French esports organisation Gentle Mates, best known for its Valorant and Rocket League teams, has named Dior Buranov as its new Chief Revenue Officer. The move also brings Buranov onto the organisation’s board.
As Chief Revenue Officer, Buranov will be responsible for overseeing all of the ways Gentle Mates makes money. In practice, that typically breaks down into a few areas based on what he described in his own announcement.
The first is sponsorship, which has been his focus for the past three years and will remain central to the job. This means negotiating and managing deals with brands that want to be associated with the organisation’s teams, whether through jersey logos, content collaborations, or other partnership arrangements.
The second is merchandising, meaning the sale of team apparel and branded products to fans. Growing this side of the business usually involves expanding product lines, improving how items are sold online, and finding new markets for merchandise.
The third is revenue diversification, a broader task of identifying income sources beyond sponsorship and merchandise. For an esports organisation, this can include things like content deals, ticketed events, licensing, or other business ventures that reduce reliance on any single income stream.
Joining the board also suggests Buranov will now have a say in higher-level strategic decisions at the organisation, not just in the day-to-day running of revenue operations.
Buranov stated in his LinkedIn post (translated from French), “New stage at Gentle Mates and bump.! After 3 great years in charge of sponsorship, I am delighted to be able to take on a new challenge as Chief Revenue Officer and to join the board.”
Before joining Gentle Mates, Buranov worked at Webedia in esports sponsorship sales. During his time at Webedia, his work centred on business development for the company’s esports properties, with a particular focus on the LFL, France’s top League of Legends competition. Earlier in his career, Buranov worked as a Marketing Project Manager Apprentice at Gozulting, a company specialising in event production and video content management within the gaming and esports space.
His background across sponsorship sales, partnerships, and marketing within esports specifically gives him several years of relevant experience heading into the new position.
