Do you trust your TO?

Since the Austin Major, there’s been an exciting uptick in grassroots tournament organization in North America. As we’ve seen some of these playout in realtime, it’s clear there’s a lot of responsibility and care required in executing a good tournament. Below are some questions and topics to consider as you register for your next tournament.

Do you trust your tournament organizer? As we continue to work with junior and veteran tournament organizers, what sort of protections do they have in place for your identity and the devices, the network, and most importantly, sensitive data related to the tournament?

Ask questions. Facilitating your payment needs during a tournament, collecting and verifying personally identifying information including your address, email, phone number, maintaining security while honing competitive integrity is a unique challenge. Where is this data stored? For how long is it stored? Is it shared with third parties?

Who are their partners? Partners help establish and promote our community or companies identity. Do the organizers partners align with your values? Do their partnerships raise doubt in competitive integrity? Historically esports has experienced questionable outcomes due to varying tournament partners including organizations that promote and facilitate gambling, crypto currency, or gray market skins trading.

Does generative effort align with your values? Some organizers and communities are turning to AI generative artwork, descriptions, and configurations in their tournament efforts- does this align with your teams values?

What does longevity and reputation mean to you? Does the reputation of your tournament organizer matter to you? If a ‘verified’ status is a payment away, what foundational or core tenants does the organization provably operate under?

These are a just few angles to consider as you approach your next event.