How robust is the esports industry?

Esports audiences are very cheap in comparison to traditional sports

These audiences are extraordinarily cheap in comparison to their football counterparts. The League of Legends BAMTech deal for $350m over 7 years (that never happened), would have been a meagre $500k per weekend of matches. The Premier League receives $15.1m per game. Even Overwatch’s $90m deal over two years with Twitch, the most lucrative of the esports Leagues by Broadcasting revenue, comes in at less than $1.3m revenue per long weekend. Even if we exclude all Chinese viewing figures, esports audiences are cheap and measurable. When put side by side with other sports the potential value to be unlocked is startling:

David is a commercial consultant by background, having advised dozens of multinational brands on key strategic investment decisions across various sectors. He specialises in the entertainment industry, working with some of the largest global brands. He has worked with two of the largest global video game publishers on their events (esports and game launches); the largest music label group in the world; and has also worked in the gambling sector.

AVERAGE MATCH REVENUE IF ESPORTS AUDIENCES TRADED AT THE SAME PREMIUM AS ESTABLISHED SPORTS

£28.5M

£1.3M £1.7M

Overwatch League NFL Broadcasting Premium £3.0M £5.0M

Serie A Broadcasting Premium La Liga Broadcasting Premium Premier League Broadcasting Premium

Overwatch Revenue Premium

Explore the commercial trends of this emerging market.

Grassroots is a hidden area of immense opportunity

If we consider the journey of an esports fan to the point of becoming a successful pro we can start to see the importance of local infrastructure on their progression. From the point of discovering the game through playing and watching online, and even to their first big event, a fan will have some form of contact with a constituent of the esports industry. This could be a publisher when they are buying skins or digital assets off them, to a broadcaster streaming content from competitions, to the awareness of teams and buying tickets from event organisers when going to their first big event. However, the areas of most potential influence are around the community and local events, which have been barely touched by investment. Whilst this infrastructure is starting to establish itself, it is very much in flux in contrast to the film & cinema industry, whose local model is firmly entrenched (especially in the West). As we shall discuss below, how the local community operates is clearly different when comparing the West to the East. The dynamics of these local communities are important to understand as there are large areas of opportunity waiting to be cultivated.

FROM “JOE TO PRO” - ESPORTS FAN AND PLAYER JOURNEY TO PROFESSIONALISM

Play game Play and watch online Engage in community Play & watch local esports events live Qualifiers / Scout games Professional Player Regional Champion World Champion

Unadressed area of esports

Both the film & cinema and esports industries are dominated by online visual streaming, and this feature in itself is worth further investigation. Far more people watch content from both industries online than go the event itself and the streaming edge to both industries makes for a different dynamic than the sporting or music industries. Unlike the music industry, the onset of digital platforms and distribution has not been destructive to the revenues of the industry as a whole. For clarity we have defined the film industry as inclusive of cinema and box sets found on streaming platforms. Given how long the event side of the industry (cinema) has been in place vs. personal consumption it provides three very interesting perspectives: 1. What to expect revenue-wise from events whose audience essentially watches a screen for 3 hours; 2. The dynamic between technology products in flux against a wellestablished event medium; 3. A genuinely successful subscription service to consume content which continues to grow.

David Fenlon Director David Fenlon ltd

Esports Insider

Based in London and founded in 2016, Esports Insider is the leading esports business news site, consultancy group, media and events company. On EsportsInsider.com, we feature the latest stories alongside opinion pieces and interviews with those making waves in esports business. We offer B2B and B2C content services (editorial, podcast and video), which can be via ESI channels, or it can be fully whitelabel, and we have the print magazine The Esports Journal, which we run with our partners LMG.

We are also known via our esports industry focused events and have produced more esports business events than any other, globally. These have included events such as the ESI Forum Series, ESI London, the annual ESI Hall of Fame (London and Los Angeles thus far), and ESI New York. We also offer whitelabel events services.

Via our connect and advisory services we help create lasting business relationships in the industry by sitting in-between the current rights holders (teams, tournament organisers etc.) and companies (brands, suppliers and investors) seeking to do business in esports the right way, without all the hassle.

For further information:

David Fenlon, Director – davidfenlonltd@gmail.com Sean Carr, Sales Manager – sean@esportsinsider.com

davidfenlonltd@gmail.com +44 (0) 785 234 8692

info@esportsinsider.com www.esportsinsider.com Riverbank House 1 Putney Bridge Approach London SW6 3JD