Nouns Esports: Very Ugly ⌐◨-◨

Imagine a world where voting does not exist. In this world, we would have no need for rules or principles. But in our world, voting is a reality. So we have a simple rule: we only vote against. We use a “Squad Vote” for each proposal. If more people vote against than vote for or abstain, we vote against on-chain. Otherwise, we abstain. This is our rule.

According to the “squad vote” result for proposal 263, which is 13 for, 14 against and 19 abstain, we choose to vote abstain.The viewpoints of our different members are as follows (source not listed):

Proposal 263 has presented us with a conundrum, making it difficult for us to render judgment. The Nouns Protector has just been established, and it may take approximately six months for clarifying our principles. We will briefly summarize the debates from our meeting:

Nouns Esports has accomplished laudable outcomes, genuinely creating a stable organization to underpin esports teams' operations. This initial step is laden with myriad challenges that remain beyond our imagine. And, they have admirably maintained fiscal transparency throughout the process.

Despite their successes, the community has voiced concerns about the long-term viability of Nouns Esports as a business. Should Nouns Esports evolve into an entity that perpetually depletes NounsDAO's cash flow, depending on ceaseless transfusions from NounsDAO for sustenance, this model would not be sustainable for NounsDAO in the long run.

Furthermore, NounsDAO ought to concentrate on cultivating a more diverse and populous community. Some members posit that:

"
Nouns should channel resources into domains where it possesses an unambiguous competitive edge. Esports is not a realm where NounsDAO holds a competitive advantage. The Matthew effect is conspicuous within esports events, with elite teams monopolizing the lion's share of attention and securing funding that far exceeds $800,000. This sector is fiercely competitive. Nouns Esports cannot amass a competitive cache of funds, which means they cannot engage top-tier players nor establish a premier support infrastructure. Consequently, they will only gain exposure in regional championships and open tournaments (as evidenced by their historical performance), unable to penetrate truly valuable core events.
What merit is there in allocating excessive funds to a sphere where NounsDAO can only assume a secondary role, particularly for an organization in its nascent stages, with a community treasury of a mere $50 million?
"

"
More effective use of funds could be achieved by allocating 700 ETH to incubate 10 vibrant subculture DAOs across diverse fields, rather than expending a relatively negligible amount of funding to compete in conventional events.
"

Moreover, cautionary reminders have been raised about the pervasiveness of intimate personal relationships within NounsDAO:

"
Proposals prior to Proposal 200 have made considerable contributions to NounsDAO's present public image and clout. However, it has also engendered a nexus of relationships, with many decisions swayed by personal connections and predispositions.
If NounsDAO is to pivot towards a more lucid, native, and 'truly growth' trajectory—championing a broader array of NounishDAOs—the community networks forged during the preceding strategic round may serve as impediments. As a result, more resources may be funneled towards politically correct but inefficacious marketing proposals, suppressing the potential for vibrant but peripheral creators to enter the Nouns ecosystem.
"

Notwithstanding any criticisms, Nouns Esports remains an outstanding member of NounishDAO. Additionally, esports represents an excellent conduit for Nouns to interface with the external world. We extend our hopes and blessings for Nouns Esports to persist and excel.

Fund sub-communities that have proven they do great work. Let them cook!

pew pew

FOR - 43 VOTES

Benbodhi | "This crew just keep crushing.
⌐◨-◨"

byhardy | "Huge momentum in a vertical that continues to expand, and is tangential to Nouns (tech). Big supporter of esports pod."

Josep | "I like the integration and I think it’s a good way to proliferate the meme"

AGAINST - 9 VOTES

Classic_Craig | "expensive for niche"

EltonPenguin | "Waaaay too much money for uncertain benefits"

Appreciate the detailed breakdown here of how the team has delivered. I think we should double down on our winners and Nouns Esports seems like it's winning!

The esports crew are continually smashing it.
⌐◨-◨

"I’m still not a massive fan of NFTs but the fact that Nouns are using them to fulfill projects with transparent governance instead of just running inside trading and pump-and-dump schemes is a nice change of pace."

I saw this tweet today re: Nouns E-sports and it to me is a pretty compelling argument for voting yes. The E-sports pod has successfully expanded Nouns into a totally new, unrelated to crypto, scene, and done a great job of sharing with those people what crypto has to offer beyond just speculation. We've seen enough so far to justify continuing to fund this experiment - though, would certain love to see the group showcase alternative funding models and a path towards self-sustaining outside of onchain proposals.

Agree with Noun12 but less conviction:

"There's not enough yet to commit to spending $800k/yr just to sponsor the 2 teams on top of other esports spend. The strategy and the demonstration of the strategy such that it is different than vanilla sponsorship relationships like what FTX or Avalanche have (that end when the sponsors stop paying) or such that Nouns.gg is a sustainable organization that participates in the growth and performance of its teams in a differentiated way that is workable for a DAO. If there's co-sponsorship opportunities or low hanging fruit, I want to see those realized before committing $800k/yr. It's been almost 9 months and the challenge is to manifest a strategy that clearly supports this spend.

It's a real challenge and the DAO has to consider that there may not be a way to do this that returns to the DAO -- this does not seem to as of yet for example.

The people in the Nouns esports pod are running it well and are highly functional. They are people I respect and trust uniformly. The issue I have is strategy and spend."

