ProposalsProposal 263

Nouns Esports - CS:GO and Dota2 Rosters 2023

Executed

For

190

Against

110

Abstain

Quorum: 99

Proposed by

0xDEAD...ac89

Written by: The Nouns Esports Pod

TLDR: Nouns has established itself in tier one esports competition. Let's keep the momentum going! This is our opportunity at becoming a globally recognized legacy brand in esports.

Description

Our aim is for Nouns DAO to become a tier one, legacy esports brand. To achieve that, we need to consistently support our top-tier professional esports teams. This proposal ensures ongoing financial backing and assistance for our teams during the 2023 season, enabling us to continue cultivating an impactful esports brand and fostering strong community support around it.

Why Esports?

Global Audience
- 100,000+ regular viewers of the Nouns brand each month across multiple games
- 250,000+ hours watched of esports competitions, player streams, etc. featuring Nouns branding
Developing a community with passionate supporters and fans, providing a gateway to the broader Nouns ecosystem
Empower aspiring esports athletes with our organization's support and representation to excel professionally

Esports Pod Update

Operating since Proposal 119
Effectively managed the budget allocated by the DAO more details at funds.nouns.gg
- Protected against ETH downturn over the last 7 months by converting ETH @ ~1650 in August to provide stability to players and org
- Currently maintaining a treasury of approximately $180k in USDC and ETH, with a significant portion already designated for approved proposals
- Upheld only using a maximum of 10% for operations
  - We did one round of retrofunding for the past 7 months, with an average of ~$2900 total per contributor (distributed 60490 USDC among 21 contributors).
Attracting a multitude of partnership opportunities
- Esports native businesses who want to build with Nouns e.g. WePlay Proposal 198
- Invited to a prestigious tournament circuit hosted by the world's leading esports company, featuring 16 elite teams, where each participating organization can earn up to $100K in incentives

Pod Success Stories

Impressive performances and improvement from our teams & players
- Multiple tournament wins and Top 8 finishes
- Qualifying for some of the biggest events in the world
Over the past six months, we have supported Aklo, the world's 16th ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Our assistance has enabled him to participate in a greater number of tournaments across the nation, and he has served as a commendable and positive ambassador for Nouns
- Check out the hype plays and skill from our Aklo announcement video
- Witness when the crowd literally carries Aklo out of the venue after a big win in New York!

We stepped in to sponsor a CS:GO team without financial backing, ensuring they could attend a crucial bootcamp ahead of one of their biggest events. Our support paid off when they competed in front of over 200,000 live viewers
Influencer Taki has gained a significant following on social media, including over 100,000 followers on Instagram and regularly streams to over a thousand people on Twitch. Additionally, she has a substantial following on Twitter and TikTok. Taki has embraced Nouns culture and has organized tournaments and promoted inclusivity
Pokémon Unite team finished second in the World Finals under the Nouns banner

In the Pod Pipeline

Merchandise
- Gaming jerseys in production. Instead of traditional sponsors (cough, betting) we are taking the sub communities of Nouns along with us to competitions
- Nouns.gg can be used to redirect to various nounish websites during events. (e.g. prop.house or nounish.world)
- Regular merch in production for fans

Proof of Gamer (pog.nouns.gg)
- A platform that merges esports highlight clips and governance
  - Built by collective, the team behind That's Gnarly
- Revenue split between esports initiatives and the creator
- Great for onboarding
Continued support for our teams, players, and new initiatives

Teams

Dota 2

Why Dota?

Watch our recap video of the first 6 months of Nouns Dota.

Dota is one of the most popular esports in the world, with a rich competitive history (20+ years)
- 400,000 - 1,000,000 concurrent players at any given time
- The International, the annual culmination of the Dota Pro Circuit, is the single largest prize pool tournament in the world (last year's purse was almost $19 million USD)
We began supporting this roster with Proposal #68 and our team is currently ranked 14th in the world (top 3 NA!)
In game branding (It has people talkin'!)

Placements

Past results
- 1st place BTS Pro Series Americas 11
- 2nd place The International 2022: North America Qualifier
- 3rd place DPC NA 2021/2022 Tour 3: Division I
- 3rd place in DPC NA 2023 Tour 1: Division I
Qualified For (Upcoming)
- Dota Pro Circuit [qualifier for The International and Majors]
- DreamLeague [$1 million tournament hosted in Europe]

Schedule of Events

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Why CS:GO?

