Zynga Inc (ZNGA)

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ZNGA: (ESPN ESPORTS COVERAGE 2016),ZNGA,MAY,BE,A,MAJOR CONTENDER




Esports | Define Esports at Dictionary.com
dictionary.reference.com/browse/esports
Dictionary.com
(usually used with a plural verb) competitive tournaments of video games, especially among professional gamers. adjective. 2. of or relating to esports: an esports event; esports gambling.



ESPN.com Adds Dedicated eSports Coverage
TV | By Joan E. Solsman on January 14, 2016 @ 8:00 am Follow @joan_e
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ESPN Adds Live Video Streaming to Main App
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ESPN Suspends Grantland ‘Effective Immediately’

Addition marks growing presence of video gaming as spectator sport at Disney’s giant TV brand

Disney’s ESPN launched a new corner of its website Thursday, dedicated to competitive video-game coverage known as eSports.

The move is the latest by one of the biggest brands in televised sports to cater to a growing, rabid audience for gaming as spectator entertainment. Watching other people play video games has surged in popularity, with competitions selling out stadiums and live-streaming sites like Twitch generating greater traffic than TV-streamers like Hulu.

But among those unfamiliar with the phenomenon, the concept of viewing somebody else’s gameplay can be baffling, and debates persist about whether such competition should count as a “sport.”

Also Read: ESPN Adds Live Video Streaming to Main App

“ESPN has always been in the business of serving fans, and what matters to them is ultimately what matters to us,” Chad Millman, editor-in-chief of ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine, told TheWrap in an email.

“It’s been impossible to ignore the growth of this industry, the passion of the fan base and the skill set of those who participate. And we’ll treat eSports the same way we treat the NFL, the NBA, college football or anything else we cover,” he added, noting that plans for in-depth analysis and news and event coverage with credibility and authenticity “speaks to core fans and informs folks just learning about this world.”

Also Read: Disney Suffers Severe Cable Subscriber Losses

ESPN said it was adding editor Darin Kwilinski and writers Rod Breslau and Tyler Erzberger to its editorial team. They will focus news, analysis, video and on-site reporting. The new vertical is being sponsored at launch by wireless carrier T-Mobile.

Previously, ESPN3 has carried live coverage of BlizzCon and the International Dota 1 Championships, and ESPN2 televised the final of Heroes of the Dorm, the first such live coverage of a collegiate eSports event for the brand. ESPN the Magazine also debuted its first ­ever “eSports Issue” in May.
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www.thewrap.com/espn-com-adds-dedicated-esports-coverage/








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Activision Buys Major League Gaming to Broaden Role in E-Sports

By NICK WINGFIELDJAN. 4, 2016

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Activision Blizzard, the publisher of Call of Duty and other hit video game franchises, has acquired the assets of Major League Gaming, an early organizer of professional video game competitions.

The deal, worth $46 million, is relatively small for a company the size of Activision, which has a market value of over $27 billion. But it could play a significant role in Activision’s broader ambitions to become a bigger player in the media business.

Robert A. Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard, said he saw an opportunity to build a bigger mainstream audience for e-sports through more professionally produced events modeled on traditional athletic competitions and the broadcasts that bring them into homes.
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While most of its e-sports events are more likely to be watched over the Internet, as most professional e-sports competitions are today, Activision intends to bring them to viewers through a traditional television channel distributed by cable and satellite providers, Mr. Kotick said.
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Activision is buying Major League Gaming largely for its online broadcasting network, MLG.tv, which streams game matches to consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. Credit Jabin Botsford/The New York Times

“I have a simple vision for this,” Mr. Kotick said in a phone interview. “I want to build the ESPN of video games.”

Activision is buying Major League Gaming largely for its online broadcasting network, MLG.tv, which streams game matches to consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. Late last year, Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., announced the formation of Activision Blizzard Media Networks, a division focused on the growth in e-sports.

Activision has already begun bringing in people with extensive backgrounds in broadcasting and e-sports. In October, Activision hired Steve Bornstein, the former chief executive of ESPN and NFL Network, to run its new media division. It also hired Mike Sepso, a co-founder of Major League Gaming, to serve as a senior vice president of the division.

As part of the acquisition, Sundance DiGiovanni, the other co-founder of Major League Gaming and its chief executive, will join Activision.

Major League Gaming, founded 12 years ago, will continue to organize professional video game competitions featuring games made by Activision and other publishers.

