1. Why the Next Big Thing is…
eSPORTS
The growth of eSPORTS will drive opportunity for
consumer IT & consumer electronics …
By Bob Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
CHANNEL MEDIA EUROPE

2. THREE
THINGS YOU
DON’T ADMIT
WHILE AT
COCKTAIL
PARTY FOR
BUSINESS

3. THREE THINGS YOU DON’T ADMIT WHILE AT COCKTAIL PARTY FOR BUSINESS
You believe
in UFOs…

4. THREE THINGS YOU DON’T ADMIT WHILE AT COCKTAIL PARTY FOR BUSINESS
Yes, that
includes LIFE
ELSEWHERE
IN THE
UNIVERSE

5. THREE THINGS YOU DON’T ADMIT WHILE AT COCKTAIL PARTY FOR BUSINESS
You voted
for him…

6. THREE THINGS YOU DON’T ADMIT WHILE AT COCKTAIL PARTY FOR BUSINESS

7. Is this what
you think
eSPORTS
is?

8. Let’s Guess
How many people play or follow eSports today?
150,000
1.5 million
10.5 million
100.5 million
150.5 million

9. 1.5 MILLION?
(That’s just Australia!)

10. This is eSPORTS!

11. 148 million "eSports enthusiasts"
around the globe
22% of American male
millennials watch esports,
putting it virtually equal with
baseball and hockey in terms
of viewership among that
demographic.

12. Say it ain’t so,
Joe…

13. But it is so… and it’s
also a sport played in
stadiums…
In 2016, esports
events in USA
comfortably sold
out Key Arena
(Seattle),
Nationwide Arena
(Columbus),
Staples Center (Los
Angeles) and
Madison Square
Garden (New
York). ​

14. Intel Extreme
Masters
With 10 years of epic
events and thrilling finals,
Intel Extreme Masters is
the longest running event
series in video game
history.
113,000 ATTENDANCE AT
KATOWICE 2016

15. It’s all about
Business.
Goldman Sachs valued
eSports at $500 million in
2016 and expects the market
will grow at 22% annually
compounded over the next
three years into… a more
than $1 billion opportunity…

16. And still
growing…

18. How much does it pay?

19. Meet “UniVerse”
$2.7m PLUS how much
he receives from
streaming, bonuses,
salary and sponsorship
deals on top of these
impressive earnings.

20. And what
about the
ladies?

23. On the reality
television show, World
Cyber Games Ultimate
Gamer, winner of the
Ultimate Gamer trophy.
Katherine “Kat” Gunn, aka MYSTIC

25. 21,000 pros
The top three Highest
Earnings eSports Countries,
consisting of China, United
States and South Korea
collectively have 11,000
professional gamers.
*All figures are based on USD currency
and are gathered from the end of 2016

26. The three most popular pro games
• Counter-Strike Global
Offensive
• League of Legends
• Defense Of The Ancients
2 (Dota 2)

27. Dota 2 Prize Money was
$20,770,460
That's roughly double the
total payout of The
Masters.
The International's winning team, a Chinese
side called Wings Gaming, split the
$9,139,002 grand prize among its five
gamers—each team member took home
$1.87 million for his triumph.
80 gamers who qualified for The
International, Dota 2 is their livelihood, ​and
an increasingly lucrative one at that.
For his Masters win,
Danny Willett won $1.8
million

29. Continued parallels to mainstream sports
• Traditional sports owners are buying esports teams, especially in the NBA, and events are being
hosted in traditional sports venues, meaning more exposure to casual fans.
• Key areas for growth in 2017: live event sophistication, technology, enhancing fan experiences
for in-person and live viewers, regulation, and union and integrity groups are growing and
gaining strength – taking cues from partners in traditional sports.
• Intercollegiate esports networks will grow and become more sophisticated. Schools with natural
geographic and conference rivalries will really make their mark in 2017.
• New league models will emerge, such as Overwatch’s launch of an ambitious new league. It will
have a season and an off-season, with new levels of accessibility to players and fans. Teams will
have geographic locals and model systems similar to the MLB and MLS in terms of player
development, sustainability and entertainment.
• Big names are getting involved. Check out SHAQ’s event at the White House in late 2016.

