As reported earlier today, sources close to Sheep Esports
confirmed Rebels Gaming's entrance into the Counter-Strike 2 scene for the upcoming 2024 season. To provide more insight into this development, our reporter engaged in a discussion with Pablo “Marhoder” Menéndez, the Esports Director of Rebels Gaming.
Interviewer: Hello, Pablo. I think we should start with how you feel. After many years in esports, and after being in less than ideal situations elsewhere, how do you feel in this new stage with Rebels Gaming?
Pablo: I'm very happy to step into a role in management and direction. It hasn't been easy, but now I feel more adapted and comfortable; the first few months I felt like a robot.
Interviewer: We've seen that from the beginning you started to look for offers beyond coaching players, something more focused on team management. Did you get other offers besides the one from Rebels? Any of them as a coach?
Pablo: All or most of the offers that came in were for coaching. Only two were for a director role, and two or three were from talent agencies. For now, I'm very happy to be at Rebels and contribute to making the club better in every sense. Especially since this was the position I wanted to take after all these years as a coach.
Interviewer: You joined Rebels Gaming a few months ago. When you joined Rebels, was there already an interest in entering CS2, or was it your proposal?
Pablo: When I joined Rebels, the premise was (and is) that WE ARE AN ESPORTS CLUB, and esports clubs need sports projects, but always from a business perspective. From this, we create case studies and then a business plan that defines what we want to achieve for it to make business sense to enter a video game or not. I'm in charge of finding business opportunities and making them a reality, along with all my colleagues who contribute in their field (Álvaro, Bruno, Toñín...) to make sure we don't miss anything.
The case of CS2, I think, is like everything in esports: investment is risky; it has many edges and many things that can go right or wrong... But in the sector, you always have to give projects that shed light, and in Spain, we are orphaned from CS2 if it weren't for Riders.
Interviewer: Who has been the person leading and laying the foundations of this project?
Pablo: The main person who has moved everything is me, but it's impossible to do it alone. Everyone in Rebels has contributed to being able to think of that CS2 project as a reality. To make numbers and everything fit in the business case, the help of Bruno Boeri and Antonio Ruiz (Toñín) was crucial and indispensable. When it comes to seeing if having an international team, the point of view of sponsorships and activations was also key.
The decision to enter CS2 is not mine alone but of all the executive part that contributes its grain of sand to make it real or to bring us down to earth. But when it comes to looking for player profiles and matching numbers, Operations and I have been there with all the information we've gathered from my colleagues and the CS ecosystem in Europe.
Interviewer: Why does Rebels enter CS2? What is the community-level idea that Rebels wants to bring to CS2?
Pablo: We are aware that Rebels is a club that is still growing, and we want to offer a new product in Spain that barely exists. CS2 gives you the opportunity to be in an international circuit relatively easily.
We are a Spanish brand that doesn't just want to be in Spain; we want to reach more people and be able to give opportunities to the Spanish CS2 scene in the future, and although it's complicated due to the player pool, we already have several ideas to try to bring out something that can reactivate the game here.
Interviewer: What are Rebels' objectives in CS2? Is it a short, medium, or long-term project?
Pablo: It's a long-term project; everyone we sign will be for two years, and what we're looking for is for the players to grow, not to stagnate, to use Rebels as a catapult to higher tiers. It would be crazy in terms of investment to enter CS2 to be tier 1 and be fighting against the best in Europe when the infrastructure we have today isn't even 100% closed.
We're looking for a young, dynamic group that has clear ideas of "Rebels is going to grow with me, while I can grow with Rebels" and from that premise reach as high as possible.
In fact, this idea is demonstrated considering that the most important investment of the project is around the staff.
Interviewer: In terms of budgets, is entering CS2 a significant capital investment for Rebels?
Pablo: As I am a humble guy, zeros make me dizzy (haha), but knowing the CS2 ecosystem in general, I think the idea we have is somewhat organic: contracts will improve as the players improve, and obviously, it's a risky bet, but what esport or competitive video game isn't?
We are happy because we have followed the business plan to the letter, and that gives us the peace of mind that, if we do things right and don't go crazy if we are successful, we will be in CS2 for a long time.
Interviewer: What future plans does Rebels Gaming have? Is there any other game you plan to expand into?
Pablo: There is something... I don't want to give spoilers, but since I joined,I have tried to propose new esports to join, some sector we haven't touched every week, and I have to say that we have met with many developers to see if it was feasible. Just to enter CS2, we have spent almost three months putting together and fine-tuning the business plan and yes, it's likely that more things will come out, but it won't be rushed and crazy. Opportunities appear when they appear, and we won't be ready to jump at all of them.