Other big publishers have begun increasing their investments in e-sports in recent months. In December, Electronic Arts, the publisher of the Madden and Battlefield franchises, formed an e-sports division and appointed Peter Moore, its former chief operating officer, to run it. Last year, Microsoft increased its investments in a professional tournament for players of Halo, its science-fiction shooter game.

But no publisher has been more successful at fostering a large e-sports audience than Riot Games, whose October championship match for its arena battle game, League of Legends, was viewed by as many as 14 million people at one time, up from 11 million the prior year.

For the most part, publishers like Riot have viewed e-sports as a way to energize their fan bases by showcasing the talents of the most highly skilled players. The competitions are not generally big sources of profits on their own but benefit publishers indirectly by improving sales and increasing the online purchases that occur within games.

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Mr. Kotick, of Activision, said that he saw similar benefits for his company’s games, but that he believed organized competitions would become a big business in their own right, as corporate sponsors and advertisers become more familiar with the category.

Activision is hardly the first company to consider the broadcasting of e-sports competitions as a crucial piece of the e-sports business. Twitch became a streaming powerhouse by allowing professionals and amateurs to broadcast matches, and it was eventually acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has also turned itself into a popular destination to view gaming videos of all kinds.

Much of the gaming content on Twitch and YouTube is contributed by users, though these platforms also broadcast professional competitions. Mr. Kotick thinks an e-sports network singularly focused on premium content — including slickly produced competitions and news shows akin to “SportsCenter,” on ESPN — will be able to attract more interest from advertisers.

“We think user-generated-content networks are great and widely available,” he said. “This is really focused on premium content.”

The studios within Activision that make its games will be able to decide whether to team with Activision’s own broadcasting arm to air their competitions or an outside company, Mr. Kotick said.

In addition to Call of Duty, the digital card game Hearthstone, developed by the Blizzard side of the company, has developed a sizable e-sports following. Blizzard’s StarCraft helped create the modern e-sports scene, which first emerged in South Korea over a decade ago.


Source:
www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/technology/activision-buys-major-league-gaming-to-broaden-role-in-e-sports.html?_r=0




http://www.pearltrees.com/rainspell/game-industry/id6904538





Four Reasons You Should Be Excited for eSports in 2016
by Butcher, on 2015-12-22 05:30, in #Article
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eSports League of Legends Dota 2 Starcraft Hearthstone CS:GO 2016 2015

With 2015 coming to a close, looking into 2016 is pretty exciting for an eSports fan. Here are four reasons why:

Reason #1 - The ever-increasing salaries of the most successful eSports players:

It is shocking to recognize the stark difference between the salaries of those who pioneered the eSports lifestyle and those who enjoy that lifestyle today. In the beginning of professional eSports, the pro-gamer lifestyle was nothing glamorous -- very low salaries and living out of suitcases. However, considering the constant increase of eSports salaries over the years, coupled with pivotal recent events, the eSports lifestyle is finally becoming validated by the salaries of players at the highest level.

The International 2015 - DOTA2:
The International 2015 had the single largest eSports prize pool of all time: $18,429,613. This incredibly important tournament resulted in the North American team Evil Geniuses walking away with $6,634,660, over $1.3 million per player -- and that's not including their Evil Geniuses salaries. That amount of money is enough to attract large players, and enough to support a person for an extremely long time. Large dollar amounts will attract both those who want to support the scene and those who want to enter it, and The International 2015 raised the bar on total prize pool.

2015 Worlds Championship - League of Legends:
Compared to The International, Riot Games' 2015 Worlds Championship prize pool was considerably smaller, sitting at only $2,130,000. With this prize pool, each player from SKT received $166,666, which is not exactly comparable to DOTA2. However, the International had focused on prize pool; an enormous amount of the DOTA 2 prize pool was crowdfunded. In the League scene, however, the game continues to attract huge players, and absolutely massive money. For example, look at the salary of the recently publicized Easyhoon formerly from SKT. After a bidding war, Easyhoon will be making over $860,000 in guaranteed salary next year in China. That sort of salary is absolutely massive, and not many sports can achieve that sort of funding.


(Korean League of Legends player, Easyhoon)

Reason #2 - The big-time companies investing in eSports:

Let's take a look at some of the companies involved in eSports:


Intel extreme masters, various sponsorships
Holds both the largest market share in overall worldwide PC microprocessor market (79.3%) and the mobile PC microprocessor (84.4%).


(League of Legends Challenger Series)
Ranks #232 in Fortune's Global 500.