Watch an interview with Coach Semphis prior to our first RMR experience with the team

Regular opportunity for international competition
- Our high mark for live viewership during the last season was at the IEM Road to Rio
  - Nouns vs Imperial peaked at 226,000 concurrent viewers
  - Unique viewers are typically 3-4x concurrent
Currently rank 24th in the world!
Opportunity for permanent branding inside of one of the most popular games
- Teams that qualify for the major have the opportunity to create their own in-game sticker, which becomes a permanent part of the game and can be traded indefinitely. These stickers are applied as decorations to in-game items
- The CSGO skins marketplace, dubbed as the "original NFT market", is now worth billions (with millions in daily volume)
- CSGO Stickers would be similar to what we've already achieved in Dota. The below Team Sticker is already in the game from our participation in The International 2022

Placements

Past results
- 1st place Ace North American masters
- 1st place Intel Extreme Masters Dallas: NA Qualifier
- 1st place CCT NA Series #3
- 1st place ESEA Cash Cup: NA Winter #2
- 2nd place ESEA Cash Cup: Na Winter #1
- 3rd place EPL Na Conference
- 2nd place CCT NA Series #2
- 2nd place ESL Challenger League Season 42 NA
- 2nd place Fireleague 2022 NA
Qualified For (Upcoming)
- IEM Dallas 2023 [international event]
- BlastTV Paris Major 2023: North American RMR [sticker potential]
- CCT Finals [$200k purse and potential LAN]

Schedule of Events

Event Spotlights

Dota Pro Circuit The regular season format that is stepping stones to The International. The 2023 Summer Season will begin in May and culminates with a Major in Bali in late June.

DreamLeague Season 19 Our Dota team was invited to a 1 million dollar tournament as one of the 16 best teams in the world. This tournament circuit is ran by ESL, the biggest esports company in the world. Our success at this event will allow us to participate in a 15 million dollar grand final later this year.

Blast Paris Major 2023 North American RMR The Counter Strike sticker opportunity. Our team is in Monterrey Mexico, competing against top teams from the Americas for a spot at the Paris Major in May.

IEM Dallas Our CSGO team has qualified for IEM Dallas starting May 29th. IEM Dallas is an S-Tier event just barely below a Major. It will pit Nouns against the worlds best international teams, with hundreds of thousands of viewers. 2022's iteration (pictured below) had over 12.5 million hours watched and a crowd seating thousands.

Proposal Success Metrics & Vision

Tournament wins and participation
- Continuing to compete at some of the biggest tournaments in the world, such as Majors and The International
Viewership
- Due to the success of our teams we expect to be at significantly more tier one events than last year. Regular 10K to 100K+ viewership is expected
- The highest view count so far was 200.000+ live viewers during a nail-biting series against MiBR at the CS:GO NA RMR
Social media growth
- Approaching 7000 followers on our main Twitter account & multiple of our players have over 50k followers
- Discord server with 2400 members in total and a growing group of active contributors
In-game branding
- Dota will continue to have Nouns assets thanks to participation in the Pro Circuit
- In CS, we need to qualify for an upcoming Major, doing so would guarantee permanent Nounish branding inside of the game
Acquiring additional partners aligned to our Nounish ethos
- We'll seek partners that share our values and vision for long-term growth, prioritizing alignment with our Nounish ethos
- Nouns Esports can have multiple sponsors supporting our competitive initiative, and we will prioritize aligning with sponsors that share our values and vision for long-term growth
Onboarding
- Gamers have typically been wary of the crypto space due to a lack of understanding and perceived complexity. However, the similarities between the gaming and crypto ecosystems, such as digital ownership and online communities, make them well-suited for each other
- Nounish culture extended into esports has proven to be an amazing onboarding tool and we believe we can bridge the gap between gaming and crypto, showing gamers the potential benefits of crypto and its applications in and beyond the gaming world

Risks and Challenges

As an organization, it's crucial to consider the potential risks associated with discontinuing support for our esports teams. These teams are not just a source of entertainment for the community but also a representation of our brand and values. If we abruptly stop supporting them, we risk losing the trust and loyalty of the community we have worked hard to build.