There's not enough yet to commit to spending $800k/yr just to sponsor the 2 teams on top of other esports spend. The strategy and the demonstration of the strategy such that it is different than vanilla sponsorship relationships like what FTX or Avalanche have (that end when the sponsors stop paying) or such that Nouns.gg is a sustainable organization that participates in the growth and performance of its teams in a differentiated way that is workable for a DAO. If there's co-sponsorship opportunities or low hanging fruit, I want to see those realized before committing $800k/yr. It's been almost 9 months and the challenge is to manifest a strategy that clearly supports this spend.

It's a real challenge and the DAO has to consider that there may not be a way to do this that returns to the DAO -- this does not seem to as of yet for example.

The people in the Nouns esports pod are running it well and are highly functional. They are people I respect and trust uniformly. The issue I have is strategy and spend.

While I have to out myself as not-an-esports-guy, taking a look at the narrative around Nouns Esports shows that this team is creating a lot of goodwill for Nouns (and web3!) in one of the areas most hostile to crypto: Gaming.

Nouns Esports' focus on transparency and equity through the use of DAO mechanics is helping to shift perceptions and debunk myths about web3 in a community that could greatly benefit from its adoption. It's truly inspiring to see projects like this paving the way for a more inclusive and innovative future. This is an easy 'for' vote and I look forward to seeing what comes from this project in the years to come.

I was on the fence about this prop. It is nothing short of incredible what the Nouns esports team has achieved and I look forward to following their future successes. In the proposal, I would have liked to have seen more detail on other potential revenue streams, sponsorship targets, and goals. I was able to find these answers in the Discord channel. Good luck team! ⌐◧-◧

nom nom esports ⌐◨-◨

just watched nouns vs TL, you should do the same.
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDPBHrpiyA

can't wait to see what this team will bring to this ecosystem.

⌐◨-◨

Voting on behalf of Goldy

The Nouns esports team presents the opportunity to embrace professional sports as any society would, promoting shared fandom and unity. This top-ranking, homegrown team consists of world-class players and adheres to open and transparent practices, distinguishing them from conventional norms in the sport. This strategy has already demonstrated success in fostering proliferation and bridging the gap between the gaming and Ethereum communities.

Cultivating subculture to populate the front page ⌐◨-◨

Reasons given in my newsletter: https://paragraph.xyz/@thebower/active-governance-noun-582-6

while this is a large ask, nouns esports has executed at a high level making a major impact in the gaming community in a short period of time. i'm optimistic that we'll be able to find additional on-brand sponsors to help subsidize the ongoing costs of running the team ahead of future proposals

Esports provides more sticky engagement than one off type props. It is always a great idea to fund communities that are highly native to meme culture and have considerable market size.

On the fence for this, but voting yes. The primary reason I'm in favor is because the initiative has been very successful so far and I don't feel it would be appropriate to rug.

However, 750k a year is not sustainable, and I don't think we need to have a footprint this large in esports. I plan to vote no on any future asks above 250k (preferable in the 150k range), with the hope that the team can be subsidized by additional sponsors to make up the difference.

Nouns Esports is, in my opinion, one of the most successful things Nouns has funded. They are building enthusiastic, authentic audiences in a space traditionally hostile to anything crypto related. They are winning over a difficult crowd on top of winning games and tournaments.

Choosing DOTA was smart, and I've seen the noggle decals and flags in countless clips now. It feels like the players are making a name for themselves in the leagues, getting press, building their own following. And it all ties back to Nouns DAO in a way that feels genuine. I trust the Nouns Esports crew and want to see them continue their work. I also feel like their compensation asks are reasonable, and that they're negotiating fair deals with everyone involved.

My one request is for more high quality video content celebrating the players and Nouns. More highlight reels, more tournament winning celebrations, more player AMAs, more videos of people spamming noggles in the chat, more videos of players getting carried out with the crowd chanting their name. You are creating these iconic moments and I want to see them documented and celebrated.

⌐[g]-[g]

nouns esports ftw.

personally know many nouners that were nouns-pilled through nouns esports. esports is a sub culture that we have a lot of room to run in and I'm excited to see how far this can grow.

also love that this squad achieved so much with a tight budget so far.

rooting for our nouns esports teams! make us proud!

• the dao has already spent 555ETH on these e sports initiatives. That is over $1M. This feels like it will be a never ending ask on the treasury. I can't confidently say this has driven over $1M of marketing/goodwill/nounish/buying.

• this one is now for for another seven hundred and ninety five thousand united states dollars

• I like e sports but I don't feel like nouns needs to basically own and pay for the entire team

• IMO owning a team means getting income from the team (ticket sales, prize winnings, etc.)

• We are paying for wellness coaches and regular coaches and more

• I want this to exist in a form where nouns is the lead sponsor of a team for like $100k per year and the team goes and gets other smaller sponsors to cover all their costs

Achieving a top-three position in CSGO is a formidable accomplishment in the challenging world of eSports. It's quite remarkable to see the level of success this organization has attained - its an incredible story for Nouns to be part of.

Now that they've achieved this level of success, exciting possibilities arise for the organization to become self-sustaining in the long term. Given that the first prop where net positive return to the treasury, I'm excited to see what unfolds next. - @mrrobbo