SK Telecom T1 League of Legends team
Operated by South Korea's SK Group, one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, which ranks #57 on Fortune's Global 500.

Honorable Mention: Mark Cuban


Played League of Legends in IEM San Jose 2015, has shown huge interest
Business mastermind, Shark Tank host, Dallas Mavericks owner
Net worth of over 2.6 Billion, #211 on the Forbes' 400 richest people

These highly influential corporate companies are investing loads into eSports, which communicates to other businesses that there is clearly something there. Mark Cuban's highly publicized support is also a significant event; those who respect Cuban's specialty - that is, his investing knowledge - will realize quickly that eSports is here to stay, which is fantastic for the future of eSports.



Reason #3 - Rising validity of eSports in popular culture:

I would highly recommend watching the following videos before reading this section:

Rick Fox fighting for eSports on The view

NBA star Gordon Hayward shows his interest in eSports

Gordon Hayward battles for eSports on sports talk-show



Rick Fox is a three-time NBA champion with the Lakers (2000-2002) and a sports personality on ESPN. He learned of the eSports scene through his son and has been supportive of the industry ever since. He has give represented eSports well in traditional sports media, which is very exciting for the social validity of eSports.

Gordon Hayward, 6'8", 225 pound, famously attractive NBA star and League of Legends player has also publicized his support for eSports. Gordon's representation of gamers through his play in the NBA is instrumental in changing the negative stereotypes that surround competitive gaming; furthermore, he's publicly battling those who shamelessly stereotype gamers. As shown above, Colin Cowherd (famous sports talk-show host and rampant stereotype endorser) got dunked on by Hayward on his talk-show The Herd earlier this year.

In what could be seen as either an act of defiance or a peacemaking mission, Cowherd's cohost Kristine Leahy recently hosted the Intel Extreme Masters: San Jose 2015, breaking another batch of equally important gender stereotypes along the way. More coverage by both women and by those who are involved with conventional sports media? Absolutely fantastic for eSports.

The comparison to conventional sports is important to the eSports scene; eSports has always struggled to seem valid, and being comparable to the billion-dollar industry of traditional sports only serves to break stereotypes and garner respect towards competitive gaming.



Reason #4 - The Future is Bright:

With 2015 coming to an end, it's extremely important to look back at the progress we've made this year and analyze what the future holds for the eSports industry. This year in eSports, multiple games have achieved varying record highs, including all-time prize pool and concurrent viewership (The International 2015 and League of Legends Worlds 2015, respectively). The Big Three (League, DOTA 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive) have all had peak years. Hearthstone has continued to flourish. Smaller and newer scenes have also continued to grow, especially considering the release of Overwatch and the expansion for Starcraft 2, Legacy of the Void. and various dark-horse scenes are taking flight, including Rainbow Six: Siege, Heroes of Storm, and Smite.

2016 is looking to be another strong year for eSports. With the 2015 League of Legends season coming to an end, the offseason has brought about insane roster-swaps and team drama that will fuel an incredible 2016 season. Another beacon of excitement in the eSports scene has been the addition of Overwatch, yet another strong Blizzard eSports contender. No matter what game you're playing, take a moment to appreciate the recent growth of eSports and hype yourself up for another year of new records and sick plays - 2016 will be a great year for eSports.


Source: http://www.goldper10.com/article/2907-four-reasons-you-should-be-excited-for-esports-in-2016.html





The Kraft Group And Marc Lasry Invest In eSports
news via Forbes Real Time in Finance

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The Kraft Group And Marc Lasry Invest In eSports

Skillz, a leader in creating the backbone that allows for multi-player mobile eSports, has announced a raise of $15 million with involvement from The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots and Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks....
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http://www.beyond.com/news/the-kraft-group-and-marc-lasry-invest-in-esports-123416681






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Why 2016 Should Be A Year Of Tremendous Growth For eSports

Darren Heitner ,

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I cover the intersection of sports and money.

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A big challenge for eSports is getting people to understand that there are hundreds of millions of people who watch this stuff religiously – the real challenge is in how you build a business around it
From the DOTA 2 competitions offering millions of dollars in their prize pools to Call of Duty extending its reach into the million-dollar prize pools, eSports is easily becoming a worldwide profession for young individuals

Is this the tipping point for the massive, mainstream growth of eSports? The industry that covers competitive video gaming as a spectator sport and online streamers of content has a potential global audience of over 1.4 billion, and participants, manufacturers as well as brands have a unique opportunity to exploit the space while there is still undervalued territory to seize.