Another challenge that esports teams face is potential fluctuations in performance during the competitive season. To mitigate this risk, it's important to provide necessary support expected of tier one rosters, including management, coaching, bootcamps, and wellness support. This helps maintain the players' focus, discipline, and motivation, especially during challenging times.

Budget

Funding two professional esports teams for a minimum of 10 months.

Rosters

340,000 - 465,000 USDC
- Two teams consisting of five players and one coach (12 people in total)
- 125000 reserved for incentive payments, meaning it will be reflexive of the performance and effort put forth by the teams

Bootcamps

20,000-120,000 USDC
Funding the best practice opportunities prior to important competitions
- Considered an essential need for top esports rosters
- Costs may be reduced depending on the number of sponsored bootcamps (e.g. our Dota team has already received a free bootcamp in Europe during April, paid for by the organizers)

Support Staff

210,000 USDC
- We are providing industry-standard support staff for these rosters
  - Two player managers who travel to events with the teams & organize their lives around regular competition
  - Professional wellness staff
  - Support staff for logistics, social media & content

Total: 795,000 USDC (~435 ETH at current prices)

Multisig

We will be using the same multisig that was created for Proposal 119 consisting of Nouners and Nounsfolk. We will be swapping in Esports Pod member Peter as an active signer.

Sasquatch
Brennen
Maty
Oni
Peter (Former Dota Pro, winner of The International, and previously CEO of Evil Geniuses)

Esports, Introduced

We have recently created a fun & free open edition to celebrate Nouns Esports, which has been minted over 10,000 times (with a limit of 1 per wallet)!

We have re-opened the mint for the duration of this proposal, you can find it at mint.nouns.gg

Conclusion (ChatGPT TLDR)

Thank you for reading!

Proposal votes

For

190

Against

110

Abstain

Quorum: 99

Activity

0x0055...86BB

voted for (2)

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voted against (2)

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voted for (2)

Nouns Esports: Very Ugly ⌐◨-◨

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voted for (1)

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voted abstain (1)

Imagine a world where voting does not exist. In this world, we would have no need for rules or principles. But in our world, voting is a reality. So we have a simple rule: we only vote against. We use a “Squad Vote” for each proposal. If more people vote against than vote for or abstain, we vote against on-chain. Otherwise, we abstain. This is our rule.

According to the “squad vote” result for proposal 263, which is 13 for, 14 against and 19 abstain, we choose to vote abstain.The viewpoints of our different members are as follows (source not listed):

Proposal 263 has presented us with a conundrum, making it difficult for us to render judgment. The Nouns Protector has just been established, and it may take approximately six months for clarifying our principles. We will briefly summarize the debates from our meeting:

Nouns Esports has accomplished laudable outcomes, genuinely creating a stable organization to underpin esports teams' operations. This initial step is laden with myriad challenges that remain beyond our imagine. And, they have admirably maintained fiscal transparency throughout the process.

Despite their successes, the community has voiced concerns about the long-term viability of Nouns Esports as a business. Should Nouns Esports evolve into an entity that perpetually depletes NounsDAO's cash flow, depending on ceaseless transfusions from NounsDAO for sustenance, this model would not be sustainable for NounsDAO in the long run.

Furthermore, NounsDAO ought to concentrate on cultivating a more diverse and populous community. Some members posit that:

" Nouns should channel resources into domains where it possesses an unambiguous competitive edge. Esports is not a realm where NounsDAO holds a competitive advantage. The Matthew effect is conspicuous within esports events, with elite teams monopolizing the lion's share of attention and securing funding that far exceeds $800,000. This sector is fiercely competitive. Nouns Esports cannot amass a competitive cache of funds, which means they cannot engage top-tier players nor establish a premier support infrastructure. Consequently, they will only gain exposure in regional championships and open tournaments (as evidenced by their historical performance), unable to penetrate truly valuable core events. What merit is there in allocating excessive funds to a sphere where NounsDAO can only assume a secondary role, particularly for an organization in its nascent stages, with a community treasury of a mere $50 million? "

" More effective use of funds could be achieved by allocating 700 ETH to incubate 10 vibrant subculture DAOs across diverse fields, rather than expending a relatively negligible amount of funding to compete in conventional events. "

Moreover, cautionary reminders have been raised about the pervasiveness of intimate personal relationships within NounsDAO:

" Proposals prior to Proposal 200 have made considerable contributions to NounsDAO's present public image and clout. However, it has also engendered a nexus of relationships, with many decisions swayed by personal connections and predispositions. If NounsDAO is to pivot towards a more lucid, native, and 'truly growth' trajectory—championing a broader array of NounishDAOs—the community networks forged during the preceding strategic round may serve as impediments. As a result, more resources may be funneled towards politically correct but inefficacious marketing proposals, suppressing the potential for vibrant but peripheral creators to enter the Nouns ecosystem. "

Notwithstanding any criticisms, Nouns Esports remains an outstanding member of NounishDAO. Additionally, esports represents an excellent conduit for Nouns to interface with the external world. We extend our hopes and blessings for Nouns Esports to persist and excel.

665d

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voted for (1)

Fund sub-communities that have proven they do great work. Let them cook!

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voted for (2)

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voted for (2)

pew pew

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voted for (7)

FOR - 43 VOTES

Benbodhi | "This crew just keep crushing. ⌐◨-◨"

byhardy | "Huge momentum in a vertical that continues to expand, and is tangential to Nouns (tech). Big supporter of esports pod."

Josep | "I like the integration and I think it’s a good way to proliferate the meme"

AGAINST - 9 VOTES

Classic_Craig | "expensive for niche"

EltonPenguin | "Waaaay too much money for uncertain benefits"

666d

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voted for (3)

Appreciate the detailed breakdown here of how the team has delivered. I think we should double down on our winners and Nouns Esports seems like it's winning!

666d

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voted for (2)

The esports crew are continually smashing it. ⌐◨-◨

666d

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voted for (1)

"I’m still not a massive fan of NFTs but the fact that Nouns are using them to fulfill projects with transparent governance instead of just running inside trading and pump-and-dump schemes is a nice change of pace."

I saw this tweet today re: Nouns E-sports and it to me is a pretty compelling argument for voting yes. The E-sports pod has successfully expanded Nouns into a totally new, unrelated to crypto, scene, and done a great job of sharing with those people what crypto has to offer beyond just speculation. We've seen enough so far to justify continuing to fund this experiment - though, would certain love to see the group showcase alternative funding models and a path towards self-sustaining outside of onchain proposals.

666d

0x7eD0...0ad0

voted abstain (0)

Agree with Noun12 but less conviction:

"There's not enough yet to commit to spending $800k/yr just to sponsor the 2 teams on top of other esports spend. The strategy and the demonstration of the strategy such that it is different than vanilla sponsorship relationships like what FTX or Avalanche have (that end when the sponsors stop paying) or such that Nouns.gg is a sustainable organization that participates in the growth and performance of its teams in a differentiated way that is workable for a DAO. If there's co-sponsorship opportunities or low hanging fruit, I want to see those realized before committing $800k/yr. It's been almost 9 months and the challenge is to manifest a strategy that clearly supports this spend.

It's a real challenge and the DAO has to consider that there may not be a way to do this that returns to the DAO -- this does not seem to as of yet for example.

The people in the Nouns esports pod are running it well and are highly functional. They are people I respect and trust uniformly. The issue I have is strategy and spend."

666d

0x008c...A7e4

voted against (39)

There's not enough yet to commit to spending $800k/yr just to sponsor the 2 teams on top of other esports spend. The strategy and the demonstration of the strategy such that it is different than vanilla sponsorship relationships like what FTX or Avalanche have (that end when the sponsors stop paying) or such that Nouns.gg is a sustainable organization that participates in the growth and performance of its teams in a differentiated way that is workable for a DAO. If there's co-sponsorship opportunities or low hanging fruit, I want to see those realized before committing $800k/yr. It's been almost 9 months and the challenge is to manifest a strategy that clearly supports this spend.

It's a real challenge and the DAO has to consider that there may not be a way to do this that returns to the DAO -- this does not seem to as of yet for example.

The people in the Nouns esports pod are running it well and are highly functional. They are people I respect and trust uniformly. The issue I have is strategy and spend.

666d

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voted against (1)

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voted for (1)

While I have to out myself as not-an-esports-guy, taking a look at the narrative around Nouns Esports shows that this team is creating a lot of goodwill for Nouns (and web3!) in one of the areas most hostile to crypto: Gaming.

