Philosopher, first of all, praise to you, Ronso, Maynarde, and everybody else who puts personal recources on a project they know the return is not guaranteed.
I took note of some suggestions to be evaluated, if you let me:
- Help from Crowdfunding for the most popular event, Weeklies or Melee. Keep private sponsoring for the other one until a new source of $$$ steps in;
- Are the japanese players in teams? If so, maybe try to establish a partnership with them, also disclosing in local media? Work in partnership with team managers from out of AU/NZ, if not being done already? Players and fanbase are the most valuable assets, but a good relationship with those in charge is important for growth;
- Arthur and Spear are known players in Korea. Do they spread the word about SeaCraftTV's tournaments in their Twitters? I'm asking due to ignorance, I really don't know;
- Maybe think of a live show by skype conference with players in evidence, winners of tournaments, OSC casters, team principals, to discuss miscellaneous subjects like: what is your preparation method before tournaments; are there strategies that you like and dislike; are you willing to make a living from progaming; how do you see the SC2 scene from 2010 and 2015; what are your expectations from LotV; discuss korean tournaments; discuss the european and american scenes; how do you see Life's accomplishments compared to those who preceded him, like MVP and Nestea; do a technical/unbiased discussion about balance; draw a panorama with SC2 and its competitors like CS:GO, LoL, Heroes of the Storm.
As you can see, these ideas will cost no money, but will cost a lot of time and planning. They will also not bring immediate resources but they will build audience, which in turn will bring resources.
Though SeaCraftTV has a loyal fanbase, it is now obvious that it needs to reach additional audiences to grow the numbers, and then finally be more attractive to new sponsors. It fully accomplishes what it is supposed to, fun and players support, but right now it needs more than just injection of resources, the well will eventually run dry again if it's not self-sufficient.
Please let me know if you disagree with something. I wrote stuff with limited knowledge on SeaCraftTV, so excuse my mistakes.
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