In 2015, 36 million individuals streamed the League of Legends World Finals online (a 33% increase from 2014) with 360 million hours of live coverage viewed. The ESL One tournament sold out the Theater at Madison Square in New York.

“eSports is a huge buzzword right now, and the overall industry is growing at an expediential rate,” says Edward Chang, VP of Business Development at Vulcun, an online fantasy league for eSports. “And we all know how big the fantasy sports market is in the U.S. The latest report had about 57 million people over the age of 12 playing in the U.S. and Canada, so why not in eSports?”

Yang Jin Hyeob, left, a professional video-game player, accepts a cash prize from Park Jeong-mu, project director of Nexon Korea, after winning the final round of the Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) Sports FIFA Online Championship at the Nexon Co. e-Sports Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. Photo: Jean Chung/Bloomberg

Vulcun had its first $100,000 winner this past Summer. Many more winners have been crowned as part of fantasy eSports since then.

“When there’s a realness in terms of career possibilities or venture money coming in, all of these things come together and validate this ecosystem,” added Chang. “I believe we will see eSports as one of the top three sports in the world.”

There is real potential for the business of eSports to explode in 2016, and my law firm Heitner Legal has started to work with some of of the startups in the space. With that in mind, I conducted a round-table discussion with executives at a few of the leading companies in eSports to get their thoughts on the future of the booming business.
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When was your company founded? When did you become a part of the company?

Wouter Sleijffers, CEO of Fnatic: The Fnatic eSports team was founded in 2004. We didn’t become a UK Limited company until 2011. I became part of the company in January 2015.

Skyler Johnson, Marketer and Creative Director with Gamma Labs: The company was founded in 2004. For the first 5 years the company only sold 1 product, Gamma-O, an all-natural testosterone booster. In 2009 the company started to expand its product line with a pre-workout product called PTF (PreTraining Formula). As gamers started taking PTF, the company shifted some of its marketing to focus on eSports. As a professional gamer since 2008, It was a huge milestone to see companies outside of gaming coming into the space. I was one of the first gamers/influencers that started working with Gamma and helped them launch a product called G FUEL, an energy and focus formula designed to be a healthy alternative to energy drinks. I worked as a consultant since 2011, and when I graduated from college the company offered me a full time position and moved me to New York to help lead the eSports/Gaming division after my eSports retirement.

Todd Harris, Co-Founder of Hi-Rez Studios: Hi-Rez Studios was founded in February 2005 by Erez Goren.

Ashish Mistry, CEO & President of KontrolFreak: KontrolFreek was founded in 2009, and I’ve been with the company since the beginning.

Megan McCartney, UMG Vice President of Operations: UMG Events LLC was founded by Jeff Covington in 2012. While working another full time day job, I became a part of UMG Online, a counterpart of UMG Events, as the Human Resources Manager when it was first launched in April 2014. Prior to launch, I was brought on to help build a team of people to successfully launch the website. Since then, I have worked my way up through the company ranks through hard work, dedication and a lot of (wo)man hours and am now the Vice President of Operations.

Rahul Sood, Co-Founder and CEO of Unikrn: Unikrn was founded in November of 2014, I am the co-founder and CEO. I actually started my career in the gaming business many years ago, I started the world’s first PC Gaming manufacturer Voodoo. We sold that company to HP many years later. I eventually joined Microsoft and started Microsoft Ventures – it was a dream job by all measures, but I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember and when I saw an opportunity to jump back in I left my job to start Unikrn.

What obstacles/struggles have you encountered from a company and industry standpoint thus far?

Sleijffers: Today, the main challenge for the company is to grow as quickly as we can, globally and sustainably. eSports is a world-wide phenomenon and our brand reaches fans from the West Coast to the Far East. For the industry as a whole, it’s still largely about getting the recognition regarding its size and consequently its value. We’ve come very far and the future is bright, with hundreds of millions of unique viewers world-wide, but for many brands and organizations eSports are still new, unknown and thus risky.

Johnson: Many of our obstacles have been a result of our rapid growth: Increasing inventory to keep pace with demand, taking more warehouse and office space, etc. Most of these are “good” problems, but they are still problems that need to be dealt with. Hiring more people that fit into our culture has also been an important factor, and I’ve been fortunate to grow my department with exceptional people, and I truly feel we are changing the creative marketing game.

