One of the many benefits offered by IeSF.

Coverage of MSSA by IeSF.

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) is a non-profit association that now has over 47 members.

IeSF has tirelessly worked towards getting esports accredited as a sport. Such efforts have had very real results with IeSF becoming a member of TAFISA, becoming a signatory of WADA, working closely with governments, and having worked closely with the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), indorsed by OCA (Olympic Council of Asia).

However, while many gamers may not understand the true impact of the above, there are other very real benefits. 

The coverage received by member federations (as seen above) is awesome.

The coverage is worth its weight in gold. IeSF's global presence ensures that every member can receive an audience for their press releases.

MSSA, obviously takes advantage of the benefits offered by IeSF, and will continue to do so.

Advantages of affiliation: Coverage

Screen shot of IeSF's web page.

In September 2016 I wrote an article about the advantages of affiliating to MSSA.

However, it should be noted that  without MSSA being a member of IeSF, such advantages would mean little.

IeSF, through its international network, has the ability to amplify the advantages to a level that few can fully comprehend, and those that  do, are making full use of such.

One such advantage is in the field of coverage.

While it is known that MSSA already receives the most coverage for eSports in South Africa, as MSSA had well over 300 items published in 2016 - not including TV and radio, it is still hard to rival the level of publicity obtained by IeSF.

The press release made by MSSA of the selection of its 2016 National Protea eSports Team obtained a whopping 20,236 hits.

MSSA received over 50,000 hits on this blog alone.

It is estimated that the TV and radio coverage reached over 2 million.

Coverage indeed!

The need for press coverage.

Jesse Joubert and Jade Thomas on the set of Hectic Nine-9

So many gamers consider that it is sufficient to only get media coverage  on sites  dedicated to eSports.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) knows that as much media has to be obtained on as many platforms as possible.

Thus by continuously running events in every province (see attached Calendar of Events), to running events at every possible level (schools, Regional, Provincial, and National  Championships), MSSA is able to attract more coverage for eSports than any other body in South Africa.

As a result, MSSA offers its sponsors so much more.

Due to the fantastic work done by all MSSA volunteers, MSSA has already run over 10 events since January 2016, and consequentially MSSA has received coverage of over 250 articles which have appeared on TV, in fora, newspapers, and magazines. 

Press coverage for clubs

There is a growing need for smaller clubs to get as much press coverage as possible.

The reason for such is that there is a direct correlation between press coverage received and the ability to earn income from sponsorships.

Thus MSSA has always tried to give its member clubs as much publicity as possible when reporting results and selecting teams.

However, it is often felt by MSSA that member clubs do not take advantage of MSSA as what they are entitled to.

For example, MSSA Regulations practically enforce MSSA to advertise a member club's events – as long as it does not clash with an MSSA event, and timeous notification is also given.

Not only does MSSA give member clubs coverage of club events, of teams doing well at provincial and national championships, but also gives clubs the opportunity of gaining extra coverage by hosting MSSA events.

Thus a number of clubs offer to host Regional Championships. Regional Championships, unlike Provincial and National Championships, do not require much infrastructure as at Regional Championships, host clubs may pick-and-choose which titles they intend to host.