Like many people his age, Jeff Eisenband grew up playing video games. His first system was a Super Nintendo, and by the time he was in kindergarten, he was already hooked on games made before he was born.
Twenty years later, Eisenband has turned video games into a career, not as a player, but as a sports/esports journalist. He is a host, analyst, reporter and writer who covers sports, gaming and esports — yes, there’s a difference between the two.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Eisenband, who turns 27 this month, was a broadcaster for the NBA 2K League and MSG Networks, where he hosted a one-minute segment for New Jersey Devils games called “Line-to-Line” presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. He also broadcast a variety of esports events and contributed as a writer to a number of online outlets.
Since the pandemic, he’s shifted his focus almost exclusively to broadcasting esports. While social distancing from his girlfriend’s childhood bedroom in New Jersey, Eisenband has been an analyst for the various NBA 2K tournaments, and two weekends ago he spent six hours broadcasting the Digital Penn Relays — the online replacement for the oldest track and field competition in the United States — which included a one-on-one interview with Olympic gold medalist and World Athlete of the Century Carl Lewis.
He also launched his own “Eis on the Prize” podcast that allows him to talk with figures in the sports and esports world.
He recently shared his own story about getting into esports, professional sports leagues’ shift to broadcasting online gaming, and the role storytelling can —and will — play in the future of esports.
Why do you think fans enjoy watching esports?
For the same reason fans enjoy anything. It’s something they are into and they want to see the best of the best show off their skills. I go back to myself in 2005. I was 12 years old and Madden was my game. Around that time, ESPN launched “Madden Nation,” a reality show about the best Madden players in the world. I wanted to watch to see how good the best players are. But back then, the show was scripted for maybe 22 minutes of TV and they only showed a few clips from each game while focusing more on the narrative. I was underwhelmed. Now, if kids want to see the best esports highlights of their favorite games, they type their search into YouTube. If kids want to see the best players gaming live, they fire up Twitch. It’s not about a change of mindset. It’s about a change of resources that Gen Z has that previous generations did not have.
Obviously, leagues are trying to be creative with their content right now, and the NBA, NASCAR, MLB, NHL and others are turning to gaming for content. What do you think has been the most innovative so far?
I think they have all been innovative in their own way. NASCAR was first and has the benefit of iRacing being a simulator game. NASCAR drivers use iRacing to train and they are already some of the best at the game because knowledge of driving a NASCAR vehicle is needed. The NFL was smart in incorporating The Checkdown, it’s most “fun” social arm into its recent tournament with Madden. NBA 2K, which has done an incredible job of already cultivating a community around the game’s culture, not just the game itself, was smart to turn to a partner like ESPN. That has turned the players’ tournament into a four-night, two-week spectacle.
Meanwhile, MLB deserves credit for adapting to a three-inning format, which can be done in digestible bits, and Robert Flores is phenomenal calling the gameplay. And the NHL now has a player representative from each team hitting the virtual rink in the NHL Player Gaming Challenge. They even have Luke Willson, a player on the Seattle Seahawks, representing the upcoming 2021 expansion franchise.
What is one thing someone who knows nothing about esports or gaming should know?
I think it’s important to recognize not all esports fans are fans of all esports — which refers to competitive video games, not just gaming in general. If you’re a basketball fan, that doesn’t mean you’re a cricket fan. If you’re an NBA 2K League fan, that doesn’t mean you’re a CS:GO fan. It’s important not to blanket the whole industry as one. If you’re an advertiser, your brand may connect better with a more niche esport than one with a massive following. This is part of why I’ve kept myself straddling the sports and esports line. Fans watching NBA 2K League games are more likely to be watching the Super Bowl than the League of Legends World Championship. It’s important to understand audiences in that sort of way and not group all esports fans into one bucket.
How would you describe the state of esports pre-COVID-19 pandemic?
Esports has been growing for a number of years, but the most notable trend I saw was that esports were moving toward a localized format. The goal has been to establish localized franchises with localized fans, who will go to live competitions, follow the team religiously and buy the merchandise. That’s why Call of Duty League and Overwatch League were going on the road this year with homestands. That’s why the NBA 2K League had six Round Robin tournaments and six “Rivalry Games” planned in markets outside of the main studio in New York City this season. Yes, more video games are being watched right now, but it is important to note the main organized leagues have mostly had to suspend play for the past month.
What place is there for storytelling in the esports arena?
Storytelling is part of what is going to drive esports. It’s one thing for fans to watch gameplay. It’s another for them to understand the backstories of the players. This includes both personal backgrounds and rivalries that have developed. The best part is most of these stories have not been told. Most elite athletes start getting covered by scouting websites in their mid-teens. Most esports athletes are not in the public eye until they make it pro. This creates an incredibly fertile ground to tell some really incredible stories for the first time.
How have you grown as a storyteller since you’ve been out as a freelancer?
