“A guy called Henry [Leverette] won the Madden Championship Series last year. He picked up the game during COVID and he became the first millionaire from playing Madden. It was in a short amount of time, he got his family out of poverty by playing video games,” Dinsmore says about one of EA’s biggest esports feel-good stories.
“You’ve also got athletes who are playing Madden,” she says. “I love seeing that engagement where it’s a big deal to them with what their rating is and where they show up in the game. We have some cool collaborations with Henry. He’s good friends with [Dallas Cowboys linebacker] Micah Parsons. He teaches him how to play Madden and they stream together.”
Similar sensibilities inform developing the esports scenes around Apex Legends and EA Sports FC, with the Apex Legends Global Series and the multifaceted FC Pro program, which includes the FC Pro Open for players of all skill levels, the international FC Pro World Championship, and the FC Pro Leagues, leveraging EA’s continued partnerships with numerous soccer entities worldwide. EA’s commitment to publishing renowned soccer games has remained as its partnership with FIFA has changed in recent years, with EA holding licensing partnerships with over 19,000 players, 700 teams, 100 stadiums, and 30 leagues, including MLS, the Premier League, and Bundesliga. For Dinsmore, EA taking a more autonomous role with its soccer titles allows for an unprecedented opportunity to work with their league partners in shaping the esports scene and its narrative.
“The thing that has been unlocked for me and my team in the FC world is now we own the entirety of the ecosystem,” Dinsmore explains. “We have the couch to champion part, we have the League Partner portion of the program, with all the league partners operating their own esports programs within this window of time, and we own the championship.”
For all global success in cultivating the EA Sports esports programs, including brand partnerships, Dinsmore keeps sight of the spirit of the community that she witnessed in South Korea years ago. EA’s next major Apex Legends event will be a massive LAN party in New Orleans, featuring an open tournament with 160 teams coming in to link up together and play at the local convention center. For Dinsmore, events like this keep the signature esports energy and passion alive as it revisits its roots, albeit on a grander stage.
“It’s very rare that you actually get to see, in-person, all the impact that your work had on those people that are so passionate about what you do. That’s another thing that keeps me coming back,” Dinsmore says. “For the latest Apex Legends Global Series [in Sapporo, Japan], we had 3,400 people come through those doors and my job on the floor, every single time, never gets old.”
