All trends die.

Esports organizations today have it all wrong in chasing the quick dollars of limited-release apparel drops. They’ve often put the cart before the horse, in fact, trying to emulate the streetwear brand Supreme without understanding how long-lasting brands are built. They’re trying to become a trend, instead of something that seems baked into society itself; the way other sports have dug deep into the American way of life.

With no centralized league that dominates the scene, independent esports organizations like 100 Thieves, Cloud9, and Complexity Gaming will need to pick up the slack when it comes to spreading the message of these games and selling the merchandise that helps make the whole thing profitable.

Rather than emulate the likes of Supreme – choosing to sell hoodies to a select few who can afford to pay a premium for an average-quality cut of cloth – esports organizations should be following the lead set by NBA franchises, and the league itself to create an inclusive industry.

With COVID-19 shutting down major sports leagues, concussions still an ongoing concern in football and hockey, and representation in all forms of entertainment often lacking the diverse voices that companies so desire to reach, esports organizations and game developers need to take esports moment in the spotlight and make the most of it.

Esports are already huge, but they’re still growing compared to most traditional sports in terms of profits and longevity. The path to the kind of ubiquity enjoyed by football, baseball, and soccer involves treating current and potential fans as possible future players or at least ambassadors, rather than checking accounts that exist to be drained every few months. It’s about raising a whole new generation that sees esports as a part of life, not a novelty.

So why the focus on limited-edition gear from certain esports teams? Would the Bulls ever tell you that you can’t buy a jersey and become a walking billboard for your favorite team, player, and city? Of course not. So why would esports teams try building their own version of the Jordan brand without a Michael Jordan?  You need to have the thriving league first, and then you can launch a premium brand that represents it.

The current attitude of exclusivity is at the root of the esports scenes fragmentation. The tribalism of past console wars has brought us to the Counter-Strike versus Valorant debate. Instead of growing a fanbase for a sport, the current approach creates a tribe member for Team Ninja or Team Shroud, and only goes after those who are already faithful. There are plenty of preachers, but the message tends to be aimed squarely at the choir.

And this approach is costing everyone money. While esports in general currently monetizes its fan base at less than $5 per viewer, compare to that to a baseline of $35 for traditional sports, and the fact that the NBA has been growing internationally for decades.

Talent development is the name of the game. The NBA develops players, referees, and broadcasters; this kind of attention to detail is important. More events and avenues to get involved means easier entry for more people, both as participants and viewers. If you just want to support your favorite team, there are ways to do so that fit every income level, whether that’s wearing a cap at home in front of the TV or screaming at the players from the arena while wearing nothing but branded clothes. If you want to start playing, there are onramps at just about every level of talent, for children and adults or just about every age.

The league also develops its fans, whether the fans realize it or not. Sports broadcasts are so sophisticated because they’re built around a combination of entertainment and education. Pre-game shows cover heartwarming stories and stats, but they also introduce fans to play styles, strategies, and Xs and Os. You can’t just show up and blow the whistle, you have to create an informed audience to consume the game and its products so they feel a part of the action.

Can esports do the same thing, but while focusing on what amounts to the logo, and not the players and fans? I don’t think it can, not for more than a few years anyway.

As Latoya Peterson questioned in an article for The Undefeated, “why are there so few other black players making it to the top of the various leagues?” While most professional sports – and even the fighting game community – manage to do better when it comes to diversity and representation, esports as a whole continues to struggle with making folks who aren’t straight white players feel welcome enough to give them a try, and it’s not news that the road to proficiency often filters players out due to the toxicity often found in online games.

But diversity on the court and in the stands is among the NBA’s biggest strengths. (In the boardroom is another matter, though.) For esports leagues to emulate this, they need to invest in training and development to ensure they reach players at a young age and teach them the skills to succeed, or at least make sure they have the tools needed to even try. Every local gym or community center has a basketball court, how many have the sorts of computers and accounts necessary to try Valorant?

The NBA hosts training camps and builds academies everywhere from the US to China, Africa, and India.

