New sportscasters talk a good game
Commentators for eSports are a rising class of entertainers in a business that’s booming
To the untrained eye, the screens of a video game often appear to be a mess — an explosion of light, colour and sound as characters attack one another as they try to capture and hold strategic vantage points.
But Ian (Twiger) Franklin knows exactly what’s going on and he’s explaining it all to an eager League of Legends audience.
At some points, even he can barely keep up with the action and his words speed to the point where he’s talking at 350 per minute.
But Franklin, 26, rarely has trouble keeping pace. After all, he’s a professional.
“It’s phenomenally difficult. There have been times when you start a sentence off and you know you’re supposed to be excited and you know what’s going on and your tongue just kind of flops over itself,” Franklin said. “You laugh it off. Everybody’s human.” Franklin is a commentator for video game tournaments, also called eSports. Just as physical sports broadcasts have commentators explaining the action to fans, eSports have gaming experts whose job is to explain the often-riotous onscreen action, as well as supply context to what’s happening.
Fuelled by the spread of live streaming on platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming, competitive eSports gaming tournaments draw millions of viewers from around the world.
Franklin relies on the streaming platform Twitch for his audiences. Started as a spinoff from live-streaming website Justin.tv, Twitch was one of the first to feature live streams of video games. Players, commentators and viewers could connect online, lowering the bar needed to host an eSports tournament.
These days, popular Twitch streamers will get hundreds of millions of views on a single stream. Some also cut parts of their streams into polished videos uploaded on YouTube, which can add millions of views.
Companies are now hoping to cash in on what’s estimated to be a multimillion-dollar industry. Canada’s Cineplex Entertainment has invested $15 million (U.S.) in World Gaming in order to rent out its theatres to host local and national video game championships. Finals for the next round, focused on Street Fighter, will be held in May.
The more tournaments there are, the more there will be a need for people like Franklin, who can analyze the play and entertain the audience online and spectators in the theatres.
Franklin usually handles play-by-play, which means he focuses on explaining what’s happening on screen as it’s occurring. Someone else usually does the colour commentary, providing analysis in between the action.
Both roles have to be experts in the games they’re commentating, Franklin said.
“You not only have to be giving very strong in-depth analysis for experienced players to be entertained,
“You’re still going to have people saying, ‘Oh, it’s not a real sport.’ But you can’t argue with facts and you can’t argue with figures. These people are making serious money.” LUKE CONNOLLY ESPORTS COMMENTATOR
you also have to dumb it down enough so that if you’re a newbie coming to watch . . . you should be able to understand what’s going on,” he said.
That means commentators will often start out as professional, or at least experienced, video game players themselves.
Jennifer Pichette, 23, better known as LemonKiwi, commentates mostly for Call of Duty games.
She’s been playing professionally far longer than she’s been commentating, but enjoys commentating more. “I find it more relaxed. I was always into strategy,” she said. “I really like acting and speaking, so I think that was more my calling.”
As a Call of Duty commentator, she has to stay up to date on the franchise’s yearly releases, which come with new weapons, maps and modes. She also knows many of the current professional players, especially the ones competing at the tournaments she commentates.
“People want to watch your play-byplay, but they want to know more about these players,” she said. “That’s where you’re providing information for the audience . . . what do these teams normally do, what are they bad at, why did this happen.”
Add to that an ability to entertain the audience while you’re rattling off all that information. Pichette said her theatre background helps her stay energetic during casts.
Franklin says he’s been successful largely because of the palpable excitement in his voice.
“It’s kind of like if you’re looking at South American soccer announcers — when they yell ‘Goal,’ they mean it,” he said.
The comparison to sports comes up frequently. Luke Connolly, 26, who recently commentated the GameOn tournament hosted by Cineplex, had professional sports experience.
As with physical sports, the fans are the first priority for an eSports commentator, he said. “They will tear you apart if they think that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But the fan base is slowly changing, as eSports shifts toward a mainstream form of entertainment. Research firm Newzoo estimates the eSports could be worth $465 million (U.S.) by 2017. Companies like ESPN and Yahoo are investing into eSports coverage and Connolly said it will only get bigger from there.
“You’re still going to have, for a couple of years, these people saying, ‘Oh, it’s not a real sport,’ but you can’t argue with facts and you can’t argue with figures,” Connolly said. “These people are making serious money.”
For now, the pay can vary wildly. Most casters won’t say how much they’re paid, but apart from a few elite, many still have day jobs. Franklin works as an urban planner while Pichette is a student.
But sponsors will get more numerous as the industry grows. Connolly says some commentated video clips are already attracting 700,000 views.
“How hard is it for Sportsnet to get 700,000 views on a sports video?”