Harris: The core challenge is designing a game that is fun and balanced, and also has a high skill curve, because you need a game where an expert player is visibly different from a novice or mid-level player. A high skill curve will keep people playing for a long time and also makes the game interesting to watch because the novice can appreciate the skilled player.

Mistry: Fortunately for KontrolFreek, we’ve had an amazing, organic experience with the eSports industry. We have a functional product that provides benefit to players – so players see real results in gameplay and winning outcomes. As we’ve grown with the industry, our fans have stayed loyal to us and we’ve kept a consistent base of influencers.

McCartney: Some typical struggles our company faces are mainly based on user opinion. As our company has always had the community’s best interest in mind, UMG always strives to take into consideration what our users want. We change and improve various aspects on our site to make it more user friendly as much as we can. Attempting to please all of the customers of UMG Online proves to be very difficult at times, but I believe we do our best to accommodate most in every aspect of our site.

Sood: A big challenge for eSports is getting people to understand that there are hundreds of millions of people who watch this stuff religiously – the real challenge is in how you build a business around it . I think you’ll find with any nascent industry that people are discovering new businesses and learning how to monetize those businesses. For Unikrn our biggest challenge is dealing with regulatory issues as it relates to betting on eSports. We are a data company that creates the most comprehensive eSports sportsbook in the world.

What particularly excites you about 2016? What are some of the major advances you are working on from a company and industry standpoint?

Sleijffers: From a company perspective, the fact that Fnatic is extremely well positioned to further grow out as a leader-brand in eSports is very exciting. Our brand reach is unrivalled and it has helped us to launch ‘Fnatic Gear‘, our new venture in affordable ‘eSports-grade gaming peripherals’. It’s one example of where we see ourselves going as a business. From an industry point of view, it’s definitely about further regulation and organization, for example around leagues. This will help the mainstream audience to take in the excitement of eSports, and brands and other stakeholders to better understand the opportunities in eSports, which will again result in further growth.

Johnson: 2016 is going to be an explosive year for Gamma Labs. We’re already shipping products to over 80 countries a month, but we are positioned for huge international expansion in the coming year. Internally, we are very technology oriented, and we have ramped up our production capabilities to continue to produce unique and quality content. We are also automating our fulfillment center to keep up with demand. All facets of our business are done “in-house”. Design, marketing, production and fulfillment all take place under one roof – and that roof has been getting bigger as we’ve acquired the neighboring 5 buildings. As for the industry, well that’s something entirely different. I truly feel eSports & gaming is on the cusp of something special in the upcoming year.

Harris: We’re excited about growing SMITE PC into new geographic markets, and advancing eSports on console with SMITE now available on Xbox One. SMITE was released in August 2015 and is one of the top free to play games on console. We’re pleased to have Xbox One as title sponsor of our upcoming January tournament. We also look forward to advancing eSports on mobile with a new action speed platformer called Jetpack Fighter. It’s now in Beta and releasing in 2016. Plus, a new competitive online game now in Beta: “Paladins” – our team-based shooter.

Mistry: Product development is core to the KontrolFreek business. 2016 will bring new products and line extensions, as well as key licensing partners from AAA titles. From an industry standpoint, KontrolFreek will continue to advance our thought leadership both in eSports and in the equipment and lifestyle brand space. You’ll see more of us in more places as we integrate with new brands and entities in the eSports community.

McCartney: With so many new title games in the industry being released in 2016, I am excited at all the new opportunities presenting themselves to us. As we have been primarily a Call of Duty based company, UMG is looking to expand its horizons into new areas such as fighting, sports and more FPS games. Our goal is to be able to offer new leagues and more LAN events for such games. From a company standpoint, we are looking to grow our employee base and offer more permanent positions to increase our ability to grow in new games and areas of the eSports world. The UMG team that has been assembled thus far is one of the best teams I have had the pleasure to work with, and our general success of our website is because of them. UMG also plans to become more involved with the community through more social media outlets to produce more ways for players to become noticed and gain more opportunities.

Sood: There are a couple of things that excite me. The fact that big name companies like Turner Broadcasting are coming into the space and creating their own tournament for CS:GO is amazing, it’ll be televised, and I hope it’ll be incredibly popular. The other thing that’s sort of tangential is the changes in the Daily Fantasy Sports space; you see I’ve always believed that betting on sports should be legal, and if it takes regulating DFS to help us get there, then that’s good for the entire sports industry.

What can you tell me about your company’s and the industry’s growth? What achievements have you made? What are your forecasts for 2016? What do you rely upon to make such forecasts?

