectory over the last three years, you’ll be able to find out that the prize pools at eSports tournaments is growing bigger. That is when we started looking closely at this field. During lockdown, eSports and the gaming industry rose exponentially and that is when we started strategizing the eSports practice. We were fortunate enough that an organization like GodLike Esports agreed to sign up with us and we formed Cornerstone Sport.

Q. As you entered eSports recently How are you feeling entering Esports and what are your views on it?

Jogesh: When you enter into a new field, there will be challenges and eSports currently is a disorganized sector. That being said, there’s a lot happening at this moment to make it an organised sector. People are understanding how he industry is evolving. Talking about the challenges in eSports, the athletes are much younger compared to any other sport. It’s like any other sport as athletes need to be fit for quick reflexes. So far, we haven’t faced any major challenges and we are currently grooming ourselves to work with this industry.

Q. ESports is new & rising quickly how does an agency like cornerstone help in the industry.

Jogesh: For any agency or any ecosystem to do well, we need to work together with everybody. We’ve always been working closely in every aspects with our competitors as well. We believe that there aren’t any competitors per say but they are partners who are contributing to this ecosystem. We realize that rather than trying to do things on our own, it always helps to work together with them as this industry has a room for several players. That is what we are trying to do with a collaborative effort to help this industry grow.

Q. What are your thoughts on cornerstone being the leading agency to sign an all girls roster in india.

Jogesh: Cornerstone Sport has been looking to represent female athletes in this space for a long time. I think there haven’t been many such organisations or didn’t get the recognition they deserve. We have been very selective about who we choose to work with because we like to work in a limited number. This is something that we were very keen to work on because this is one sports where you do not need to keep separate tournaments for females and males. Instead, they compete with one another. I am very confident about the current female roster and believe they will give a tough competition to the male rosters ahead.

Q. What changes  you’ll making as an agency from managing big talents in various fields?

Jogesh: We’d like to make sure that the right team is being selected. It would be really amazing if we could have a national level tournament where we get recognition from the appropriate bodies. There are a lot of tournaments happening right now but there is no central management agency, when that comes, I think its going to transform the industry and that is something that I would like to happen in this industry. We are planning something on a national level in near future.

Q. What are your thoughts on brands and commercial trying to enter this space? How has the response been?

Jogesh: Over the last three months, there a lot of brand entering into eSports. The beauty of eSports is the target audience, the athletes are young and the people who follow them are also very young and its becoming a dream for every brand. Now a lot of brands are not sure how to enter the space, how they will get the right visibility in the space or how to promote themselves, that is something we are working on. The response of different brands has been very impressive and I see this industry progressing rapidly within the next six months.

Q. Which type of Esports orgs would you like to manage in future? Will it be based in their talent or name and fame that they have created?

Jogesh: Yes, the talent is key. Cornerstone Sport would definitely want to expand into various titles. At this moment, BGMI is the most popular game in India and most people are looking on it so it’s the low hanging fruit and the right place to start as well. We are looking to sign more rosters but haven’t finalised anything. As Cornerstone, we want to represent the best to help them grow and simultaneously help the industry to grow.

Q. As you know India is still growing in Esports where do you see Indian Esports orgs and teams in next 5 years or upcoming days? Will India become a leading eSports market?

Jogesh: I would hope so. Five years is a long time and it is evolving very rapidly. I would definitely like to see India as a leading eSports market and I am confident it would happen. We have a long way to go but the pace in which things are moving, I think five years is a good time when this industry will grow more than expected.

Q. As most of the parents today are against the career of eSports, would you like to give a piece of advice to them?

Jogesh: There are people who are against it but I think now parents are realizing the potential of eSports as well. I understand there is a resistance coming from parents. Like I mentioned earlier, eSports is just another sport, its not just sitting on a couch and playing video games, it involves a lot of more. I would encourage them to look into this market, a lot of people are making a career in eSports. This industry should be looked in the same way as people look into other sports. There should be a balance in what you do, dedicate the equal amount of time and I think that would make parents accepting the eSports career. Give you’re a kid chance and see where they can go.

Q. A message to the young eSports athlete in India

Jogesh: I would like to tell them to work hard and not neglect the physical fitness. Stay fit and focus on education as well as you need to something to fall back on if god forbid, you don’t make it. You could be an owner of eSports team, you could be a mentor but not everyone makes it just like other sports.. Therefore, have a plan B in place.

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