Tucker Roberts, 29
Title: President, Philadelphia Fusion
Company: Santa Monica-based Roberts oversees the Fusion, a team in the “Overwatch” esports league owned by Comcast Corp. subsidiary Comcast Spectacor. Roberts, the son of Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts, also leads the company’s T1 esports brand in Korea.
Employees: N/A
Financials: N/A
What is your day-to-day work like?
There is a bit of overseeing everything from sponsorship sales, player management and the logistics of moving the team to Philadelphia. I’m spending more time in Philadelphia now, and I’m also traveling to Korea five to six times a year. I’m managing 22-23 people at Fusion and eight at T1. I’m focused a lot on shaping the brand and also selling apparel and sponsors.
Why did you get into esports?
I’ve been a gamer my whole life. I grew up playing Nintendo, and in school I decided I wanted to work in computer games a little more. I also got into the managerial strategy of video game developers including Electronic Arts and began understanding how esports fits into the business model of video game companies. I now eat, drink and sleep esports. You have to learn it quickly and understand it quickly — understand what is the best competitive roster and what are some of the philosophies for winning. With both the Fusion and T1 now, I feel like I have two babies, and they both require a lot of attention.
What’s going to drive revenue for the Fusion?
I think sponsorships are going to be the largest source of revenue. Merchandise is a really tough business. If you’re really good at that, you should drop what you’re doing and do merchandise. Long-term, we’re opening the Fusion Arena in South Philly in 2021, which will be a 3,500-seat arena for esports and will be designed to be the esports hub of the East Coast.
How much autonomy do you have to run the Fusion versus being directed by Activision Blizzard (creator of the Overwatch League)?
It’s pretty much all done on the team side. There was an Ikea type list of instructions given to us, and then it was like, good luck.
When you were playing video games as a kid, did you envision organized esports leagues?
I always kind of envisioned that it would be a profession, but I didn’t expect it would be here before 2020. I think Pokémon was a game changer because it was mobile, and it put gaming more out in the open. But every game comes and goes. Baseball is dying, and Monopoly is dying. Maybe what’s popular will be different in 10-15 years.