Sleijffers: Fnatic is growing in double digits, if not triple digit percentages. A large contributor to that growth has been with apparel and merchandising. That’s impressive for an organization running in its 4th year as a business. We’ve invested in teams, talented staff, infrastructure and now also our own gaming peripheral venture. At Fantic, we’re looking at different opportunities to scale our business whilst we feel that existing revenue streams still have a large upwards potential.

Johnson: We’re a private company, so we don’t disclose our financials, but year-over-year our sales have increased by 250%. I think the main difference is our size compared to many of the other companies in eSports today. We have earned our place as a top company in the industry, and feel that we’re just beginning to emerge as a future Fortune 100 Company. We didn’t create the Energy Drink space. We believe we provide the natural evolution for the product category. People today are more health conscious, and that’s a trend that is very strong and likely continue. Combined with the unprecedented growth of the eSports community, we are positioned for tremendous growth, but we’re not forecasting any predictions. We truly want to continue to be the “Peoples drink of choice.”

Harris: We’ve had studio growth in last 24 months from 75 employees to over 225. Over 12 million players of our biggest game SMITE. In 2016 we will see company growth in the following areas:

SMITE going to new markets including a launch in China with Tencent as the publishing partner.
New team shooter, Paladins.
New mobile game Jetpack Fighter.

Mistry: From a growth standpoint, KontrolFreek has been successful almost since inception. This year [2015], we’ll experience about 90 percent growth in the business, and that’s after growing 100 percent in the previous two years. KontrolFreek has also entered into the retail space very successfully. We were in zero retail stores 18 months ago, and by 2016 we’ll be in over 10,000 retail storefronts. I think this is really indicative of the growth of the gaming community and the size of its customer base. As far as forecasting goes, we rely on general industry growth numbers and forecast numbers from analyst groups like NPD. Ultimately, KontrolFreek plans on growing at a steady, high double-digit pace above 50 percent.

McCartney: In regards to industry growth, the eSports world is always growing and expanding its audience base. From the DOTA 2 competitions offering millions of dollars in their prize pools to Call of Duty extending its reach into the million-dollar prize pools, eSports is easily becoming a worldwide profession for young individuals . UMG is proud to offer many opportunities for these individuals to grow and compete in through our online services as well as events. Some achievements UMG has made is reflected on our website as well and in our Event statistics. We have tripled our active user base and and consistently growing in our Tournament participation. Some statistics I can provide you with are as follows:

Since UMG Online’s Launch (April 2014) our active user base has grown over 300%.
Our event Prize pools since 2013 have grown from $5,000 to $50,000 or more due to increased participation and sponsor interest in our company.
We have offered over $80,000 in free tournaments for our Prime Members on our site.
Event Team attendance has increased from 16 teams from our first event to our most recent 128 team sold out event.
Event Spectator attendance has increased from about 75 people to over 1,000 throughout our most recent Event for UMG

Our goal for 2016 is to double our current statistics from our online and events standpoints. To do this, we plan to offer more and new types of competitions to gamers throughout the industry until UMG is a gaming household name

Sood: Unikrn raised a total of $10 million in the last year with some amazing investors including Ashton Kutcher and Guy O’Searys Sound Ventures, Mark Cuban, Shari Redstone’s Advancit Capital, Elisabeth Murdoch’s Freelands Fund, Binary Capital, Indicator Ventures, Tabcorp, and a few others . We have a network of gaming communities that reaches about 5 million users monthly on average, and we offer safe and legal real money betting on major eSports events. It’s projected that betting on eSports will exceed 20 billion dollars in turnover in the next 5 years and we believe Unikrn will remain a leader in the space.

What are the most important quantifiable benchmarks/thresholds for your company and the eSports industry?

Sleijffers: That’s hard to say as it’s still a nascent industry. I rather take lessons and benchmarks in more traditional markets and businesses outside of eSports, where we feel that we have equal value to give or deliver. Or even more than that, looking at the global appeal of eSports.

Johnson: For the industry, I think the recent announcement with Mark Cuban possibly buying an eSports franchise is extremely significant. This ratifies our belief that eSports will be valued as much as other sporting organizations. Outside of numerous famous personalities becoming more aware of the space, I feel the games and their developers becoming hands on and actually backing the games they make is one of the biggest things to helping the games growth and the global outreach.

Harris: Our most important business metric is player retention. For us, eSports is an extension of our community efforts in that we see it driving higher player retention and engagement. For the eSports industry, growth comes from viewership, as that brings in more non-endemic sponsors and advertisers.