After cementing its place in China, the NBA has set its sights on India and Africa. The NBA views international expansion not only as a business opportunity, but as a “social responsibility.” How many organizations are even speaking in those terms? Meanwhile, they’ve set up a culture that deliberately focuses on broadening the tent, leading the initiative to launch the WNBA in an effort to give women more opportunities (though the league still has a long way to go for true equality to erase things like the pay gap), a development league, and the Jr. NBA focused on training young players the right way.

By only scouting talent from atop tournament leaderboards, rather than developing gamers from the ground up, esports organizations are missing a broad base of talent that could make their teams stronger and more diverse.

Investing in esports camps – much like the basketball academies being built around the world – could create a pipeline for talent who learn the fundamentals of gaming and how to carry themselves as professionals.

Where else can these younger esports find inspiration in the NBA? If esports organizations are ready to grow their teams on a global scale, toxicity must be eliminated.

After a swift investigation, the NBA issued two lifetime bans last year for fans using racist and derogatory language towards players. Toxicity in esports could be minimized by requiring players and fans to acknowledge a code of conduct before every event, and following up quickly when concerns are voiced. The gaming industry has shown positive signs as of late, with popular streamers being banned from Twitch for violating community standards, even when the actions don’t necessarily take place on stream.

With a few exceptions, instead of prioritizing the hard work of building trust and loyalty, many esports organizations have chosen to follow the most fleeting revenue stream and most fickle fans while ignoring the ways pro-sports leagues make money. NBA franchises make more than half of their revenue from arena and market income. That’s where they play and where they’re based, in other words. Why are there so few esports events that are accessible to the average fan? Why aren’t teams touring stadiums around the world so people can watch them play – and maybe even match up against them? After it’s safe to do so, of course.

The appetite is there. It’s been years since League of Legends sold out Madison Square Garden and the Overwatch League sold out Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Why isn’t there an esports all-star game? Why aren’t they filling up arenas in Ohio, Illinois, and Texas, too? Why aren’t deals struck with ailing regional sports networks to air esports tournaments and other content?

The Cash App Compound, 100 Thieves crown-jewel of an office space in Los Angeles, could be host to clinics, events, and other development programs. Instead its stark industrial space is meant for retail, business operations, and content creation – often little more than advertisements for its brand sponsors. And sure, maybe they had grander visions for this space before we entered a world of physical distancing, but the fact of the matter is that most modern esports organizations thrive on this exact kind of exclusivity, not inclusivity.

It’s not enough to broadcast on Twitch and feed more money to the Amazon-owned service – game developers, teams, and even the gamers themselves need to support the launch of localized events focused on open access over hype – an organization like PlayVS has worked hard to make tournament organizing accessible.

With the right resources, the event framework could be replicated by schools and independent organizers in places beyond large markets. Make no mistake – this work has started, but it’s far from finished. And this is the kind of organizing it’ll take for the next generation to grow up with fond memories of esports leagues, like we do of youth basketball camps and soccer leagues.

But it can only happen with a commitment from more of the top teams to invest in this development. That’s what the NBA has that esports as a whole lacks: A single, dedicated force that profits from the entirety of the sport, while also making sure that sport maintains awareness and competitive players all over the world. There are many reasons why esports doesn’t have something similar, but those problems can, and must, be overcome.

Esports, and gaming in general, has always been a do-it-yourself world. Some games are intentionally cryptic, their difficulty a badge of honor when you’ve completed it.

But that doesn’t work if you want to grow a game on a global scale. Viewers and competitors need to be brought in and supported along the way – in other words, they need context – that’s one reason Rocket League is often cited as the biggest missed opportunity in esports. The conceit, soccer with cars, is as easy to explain as it is to watch.

Still, most esports are endlessly complex. Without context building being a top priority, even experienced viewers can find themselves behind the play. Commentators exist to break down plays and strategy, in esports it’s mostly talking about things that the experienced viewer already knows, and the uninformed viewer can’t follow.

“The NBA succeeded in monopolizing basketball globally in ways that the YMCA never could, thanks to its marketing of stars, the universality of its up-tempo, athletic game and its inclusion of a labor force that reflects its international fan base,” Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff wrote for The Washington Post.

It’s time for esports organizations to take advantage of this current opportunity, but they have to remember they are ambassadors for their sport, not companies trying to sell merch to survive.