Lee Davy brings you up to speed with a trio of eSports tales including a former LA Lakers star creating an eSports documentary and sponsorship and broadcasting deals aplenty.
Former LA Lakers star Rick Fox believes the level of engagement between eSports fans and the eSports athletes is far greater than anything he ever experienced when competing in the NBA.
Fox is so amazed by what he sees he has partnered with Propagate and INE Entertainment to create an eSports documentary with the view of sharing what he sees with both the eSports community and newcomers to the sport. Fox will executive produce the show alongside veteran producer Mark Koops.
The news comes days after another former LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant made an appearance at the NBA 2K World Championships in Downtown LA prompting speculation that he will also be traversing into the newest of sports.
A third former LA Lakers great, Shaquille O’Neal is an investor with NRG eSports – a competitive League of Legends (LOL) team.
Comcast’s Xfinity Brand Partners With ESL & Evil Geniuses
Xfinity, a division of the world’s largest broadcasting and cable TV company (by revenue) Comcast, will see their brand spread to eyeballs throughout the eSports industry due to two key partnerships.
In the first, Xfinity has partnered with the Electronic Sports League (ESL). Branding appeared around the Halo Championships Series: Pro League Season 1 and the Storm Live Finals which took place in Los Angeles this weekend.
From league creator to league participant and Xfinity has also inked a deal with the eSports organisation Evil Geniuses. The cable company will provide the team’s training facilities with Gigabit Pro Internet and their premium video product Xfinity X1. The brand will also adorn team jerseys, social media channels, and anything else they can hold a patch.
In 2015, Comcast earned $74.51 billion in revenue.
College Network PAC-12 to Air eSports
The PAC-12 Network will become the first collegiate athletic conference to showcase eSports on their network when broadcasting begins next fall. PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said that eSports are a ‘natural fit’ alongside their current roster of games.
The schools that belong to the PAC-12 will compete in a series of heads-up matches as well as compete in a PAC-12 Championship event. The games of choice remain a mystery for now. Pac-12 eSports teams have good form. Of the 64 colleges that compete in the Heroes of the Dorm competitions Pac-12 member Arizona State’s Dream team has finished in the top two spots for the past two seasons and are the reigning champions.
ESPN aired coverage of Heroes of the Dorm up until this point.
According to data retrieved from Betradar, there are over 250 million eSports viewers worldwide, with an estimated global wagering market of $23 billion expected to hit the banks by 2020, generating $1.81 billion in revenue for sports books.