Nouns Esports' focus on transparency and equity through the use of DAO mechanics is helping to shift perceptions and debunk myths about web3 in a community that could greatly benefit from its adoption. It's truly inspiring to see projects like this paving the way for a more inclusive and innovative future. This is an easy 'for' vote and I look forward to seeing what comes from this project in the years to come.

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voted for (2)

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voted for (9)

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voted for (3)

I was on the fence about this prop. It is nothing short of incredible what the Nouns esports team has achieved and I look forward to following their future successes. In the proposal, I would have liked to have seen more detail on other potential revenue streams, sponsorship targets, and goals. I was able to find these answers in the Discord channel. Good luck team! ⌐◧-◧

667d

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voted for (6)

nom nom esports ⌐◨-◨

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voted for (1)

just watched nouns vs TL, you should do the same. link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDPBHrpiyA

can't wait to see what this team will bring to this ecosystem.

⌐◨-◨

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Voting on behalf of Goldy

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The Nouns esports team presents the opportunity to embrace professional sports as any society would, promoting shared fandom and unity. This top-ranking, homegrown team consists of world-class players and adheres to open and transparent practices, distinguishing them from conventional norms in the sport. This strategy has already demonstrated success in fostering proliferation and bridging the gap between the gaming and Ethereum communities.

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Cultivating subculture to populate the front page ⌐◨-◨

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Reasons given in my newsletter: https://paragraph.xyz/@thebower/active-governance-noun-582-6

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while this is a large ask, nouns esports has executed at a high level making a major impact in the gaming community in a short period of time. i'm optimistic that we'll be able to find additional on-brand sponsors to help subsidize the ongoing costs of running the team ahead of future proposals

668d

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Esports provides more sticky engagement than one off type props. It is always a great idea to fund communities that are highly native to meme culture and have considerable market size.

669d

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On the fence for this, but voting yes. The primary reason I'm in favor is because the initiative has been very successful so far and I don't feel it would be appropriate to rug.

However, 750k a year is not sustainable, and I don't think we need to have a footprint this large in esports. I plan to vote no on any future asks above 250k (preferable in the 150k range), with the hope that the team can be subsidized by additional sponsors to make up the difference.

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Nouns Esports is, in my opinion, one of the most successful things Nouns has funded. They are building enthusiastic, authentic audiences in a space traditionally hostile to anything crypto related. They are winning over a difficult crowd on top of winning games and tournaments.

Choosing DOTA was smart, and I've seen the noggle decals and flags in countless clips now. It feels like the players are making a name for themselves in the leagues, getting press, building their own following. And it all ties back to Nouns DAO in a way that feels genuine. I trust the Nouns Esports crew and want to see them continue their work. I also feel like their compensation asks are reasonable, and that they're negotiating fair deals with everyone involved.

My one request is for more high quality video content celebrating the players and Nouns. More highlight reels, more tournament winning celebrations, more player AMAs, more videos of people spamming noggles in the chat, more videos of players getting carried out with the crowd chanting their name. You are creating these iconic moments and I want to see them documented and celebrated.

⌐[g]-[g]

669d

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voted for (22)

nouns esports ftw.

personally know many nouners that were nouns-pilled through nouns esports. esports is a sub culture that we have a lot of room to run in and I'm excited to see how far this can grow.

also love that this squad achieved so much with a tight budget so far.

rooting for our nouns esports teams! make us proud!

669d

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voted for (1)

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voted against (18)

the dao has already spent 555ETH on these e sports initiatives. That is over $1M. This feels like it will be a never ending ask on the treasury. I can't confidently say this has driven over $1M of marketing/goodwill/nounish/buying.
this one is now for for another seven hundred and ninety five thousand united states dollars
I like e sports but I don't feel like nouns needs to basically own and pay for the entire team
IMO owning a team means getting income from the team (ticket sales, prize winnings, etc.)
We are paying for wellness coaches and regular coaches and more
I want this to exist in a form where nouns is the lead sponsor of a team for like $100k per year and the team goes and gets other smaller sponsors to cover all their costs

669d

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voted for (1)

Achieving a top-three position in CSGO is a formidable accomplishment in the challenging world of eSports. It's quite remarkable to see the level of success this organization has attained - its an incredible story for Nouns to be part of.

