Ralf Reichert, ”Gaming/Esports Made in Germany”

The Sports Entrepreneurs Podcast by Marcus Luer

Ralf Reichert, is considered a founding father of the Gaming/Esports industry, having shaped the industry for the past 20 years as an Entrepreneur. We are unpacking the early days of ESL Gaming and off course the current state of play and plans for the future. Recording from my hometown in Koeln (Cologne), Germany. Happy holidays everyone.

Key Highlights

1. Growing up in Oberhausen, the “honest” Coal mining part of Germany with two competitive brothers
2. Great learning from his apprenticeship at a BWM dealership while studying in Essen
3. How SK Gaming started in 1997, by his brother. 1999 connecting with Jens Hilgers (now Bitkraft Ventures), Alex Mueller (SK Gaming) to start Turtle Entertainment, later called ESL Gaming (Electronic Sports League)
4. SK Gaming stories, started with playing Quake World and his involved at the beginning of the team. Later sold shares due to conflict of interest with ESL
5. ESL Gaming, the “world’s largest independent esports company”, where everyone can be somebody – creating an ecosystem where Gamers can be stars, from amateur to pro player (From Zero to Hero)
6. First 10 years, hard to find sponsors and funding, had to be smart and cost efficient – fight for survival – ESL was a match making platform
7. The first big break, Intel Extreme Masters (IEM), 2006, longest running global pro gaming Tour in the world
8. Working with Twitch when it was still Justin.tv – 2010 -2014 the golden era and big break through of Esports as an industry
9. Bootstrapping the company the first 8-9 years, only small fund raise (US$ 1 mil), being frugal was the key.
10. From 2010-2016 growing from a US$ 10 mil company to US$ 100 mil company – the big growth period
11. The different events and Leagues 2002 ESL Pro Series, local Pro League in Germany, ESL Pro League 2013, ESL Pro Tour 2018 (local, regional and global competitions)
    1. Focus on Counter Strike for Pro League, because of the maturity in the Game and longevity
    2. Individual Tournaments on top of the Leagues, ie. IEM and ESL ONE - world championships type of events
12. Prize money and event model – own and operated (ESL branded events), hybrid events in partnership with Publishers, Esports Services (agency model, power Esports for Publishers)
13. Global footprint of ESL from Cologne to New York, regional HQs in LA, Singapore, Riyad, etc and production hubs in Poland and Malaysia and local offices in partnership with local partners
14. 2000-2010 start up phase, 2010-2015 scale up phase, 2015-2021 globalization phase
15. Modern Times Group (MTG) transaction in 2015 (which wasn’t a sale according to Ralf), Swedish group, synergies, neutral and independent
16. Constant changes in industry, staying focused on ESL Brand premise (North Star) and making adjustments as industry growth
17. New partnership with Immutable X, first dip into NFT space – always trying and investing in new things
18. ESL during Covid – going back to roots, being online focused – Esports continued to grow during Pandemic
19. Being global is difficult and hard but the best thing the company did and ESL thrived in Covid, setting new processes
20. Close to 700 people now, after merger with DreamHack in 2020
21. Other activities, advisory roles, etc mostly connected and synergies to main role as CEO of ESL – some angel investment

About Ralf Reichert

Ralf is Managing Director / CEO of Turtle Entertainment the world’s largest eSports company leading the industry in raising eSport production and audience levels to those of mainstream sports. Alongside the creation of Turtle Entertainment, Ralf has been an integral part of the development of ESL Gaming which is now the largest global Esports league, as well as the elite pro gaming tour Intel Extreme Masters which has given out over $3.5million of prize money spanning across 8 seasons. Reichert’s passion for gaming and technology is for all to see, and with over 20 years of experience in the industry, it is no surprise that Turtle Entertainment has been such a resounding success.

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