Mistry: The most important benchmarks for KontrolFreek are unit count and revenue growth. The eSports industry will rely mainly on viewership, quantifiable brand dollars and publicly announced sponsorship dollars.

McCartney: One of the most quantifiable thresholds for our company has been our ever-growing events. UMG started with very small prize pools at $5,000-$10,000. We are now offering at minimum $50,000 per event and continually increasing our prize pools. With our growth in the LAN event area, our growth is also reflected in our eSports website: UMGGaming.com. Another specific milestone UMG has hit that I have had the pleasure to be a part of while working here, is that we are continually growing our relationships with sponsor companies like BenQ, Scuf Gaming and GFuel. Recently, we have been working directly with game development teams, as well, to provide competitors with new opportunities and experiences within the game they play through our site and events. On UMGGaming.com, we offer daily tournaments for multiple games on various consoles, as well as cash out matches. With the help of our dedicated UMG staff, the growth of our site is reflected in our general participation and site use. This is one of the most important statistics for us as UMG always strives to be the best site it can be and growth determines our future in the eSports world.

Sood: For Unikrn the most important benchmarks are user engagement. As long as our customers join the site, interact with our content, and continue coming back then we’re in great shape. Never before in eSports has there been a combination of VC and celebrity money, team salaries going up, and major brands converging. I think we’re in a bit of a mini bubble, but that’s healthy. There will be some blow ups, and in the end only the strong companies will come out ahead. eSports is exciting, but it’s also challenging in the sense that very few people understand the best way to monetize it. It’s not as easy as it seems.

What is your company’s role in the future development of the industry? Why is your company so vital to the industry’s success?

Sleijffers: From hear-say, Fnatic acts as one of the benchmarks in the industry. As with any other team, our business is vital since it’s us (teams and players) that give all the excitement about eSports. We’re the reason why hundreds of millions tune in, and are hungry for more. Having been relevant in eSports for over 10 years means that we’ve now become one of the legendary names in the industry and we have a very bright future ahead. We hope that with our work we contribute to the global appeal, excitement and growth of eSports.

Johnson: I feel we fit nicely in helping to grow some of the influencers brands. I try to think outside the box when it comes to creative marketing and give the players some of the things I wish I had access to during my run as a Professional Gamer. Not to mention, a lot of the influencers and professionals now are all guys growing up that I competed against and looked up to me in a sense. So, I feel I have a good connection with not only them, but some of the industry’s best.

Harris: We are a very experimental company and that pertains to eSports, as well. Larger companies, Activision/Blizzard, Turner, EA are now forming eSports divisions, but we’ve had an eSports focus for many years. We have been innovating and leading the charge in the following eSports areas:

first development studio to have our own broadcast channel on Twitch.TV: In fact for a while we were broadcasting 24/7 on Twitch. We recently scaled back to allow room for community broadcasters to grow as well.
crowd-sourcing of prize pools: SMITE is one of the top games worldwide in terms of eSports prizing (source esportsearnings.com) and that is due to crowdsourcing.
advancing eSports on console: SMITE is the first successful MOBA on console.
advancing eSports on mobile: with upcoming release of new game Jetpack Fighter.
advancing new revenue sources for eSports teams: We have implemented branded merchandise within SMITE with revenue-share back to the teams. So purchase of a TSM or Fnatic chest within the game gives 50% to that team and 50% toward eSports general funding.
working closely with pro teams early in development process: Though still in Beta we have announced a 100K tournament for new game Paladins. This is a signal to competitive community that we want their participation and feedback to make the game better.

Mistry: Having been in the industry almost since its inception, our products have been used almost like batting gloves or helmets would have been in the beginning of major league baseball and football. As such, we’ve played an integral role in delivering performance to players, and also reinvesting dollars back into the community to grow and sustain the industry.

McCartney: I believe our company’s role in the future of the eSports world is to keep providing a top notch online and event experience for all players, pro or casual competitors. UMG focuses on helping the community grow and present new opportunities for all gamers and spectators who love watching competitive gaming. UMG is vital to the industry’s success because we provide the environment for players to compete, either online or at an actual LAN event. Players utilize our website daily for multiple hours a day to compete against their fellow players in legitimate rule-based matches. Having that level of competition helps hone each player’s strengths and strategy within the game they are playing. Our daily tournaments also give players the opportunity to earn money, as well as prestige online to show teams and sponsors their abilities. UMG’s goal and one of my personal goals is to cultivate and flourish the eSports community.

