Corporate Team

Corporate Teams are groups of heroes that are operated by major corporations, rather than the PRT.

While there is overlap, a Corporate Team is owned by their company and can not seek outside donors or resources independently; Sponsored teams are independent and can change as they wish.

Modus operandi
Corporate teams generally act as a business. They have to operate at a loss initially, but once they've gathered some fame they can act as a parahuman "talent agency" for acting, merchandising, and rogue work. The greatest goal is to become so well-respected that cities will pay them to operate in the area, generally on a two-year contract.

Corporate teams have a heavier emphasis on public relations and marketing than other teams. Successful corporate heroes are paid much more than successful Protectorate heroes, but most end up being paid less. There's more risk, but also more freedom than being an official cape. Successful corporate heroes become celebrities, often getting into acting or music.

Among the freedoms offered by corporate teams are the fact that young Wards are not allowed to wear skimpy costumes (although particularly successful corporate teams can still face the wrath of the Youth Guard), the fact that it can be difficult to move around freely when you have official responsibilities, and the fact the PRT disapproves of taking public stands on various issues - especially religious ones.

Corporate heroes are not required to attend Endbringer battles, but they are expected to actually catch criminals.

Corporate teams are sometimes suspected of being fronts for the Elite. The Elite do in fact control a number of corporate teams behind the scenes.

Legal Issues
Corporate teams don't require any sort of license. They usually have a lawyer or legal team to ensure that they follow all the necessary procedures. They don't perform any action without word from the lawyers. This ensures that they don't, cause property damage, deviate from Earth Bet's expanded policies for citizen's arrest, mishandle evidence, or step on the toes of legitimate authorities. They often make a point of involving local law enforcement.

Over time, the local authorities generally grant them more leeway and begin cooperating on specific projects, splitting jurisdiction and shifts with them, and/or allowing them access to equipment in exchange for favours. Police, lawyers, and government often periodically audit them to ensure everything is legal, and they often have dedicated liaisons from the PRT.

Corporate teams that fail to comply with procedure are sometimes tacitly allowed to continue operating but are officially labeled vigilantes.

Structure
Cape ranking sites will sometimes have a form of sponsorship similar to joining a corporate team, contingent on maintaining a good position, among other promotional ventures.Title: [Worm] Can rogues make a Living as a hero? [Quoting from Mid comment:] - Are there other routes for heroes to earn money for fighting bad guys? Rogues are, by definition, not heroes or villains. A rogue is someone who doesn't identify with the cops and robbers game, encompassing those who utilize their abilities for business, personal, societal or neutral reasons, and those who strive not to use their abilities at all. To a reasonably strict extent, there is no 'in the field' for rogues. I say reasonably strict because there's mercenaries like Faultline's crew, but there's pretty much a 'you fuck one goat' attitude toward mercenaries who deign to work with villains... they just get the 'villain' label slapped on them and that's that, mostly. Rogues who sign up with the PRT and stay out of trouble can receive a stipend. They may also receive protections, but this varies by department. Rogues mostly work day jobs and some try to earn wages with unique avenues afforded by their powers, but it often puts them in an awkward spot, where there's pressure to join one side or the other, and/or they're seen as a prime target for powered thugs who want to earn street cred. For a B-list thug like Longfingers, a rogue who's working a day job providing tinker prosthetics to celebrities and movie studios is a wealthy, newsworthy target who has little combat experience and who, following ass-kicking, counts in most circles as being a 'I beat a notable cape' tickmark on one's resume. Even Parian screams 'inexperience' prior to her Leviathan participation. Street cred up for grabs if you mess with her. Are there other routes for heroes to earn money for fighting bad guys? This is talking heroes and not villains, but those striking an independent course could...
 * Rip and Run - Beat up villains, take their stuff/money.
 * Ranking Sites - (Bambina talks briefly about these) - sites that track hero/villain wins and losses sometimes offer payment to qualifying heroes, host streams or interviews, or do a kind-of-corporate-but-less-strings-attached sponsorship that's often contingent on holding a good position.
 * Betting Sites - Some sites allow people to bet on outcomes. Will a fight happen between Poison Apple and Dojo? Put $30 on the site, leave it sitting there (site makes money off of the interest of said money), and if a fight happens and your choice wins, you get good money. Heroes can bet on themselves. Some specifically cultivate and go after low odds. Authorities allow this to go on as long as it's aboveboard (no killing) because it promotes fairly inoffensive conflict. - Can rogues make a living as a hero? (Wildbow, Reddit.com, 2017-03-06) Bambina recieved money from sponsors as a result of her ranking, even though she was a villain.

PRT Response
The PRT deals with corporate cape teams on a case by case basis. Individual members may be registered with the PRT. A team may even have a liaison officer on staff to provide resources. Any PRT provided resources would expect to be paid back of course, in favors or otherwise. As with any legitimate hero team Corporate capes will eventually catch the eye of the Youth Guard.

Notable Examples

 * Reach
 * Lodestar
 * Midas

Background
Corporate teams are especially common in San Francisco. Lightslinger was a member of a corporate team called Eminent there prior to joining the Protectorate.

Story Start
Two rival corporate teams attended the Battle against Leviathan. Several members of a corporate team, possibly the same one, indicated that they had fought Endbringers before when Legend asked. Team Reach was another Corporate hero team.

Post-Echidna
One of the corporate teams that showed up in Brockton Bay later attended the battle at New Delhi.

Timeskip
Puma was sponsored by his namesake company, a member of corporate team Midas located in Phoenix.

The Corporate team Goldenrod dealt with a major scandal from one of their premiere heroes Unicorn IV.

During the Summer of 2012 a new corporate cape team called Lodestar was incorporated in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a alternative to a PRT Department being set up there. Things don't go well.

Post-Gold Morning
Following the End of the World the team Auzure trod over old ground.

Trivia

 * Had New Wave left Brockton Bay, they might have become a corporate team or joined the Elite, resulting in greater pressures on Panacea. Had the Elite reached Brockton Bay, they might have turrned New Wave into a corporate team under their control.