Now that they've achieved this level of success, exciting possibilities arise for the organization to become self-sustaining in the long term. Given that the first prop where net positive return to the treasury, I'm excited to see what unfolds next. - @mrrobbo

670d

ProposalsProposal 263

Nouns Esports - CS:GO and Dota2 Rosters 2023

Executed

For

190

Against

110

Abstain

Quorum: 99

Proposed by

0xDEAD...ac89

Written by: The Nouns Esports Pod

TLDR: Nouns has established itself in tier one esports competition. Let's keep the momentum going! This is our opportunity at becoming a globally recognized legacy brand in esports.

Description

Why Esports?

Global Audience
- 100,000+ regular viewers of the Nouns brand each month across multiple games
- 250,000+ hours watched of esports competitions, player streams, etc. featuring Nouns branding
Developing a community with passionate supporters and fans, providing a gateway to the broader Nouns ecosystem
Empower aspiring esports athletes with our organization's support and representation to excel professionally

Esports Pod Update

Operating since Proposal 119
Effectively managed the budget allocated by the DAO more details at funds.nouns.gg
- Protected against ETH downturn over the last 7 months by converting ETH @ ~1650 in August to provide stability to players and org
- Currently maintaining a treasury of approximately $180k in USDC and ETH, with a significant portion already designated for approved proposals
- Upheld only using a maximum of 10% for operations
  - We did one round of retrofunding for the past 7 months, with an average of ~$2900 total per contributor (distributed 60490 USDC among 21 contributors).
Attracting a multitude of partnership opportunities
- Esports native businesses who want to build with Nouns e.g. WePlay Proposal 198
- Invited to a prestigious tournament circuit hosted by the world's leading esports company, featuring 16 elite teams, where each participating organization can earn up to $100K in incentives

Pod Success Stories

Impressive performances and improvement from our teams & players
- Multiple tournament wins and Top 8 finishes
- Qualifying for some of the biggest events in the world
Over the past six months, we have supported Aklo, the world's 16th ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Our assistance has enabled him to participate in a greater number of tournaments across the nation, and he has served as a commendable and positive ambassador for Nouns
- Check out the hype plays and skill from our Aklo announcement video
- Witness when the crowd literally carries Aklo out of the venue after a big win in New York!

We stepped in to sponsor a CS:GO team without financial backing, ensuring they could attend a crucial bootcamp ahead of one of their biggest events. Our support paid off when they competed in front of over 200,000 live viewers
Influencer Taki has gained a significant following on social media, including over 100,000 followers on Instagram and regularly streams to over a thousand people on Twitch. Additionally, she has a substantial following on Twitter and TikTok. Taki has embraced Nouns culture and has organized tournaments and promoted inclusivity
Pokémon Unite team finished second in the World Finals under the Nouns banner

In the Pod Pipeline

Merchandise
- Gaming jerseys in production. Instead of traditional sponsors (cough, betting) we are taking the sub communities of Nouns along with us to competitions
- Nouns.gg can be used to redirect to various nounish websites during events. (e.g. prop.house or nounish.world)
- Regular merch in production for fans

Proof of Gamer (pog.nouns.gg)
- A platform that merges esports highlight clips and governance
  - Built by collective, the team behind That's Gnarly
- Revenue split between esports initiatives and the creator
- Great for onboarding
Continued support for our teams, players, and new initiatives

Teams

Dota 2

Why Dota?

Watch our recap video of the first 6 months of Nouns Dota.

Dota is one of the most popular esports in the world, with a rich competitive history (20+ years)
- 400,000 - 1,000,000 concurrent players at any given time
- The International, the annual culmination of the Dota Pro Circuit, is the single largest prize pool tournament in the world (last year's purse was almost $19 million USD)
We began supporting this roster with Proposal #68 and our team is currently ranked 14th in the world (top 3 NA!)
In game branding (It has people talkin'!)

Placements

Past results
- 1st place BTS Pro Series Americas 11
- 2nd place The International 2022: North America Qualifier
- 3rd place DPC NA 2021/2022 Tour 3: Division I
- 3rd place in DPC NA 2023 Tour 1: Division I
Qualified For (Upcoming)
- Dota Pro Circuit [qualifier for The International and Majors]
- DreamLeague [$1 million tournament hosted in Europe]

Schedule of Events

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Why CS:GO?

