In 2017 I would have a chance to join Riot Games as Esports Live Product Director, being internationally relocated to Berlin, Germany. I would get to work with the greatest game developer dedicated to esports, Riot Games. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I would go on and deliver some of the biggest live events in my career across Europe in stadiums filled with 16,000+ cheering League of Legends fans. Madrid, Athens, Paris, Copenhagen, Rotterdam.
While the Esports Live Product Director at Riot Games, I successfully created and managed annual operating budgets for Live Event and Live Broadcast operations ranging from €8.5MM to €14.5MM. Key partnerships and strategic financial management resulted in a significant reduction of operational costs by 25% YoY 2017-2019. I would have the honor of managing, leading, and coaching ten people across three different teams: Player Management, Live Operations, and Live Events.
As part of my role, I led RFP processes, SOW, and contract negotiations, ensuring contract fulfillment and key metric capture for annual reviews. I implemented a real-time budget reconciliation system, which allowed for the monitoring of all expenditures and monthly financial status review with leadership.
Achievements would include the successful launch of the LOL Pro View, a feature that significantly enhanced the gaming experience for our players. This included the integration of POV Streams, Multiview, Real-Time Highlights, and Live Stats. Developed internally by Riot Games Engineers and Live Producers.
I led a global Live Producers team providing 24/7 coverage, managing project resources effectively, and adapting rapidly in a high-pressure environment to deliver new and established live services. I utilized live operations data analysis for strategic continuous improvement and promoted the optimal use of Live Operations services.
2019 would see the EU LCS rebrand and select ten teams for the new League of Legends European Championship league [LEC]. The rebrand was led internally by Joe Pecchia, Brand and Marketing Lead, with DesginStudio as the selected agency partner. This would bring the opportunity to rebuild the Berlin Studio from the ground up. When LEC launched in January 2019, LEC would cement EU Production, Design, and Style as the Meta for Riot Games League production.
Enhancement of the LEC Roadshow's community and sponsorship activation areas was essential and would include all teams and sponsors. This allowed for the facilitation of Riot Games and LEC branded experiences, team panels, business summits, and partner workshops, creating a complete business of esports eco-system surrounding each future LEC Roadshow.
During my time, EU Live Production was seen as its own global powerhouse in the Riot Games LOL Esports ecosystem. EU LEC would see increased viewership YoY, and Riot Games Worlds broadcast would feature the LEC analyst stage as the World's English feed channel for years.
Riot Games LEC Studio Berlin, Germany January 2019
Berlin, Germany 2017 - 2019
Contact
Irvine, California
Email: seth@aicc.io
Linkedin: Seth-Pyrzynski
Instagram: @kengomega
© Seth Pyrzynski 2023