30. NBA champion (and investor
in NRG eSports) Shaquille O’Neal
announced on YouTube an
upcoming gaming marathon
broadcast live from the White
House on Twitch.
The goal of the White House
Competitive Gaming Event in
2016 --the first event of its kind.

31. Monetization / brands getting involved
• More and more channels will open up for esports,
especially in entertainment with esports books and
movies coming in 2017.
• No. America and Europe will start to catch up with Asia in
terms of investment from marquee brands outside the
endemic products.
• The amount of brands involved will triple in 2017.
• Big marquee brand names are signing on or upping their
investment by the day in 2017.

32. SPONSORS!

33. Virtus Pro Secures
'Largest-Ever'
Sponsorship Deal in
Eastern Europe
ESforce should be a familiar
name to esports fans, especially
in CS:GO. They have majority
shares in both SK Gaming and
Virtus.Pro, control the media
rights for Na'vi, own 90% of
CS:GO Lounge, as well as
Epicenter organizer Epic Sports
Events, and broadcasting studio
RuHub.
ESforce Holding (owners of Virtus Pro) has
announced a 'game-changing' partnership with
MediaMarkt Russia worth several million
dollars, the largest in the Eastern European
eSports market to date.

34. Players / athletes becoming more influential
• Players will be treated more like celebrities, with more media attention, and
they will be more sought after by brands.
• Players will be used more by brands and communicators as part of their
influencer marketing programs.
• As a more mainstream audience starts to tune in, there is plenty of
untapped potential to uncover the story behind these athletes, and what
makes them interesting players and people – focusing on rivalries,
backstories and all the elements that make athletes in other sports so
compelling to fans worldwide.
• Casters (hosts/announcers similar to mainstream sports) will become even
more popular and utilized in media, sponsorships and influencer marketing.

35. Streaming….
• At the end of 2016, Riot Games (*client) brokered a $300M monster
deal with BAM Tech for streaming rights through 2023. BAM Tech,
which has similar deals with NHL, PGA, HBO and ESPN, will help Riot
launch a dedicated streaming app next year and will handle
distribution and monetization of League tournaments across third-
party platforms like YouTube and Amazon’s Twitch.
• Expect more of this in 2017, and keep an eye on services such as
Amazon and Netflix to get in the mix – giving esports an even bigger
platform and better technology for players, teams, fans and sponsors.

36. Since 2011, Twitch is the
world’s leading social video
platform and community for
video game culture. 10
million visitors gather each
day to watch and talk about
video games, music, the
creative arts,
and…themselves.
By the Numbers
• About 10 million daily active users
• 2,200,000 unique content creators per
month
• 22,000+ members of the Twitch Partner
Program
• 106 minutes watched per person per day
• 2+ million peak concurrent sitewide
viewers
• 65+ million raised by the Twitch
community for charity

37. Nielsen is bringing its
data and analysis
expertise to eSports
Nielsen, one of the top market research
firms in the world and a leading provider
of television viewer statistics and
consumer data…
"The playoff rounds of major 2017
esports tournaments measured by
Esport24 to date, yielded anywhere
from $75,000 to nearly $17 million in
sponsorship value, emphasizing the
need for standard metrics to help
industry players understand the value
they are providing, receiving, or
missing out on, via brand activations in
esports," Nielsen said.

38. More mainstream media coverage
ESPN and Yahoo’s dedicated esports
news verticals will continue to grow
in 2017.
ESPN is even covering off-season
free agency as they would in the NFL
or NBA.

39. Did I mention were
going to the Olympics?

40. And it’s only
going to
accelerate
more with
AR/VR/MR
technologies

41. The kit
We play
eSports
in style!
Requires the fastest
PCs, the most
responsive
peripherals and
comfortable
accessories

43. THE BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITIES
• Private label brands for retail and
distributors
• Private label brands for major
brands
• Private labels brands for sports
teams
• Private label brands for esports
teams or celebrities
• The basic kit
• Accessories
• Mounts & displays
• Seating & Furniture
• Clothing & wearables
• THE STADIUMS and GAME
ENVIRONMENTS are an emerging
specialization for tech integrators

44. Thanks for listening
while we point the
way forward…