I’d say I’ve grown in terms of being able to diversify the stories that I tell. As a freelancer, I’ve targeted a few fields I felt I could break into in the past few years: Esports, fantasy/sports betting and golf being three of the big ones. These all feature areas of interest for me that I also feel are growing amongst my age demographic. I’ve been able to freely pitch stories and focus solely on reporting them. In my past life as a full-time editor, I had to worry about other obligations in terms of editing, maintaining the site’s social media presence and producing partner content. Now, I lock in on creating the best content possible. I also owe a lot to the NBA 2K League, allowing me to basically walk around the arena and find the most compelling stories possible with an animated group of players.
How has your day-to-day work changed amid the pandemic?
When the first wave of sports began to get canceled, I realized this was not going to be a short-term situation. For me, I realized my two main gigs (NBA 2K League and MSG Networks) were about to be put on permanent hiatus. Rather than sulk, I decided to invest in something I’d been wavering about for the better part of two years. I went to Best Buy and I purchased an Alienware gaming computer. This would provide me with the processing power to both stream high-quality video games and connect as a broadcaster for remote esports events. After a week of living in my Manhattan apartment, I relocated to my girlfriend’s childhood home, where we drove with my gaming equipment. I threw in some shirts and hats, mainly NBA 2K and golf-related, to serve as backgrounds.
My day-to-day has changed in that it’s all about video games and esports right now. I had already been broadcasting the events going on, and now, more events are being formulated. I’m enjoying so many new communities leaning into esports and finding video games to be a communal entertainment outlet during this time. For the most part, I’m broadcasting, preparing for broadcasts or streaming my own gameplay right now. I’m also taping my own video interviews for my podcast (along with the audio, I’m releasing all my content on video too).
What first got you interested in esports professionally?
In terms of when I really dove in from a professional sense, I go back to when I entered the career world in August 2015, working as an associate editor of ThePostGame just after my graduation from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. This was around the same time League of Legends sold out Madison Square Garden. I would go to media events and people would say things like, “You have to get into esports! You’re young, you play video games and there is about to be a ton of money here.”
My take at the time was that a lot of people in the sports business did not understand the League of Legends audience. I’d spent the last decade of my life grooming myself, academically, for a career in sports journalism. I’d never played League of Legends. That side of esports wasn’t the same audience that I felt connected with. I understood the value of esports, but I didn’t feel this was my time. A few years later, I got involved with the NBA, hosting content on the NBA Twitch channel, which would consist of me playing video games with NBA players (best gig ever). This is when I started to feel closer to esports.
When the NBA 2K League started and the same people from the NBA, notably then-Head of Content & Media for the NBA 2K League Sam Asfahani, moved to the NBA 2K League, that was when I became especially interested. I covered the first NBA 2K League Draft in April 2018 and I had players telling me stories of quitting their jobs as truck drivers, factory workers and even financial advisors to play in the NBA 2K League. I realized my sports background helped me understand the lives of those playing sports video games. We’d all grown up watching the same sports. I also realized this was a fertile ground of untold stories I could learn about and communicate to an audience.
Is NBA 2K your go-to game?
Yes, even before the NBA 2K League, my friends and I had been hooked on 2K. My senior year of college, my whole off-campus house had a league and we probably spent too much time playing our games against each other as opposed to doing homework. We started with a fantasy draft and about seven of us chose our teams within the 30-team league. We only played games against each other, but we went through a few seasons and were constantly making trades. We were trying to be NBA GMs when we probably should’ve been a little more focused on class.
As I’ve covered the game, I’ve dove deeper into the details and fine-tuning that differentiates the great players from good players. I’m still not necessarily good, but at my old age of 26 going on 27, I’m enjoying watching the best more than trying to master my own skills. I also enjoy playing World Golf Tour, NHL, Madden, FIFA and I’ve been trying to dig more into NASCAR Heat. When MLB The Show makes its way to Xbox, I’ll grind harder there too. I’m trying to continue to broaden my knowledge in the sports video game world.
How did the conversation go when you told your parents you were going to cover people playing video games?
Well, I think it helped that I’d been trying to broadcast new things going all the way back to high school. In high school, I called competitive field hockey and swimming despite having no competitive background in either. In college, I added volleyball and wrestling to my repertoire. By the time I covered video games, I advertised it to them in the same sort of way. It’s another thing I’m going to research as much as I can, learn about and then convert into part of my arsenal. It also helped that most of what I was doing was backed by the National Basketball Association. They’ve heard of that. My mom does say she’s proud she let my brother and I play video games as kids and even jokes she should have let us play a little more now.
Is there anything else you want to add?
In the sports world, I’m sometimes labeled “the esports guy.” In the esports world, I’m sometimes labeled “the sports guy.” I’ve been advised to get more niche and I’ve disregarded that advice. In a specialized world, I’m still maintaining my generalist trajectory. I’ve found that more to be a skill than a weakness. I am able to communicate news with a diverse array of audiences and I hope to continue to build on that as a strength. As I mentioned, I’ve broadcasted a variety of things now in my life. I want to continue being able to take a microphone and communicate the action and news in an informative and animated manner in whatever direction I go!