Esports, just like traditional sports (football, basketball, baseball…) is a business, and all businesses need insurance to protect their assets, customers, and employees. Esports teams and leagues have assets like computers and gaming gear that may get stolen or damaged. Esports tournaments have spectators that sometimes get injured getting to their seats. Esports orgs have employees who may get sick or injured. Insurance can help in all of these situations.

A Certificate of Insurance (COI) is a short document that summarizes your Liability insurance coverages. This would include General Liability, Auto Liability, Umbrella/Excess Liability and Workers’ Comp. It is a standard form used across the insurance industry. Your business partners (landlords, clients, licensing authorities…) may request a COI to confirm that you have appropriate insurance coverages. The entity requesting a COI from you is called the “Certificate Holder” and their name and mailing address are listed on the COI. The COI may also indicate if the Certificate Holder has any special status under your policies, such as Additional Insured or a Waiver of Subrogation in their favor. It is important to note that a COI cannot change the underlying coverages or limits on your policies. The COI is only a summary of what is already included in your policies.

Unlike the name may suggest, Inland Marine insurance has nothing to do with insuring boats. Instead, Inland Marine is a category of insurance that covers equipment and other property that travels and is not tied to a specific location. Within the esports industry this may include laptops, gaming gear, and sound and lighting equipment. (Traditional Commercial Property policies typically limit coverage to your business premises.)

If you have Inland Marine coverage, the answer is typically yes!

Subrogation is the default status of most insurance policies. It means that if an insurance company pays a claim for you but thinks that a third party is at least partially responsible for the loss, the insurance company has the right to sue this third party in your name to try and recover some or all of the payment. If a Waiver of Subrogation is added to the policy, the insurance company gives up the right to recover claims from third parties. Sometimes your business partners, such as tournament venues, may require a Waiver of Subrogation because they do not want your insurance company to have the ability to sue them. There is typically a fee to you for adding this waiver since the insurance company is giving up some rights to recover payments made on your behalf.

General Liability covers businesses for injury or property damage caused by a business’s operations and products, or injuries that occur on the business’s premises. A memory device is that General Liability covers injuries or damage to the general public for which you are found legally liable. An example General Liability claim in the esports industry would be a spectator being injured either getting to their seat, or during the excitement of a competition.

In most states Workers’ Compensation coverage is required for 1099 workers. And in most states, workers cannot waive their right to Workers’ Comp coverage even by contract with the employer.

Errors & Omission (E&O) insurance is a form of Professional Liability insurance. It covers the content of games and other media against copyright claims. E&O insurance is especially important for game publishers and other content producers.