Gen.G CEO Chris Park Wants His Organization To Be the 'Gold Standard' for Esports
*By Brandon Brathwaite*
Chris Park, the new CEO of esports organization Gen.G, knows that in the grand scheme of gaming, the field of esports is still quite young.
"We're figuring this all out together," he told Cheddar Sports.
For Park, figuring it out will involve creating a "gold standard" for the industry and pushing for more legitimacy across leagues. And he would know ー Park has previously worked for both Major League Baseball and Facebook ($FB).
"Fundamentally, it starts with being a consummately professional world class organization in everything that we do," he said.
Gen.G has been that and more. In 18 months, the organization has won five world championships, expanded to five different games, and belongs to prestigious leagues like the League of Legends Champions Korea and the Overwatch League.
In Park's view, being a "gold standard" esports organization is not simply a matter of size or credentials ー it starts with the fans.
"We want to be the most fan-responsive community we can be," he said.
"There's so many things that we can lean into as a company. We're going to have to pick the right focus and that's the part where I have to come in and make sure we stay on the straight-and-narrow."
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On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Jim Riordan, Director of the MBA Sport Management program at Florida Atlantic University, breaks down the successes, failures, and chaos of the first seven months of the Name, Image, Likeness policy in college athletics; Adi Kunalic, President of Opendorse, discusses the first-ever association-wide deal in college athletics between Opendorse and the NAIA, and how Opendorse is marketing and educating student-athletes to make the most of their NIL deal potential; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Predicting a Pro'.
Jim Riordan, Director of the MBA Sport Management program at Florida Atlantic University, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the successes, failures, and chaos of the first seven months of the Name, Image, Likeness policy in college athletics.
Adi Kunalic, President of Opendorse, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the first-ever association-wide deal in college athletics between Opendorse and the NAIA, and how Opendorse is marketing and educating student-athletes to make the most of their NIL deal potential.
