Certainly, if your objective is to become a professional eSports gamer, you're dreaming about getting your hands on a corporate sponsorship that will give you money and credibility. However, besides convincing the company that you're worth being put on board, there are many things to consider and to include in the way you act. Read the following advice and also try to include it in the way that you present yourself to the potential sponsors. You might get asked as to how you’d feel walking around with their logo on you, and the next points aim to help you reply and follow up with the right moves.

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1. You're Likely Not the Only eSports Gamer the Company Sponsors

Each and every one of your communications with the sponsor are important in order to not get a negative spotlight on you. You're probably not the only gamer being sponsored by them and your requests must be clear and necessary every time you make them. If you appear as someone that's too high-maintenance, you thus increase your chances of being dropped from the lineup. If you can prove that you can do the work by yourself, even if they forget about you, you will have more chances to be considered as a must-have to represent the company.

2. Corporate Sponsorships are a Lot about Image

Pro gamers generally want to win at all costs, but there's a lot of image going on to win, and keep, the sponsorships. Some pro gamers in the past were dropped from sponsorships because of their behaviors at events. You can have some fun at the events, but keep it at a reasonable level not attract any negative light on you that the sponsors could dislike. Remember that having a corporate sponsorship is a privilege and that there are many hungry gamers out there who will be looking at your actions and criticizing that they should be the one with the logo on their shirt, so try to honor the opportunity you’re given.

3. Corporate Sponsors Want Results

Local sponsors might forgive you most of the time, or all the time, if your results aren't so good, but corporate sponsors will generally only want their name to be with the team and players that perform the best and are at the peak of their discipline. We just mentioned image and this is an important part of it.

Usually while being with a corporate sponsor, you must be humble enough to say that you're not playing up to your standard level when you don't meet expectations. Giving excuses, starting rivalries or plain whining will only give you a bad image. And also, while corporate sponsors want results, they also understand that a team or player can't win every tournament so they will definitely give you some slack if you're attitude is good. If you're not doing well, use the bad results as motivation and work towards the great results to create the perfect story. The sponsors will love to be on board with a team that showed determination and pulled through against all odds.

4. Pictures and Media Remain Key to Prove Visibility

Whenever you go to an event with your team or by yourself, ensure that you come back with great pictures where the logo of your sponsor is displayed and, if possible, that these pictures be possibly used for promotion in the future. Basically, corporate sponsors want proof of the visibility you're giving them and unless they can send someone to be there with you, the media you bring back or that shows up on the web will be the only proof that you did your job. Sure, you want to focus on performance, but at least make an effort in bringing some visuals for your sponsors. You can take care of that after you're eliminated at the event or during the breaks.

Also, do not neglect how your wear your shirt and gear at the event. Sure you might have to put on a hoodie when it's cold and so on, put appearing cleanly on some picture your logos well in display will work to your advantage.

5. Give Regular Reports

And finally, you should also be organized in the way you report back what happened at the event. If you already run a blog concerning your activities, the work might be already done, but at least try to send some form of clear report to the sponsor and company about where you went from time to time. Talk a bit about who you played against, who you met and what you've learned and this will give the sponsor an impression about how it is to be you, their representative, walking around at those events. You might even report some difficulties that you had. This doesn't need to be long, but you never want to leave your sponsors in the dark about what you did at an event.

Are you now less intimidated to go for these major sponsorships? Some good preparation can help you achieve a better relationship with your corporate sponsor right from the get-go and hopefully get an extension after your first run with them.

Remember to not take your spot for granted because being chosen might just mean that you landed on a generous period from the sponsor. You could very well get dropped once less cash come in from the sponsor so try to make the best out of the relationship while you have it. Companies change their budgets all the time for these types of expenses and during tight economic periods, sponsorships might be the very first department to be affected by the cuts.

Overall, when it comes to discussing and interacting with the sponsor, make sure you don't just keep it to the money topics. If your sponsor provides products that are affecting you directly, give direct feedback and show your enthusiasm about them. In some cases, the sponsors will be unrelated to what you do, and in that case you will have to let your results and clean image talk for themselves.

Watch 'The Business of eSports' Panel Discussion

If you're interested in finding out more about getting corporate sponsorships in eSports, as well as gaining great advice about how to go about setting up your eSports gaming career, The Business of eSports is a must-watch panel discussion with:

• Sean ‘Day[9]’ Plott - eSports host & personality & game developer
• Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau - 15-year veteran eSports Journalist
• Ben Goldhaber - Director of Content Marketing at Twitch

Image: "Dignitas Halo 2" by EGL - X-Series.