Sood: Among other things, Unikrn is building the most comprehensive eSports SportsBook in the world. We are creating an interactive environment where people can learn about eSports and the players, participate in the games, and eventually as they get deeper into it – place bets on the teams they love the most. Since eSports has been largely ignored and unregulated there are websites out there that prey on young people as it relates to gambling. Unikrn is here to change that – we embrace regulation, we are giving back to the industry, we are helping women in eSports, and we are here to make eSports better overall. We believe our product will give game publishers other avenues for revenue as well - there is so much opportunity it’s exciting as heck.

What new costs/hurdles do you see for your company and the industry in 2016? Is drug testing a real issue? What about hacking and DDoS attacks? Anything else?

Sleijffers: As in any growing industry and business, it’s about sustainable growth. It’s about the fans and viewers, foremost, who make up what eSports is today. It’s also about the proper support for players and teams without going into excess. We’ll see some challenges that have been apparent in other industries. And that’s why an industry as new as eSports must learn and adapt to stay relevant and attractive for all.

Johnson: The biggest thing will be keeping up with the demand as we begin to expand to a more international audience than we already are. Drug testing inside eSports will become more and more of an issue as the tournament prize pool increases. Another issue I have thought about often is creating a players union to protect the players from unfair policies that force them to compete or not compete in certain tournaments. The end goal of all this for me is to say I made an impact on the beginning of a newly thriving eSports era and make the transition to becoming a creative lead in the marketing industry.

Harris: We expect 2016 will see additional fragmentation given the number of new leagues (example Turner), publishers forming their own eSports divisions (example Activision/Blizzard and EA), and new live-streaming options (example YouTube Gaming, Azubu). Consolidation is inevitable, but perhaps a few years away. Drug abuse/testing is more of a perceived issue than a real issue, but the industry would benefit from more regulation in this area to combat negative perception. Fantasy eSports would be a great additional fan engagement option and industry growth opportunity, but dependent on regulation and legal questions getting resolved. DDoS attacks are one of the biggest challenges for the industry . Online events are much more cost effective for publishers, but also threatened by DDoS. Large publishers and leagues can mitigate attacks with very expensive protection, but can be cost prohibitive for smaller tournament organizers.

Mistry: As a result of the industry’s growth and the new entrance of corporate dollars, things will become more expensive for everybody. Because of that, the dollars that are spent on sponsorships and players will have to be adequately spent to create sustainability. Corporate dollars will have to be deployed responsibly, because if not, a team’s cost structure will get so out of whack, the team will collapse on itself. So, things will get more expensive and there will be more at stake with brands and sponsorships. There will be growing pains this year: teams will wash out, dollars will be mis-spent, sponsors won’t be happy – it’s going to happen. But, as long as both brands and teams have clear expectations of what both sides can deliver, we will see a lot of growth in the industry in 2016. Hacking and DDoS attacks are more of an issue than drug testing. These things are something that the eSports will have to contend with in order to be legitimized in the long run. The industry will have to level the playing field where technology is concerned, not just with hacking, but also with quality. The technology will have to be there to ensure that everyone has a chance to play at the same levels and speeds. Lag will make or break a game and the industry is going to have to normalize the technology to ensure it doesn’t happen. That being said, obviously if players are taking performance enhancing drugs to increase their concentration in-game, that needs to be taken seriously, as well.

McCartney: A new hurdle our company faces is the ever growing and changing eSports community. Whether it be a new game and new rules that need to be implemented in the open event scene, or changes and updates on our site to keep up with current standards, improvements are constant in this world. With technology becoming second nature to younger generations, hacking and DDos attacks have become more prevalent. We at UMG do our best to seek out and stop such attacks from affecting our website and its users. No matter what challenges may arise, UMG plans to always meet them head on and provide the best experience for our supporters.

Sood: Unikrn created the first eSports Integrity program which is designed to be all encompassing. As a betting company it’s very easy for us to spot anomalies as it relates to cheating, DDoSing, etc. We are working with other organizations to create standards in the industry which will address such things. The biggest hurdle for us is dealing with real money betting regulators — as long as Fantasy helps pave the way, we’re in great shape in the USA. In the meantime we operate a great business internationally and we’re happy to be here.

Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.

Follow @DarrenHeitner

Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/12/31/why-2016-should-be-a-year-of-tremendous-growth-for-esports/#2715e4857a0b422fce552b96