Watch an interview with Coach Semphis prior to our first RMR experience with the team

Regular opportunity for international competition
- Our high mark for live viewership during the last season was at the IEM Road to Rio
  - Nouns vs Imperial peaked at 226,000 concurrent viewers
  - Unique viewers are typically 3-4x concurrent
Currently rank 24th in the world!
Opportunity for permanent branding inside of one of the most popular games
- Teams that qualify for the major have the opportunity to create their own in-game sticker, which becomes a permanent part of the game and can be traded indefinitely. These stickers are applied as decorations to in-game items
- The CSGO skins marketplace, dubbed as the "original NFT market", is now worth billions (with millions in daily volume)
- CSGO Stickers would be similar to what we've already achieved in Dota. The below Team Sticker is already in the game from our participation in The International 2022

Placements

Past results
- 1st place Ace North American masters
- 1st place Intel Extreme Masters Dallas: NA Qualifier
- 1st place CCT NA Series #3
- 1st place ESEA Cash Cup: NA Winter #2
- 2nd place ESEA Cash Cup: Na Winter #1
- 3rd place EPL Na Conference
- 2nd place CCT NA Series #2
- 2nd place ESL Challenger League Season 42 NA
- 2nd place Fireleague 2022 NA
Qualified For (Upcoming)
- IEM Dallas 2023 [international event]
- BlastTV Paris Major 2023: North American RMR [sticker potential]
- CCT Finals [$200k purse and potential LAN]

Schedule of Events

Event Spotlights

Dota Pro Circuit The regular season format that is stepping stones to The International. The 2023 Summer Season will begin in May and culminates with a Major in Bali in late June.

Proposal Success Metrics & Vision

Tournament wins and participation
- Continuing to compete at some of the biggest tournaments in the world, such as Majors and The International
Viewership
- Due to the success of our teams we expect to be at significantly more tier one events than last year. Regular 10K to 100K+ viewership is expected
- The highest view count so far was 200.000+ live viewers during a nail-biting series against MiBR at the CS:GO NA RMR
Social media growth
- Approaching 7000 followers on our main Twitter account & multiple of our players have over 50k followers
- Discord server with 2400 members in total and a growing group of active contributors
In-game branding
- Dota will continue to have Nouns assets thanks to participation in the Pro Circuit
- In CS, we need to qualify for an upcoming Major, doing so would guarantee permanent Nounish branding inside of the game
Acquiring additional partners aligned to our Nounish ethos
- We'll seek partners that share our values and vision for long-term growth, prioritizing alignment with our Nounish ethos
- Nouns Esports can have multiple sponsors supporting our competitive initiative, and we will prioritize aligning with sponsors that share our values and vision for long-term growth
Onboarding
- Gamers have typically been wary of the crypto space due to a lack of understanding and perceived complexity. However, the similarities between the gaming and crypto ecosystems, such as digital ownership and online communities, make them well-suited for each other
- Nounish culture extended into esports has proven to be an amazing onboarding tool and we believe we can bridge the gap between gaming and crypto, showing gamers the potential benefits of crypto and its applications in and beyond the gaming world

Risks and Challenges

Budget

Funding two professional esports teams for a minimum of 10 months.

Rosters

340,000 - 465,000 USDC
- Two teams consisting of five players and one coach (12 people in total)
- 125000 reserved for incentive payments, meaning it will be reflexive of the performance and effort put forth by the teams

Bootcamps

20,000-120,000 USDC
Funding the best practice opportunities prior to important competitions
- Considered an essential need for top esports rosters
- Costs may be reduced depending on the number of sponsored bootcamps (e.g. our Dota team has already received a free bootcamp in Europe during April, paid for by the organizers)

Support Staff

210,000 USDC
- We are providing industry-standard support staff for these rosters
  - Two player managers who travel to events with the teams & organize their lives around regular competition
  - Professional wellness staff
  - Support staff for logistics, social media & content

Total: 795,000 USDC (~435 ETH at current prices)

Multisig

We will be using the same multisig that was created for Proposal 119 consisting of Nouners and Nounsfolk. We will be swapping in Esports Pod member Peter as an active signer.

Sasquatch
Brennen
Maty
Oni
Peter (Former Dota Pro, winner of The International, and previously CEO of Evil Geniuses)

Esports, Introduced

We have recently created a fun & free open edition to celebrate Nouns Esports, which has been minted over 10,000 times (with a limit of 1 per wallet)!

We have re-opened the mint for the duration of this proposal, you can find it at mint.nouns.gg