Esports ##TOP##

Cobber esports, the first competitive, varsity-level gaming program in the college's history, is accepting new members. All full-time students are welcome to participate and should join the Cobber Esports Discord server for updates and team communication.

The competition season will begin in January 2023 with Rocket League and League of Legends. The Harvest, Concordia esports' newly renovated space, is located on the lower level of Park Region (see photos below).

Esports

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Esports is a booming global industry where skilled video gamers play competitively. In the same way that traditional sports have competitions in baseball, basketball, and football, esports encompasses competitions across a variety of video games. Contrary to common perception, esports is not simply a phenomenon occurring in the basements of unemployed twentysomethings; the industry is real, growing globally, and investable. In fact, over 380 million people watch esports worldwide both online and in person. More people watched the 2016 world finals of popular esports game League of Legends (43 million viewers) than the NBA Finals Game 7 that year (31 million viewers). With its fragmented landscape and digital platform, the esports sector holds promise for a multitude of monetization opportunities.

Becoming a top esports player is no simple achievement. To rise through the ranks, players specialize in a specific game, developing their skills through extensive, competitive play. Some even train up to 14 hours a day to hone quick reflexes and multi-tasking abilities. Talented players primarily have two options in pursuing their esports careers:

Most fans are in Asia, North America, and Europe: In the past, people thought that the craze of competitive video gaming was primarily an Asian phenomenon, yet today only 51% of esports enthusiasts are in Asia. In fact, North America and Europe have taken a prominent place in the global esports and gaming ecosystem (Chart 4).

Fans are deeply engaged: Fans are already averaging 100 minutes per session spectating. Interestingly, only about half of viewers actually play the video game they are watching. Furthermore, 60% of esports fans are willing to travel to see their favorite games, tournaments, and players.

Fans are young digital natives: Research indicates that 65% of fans are between the ages of 18-34, and, while the fan base does skew male, 38% of esports fans are women. Among American male millennials (age 21 to 35), esports is just as popular as baseball or ice hockey, with 22% watching it. In North America, the most popular sport in the region, football, is only 2x as popular as esports among male millennials. For male viewers between the ages of 36 and 50, football is only 3x as popular.

Esports fans are working professionals with purchasing power: Global marketing firm Mindshare found in a survey that 43% of esports enthusiastics have an annual household income of $75k per year or higher, and nearly one third (31%) have income of $90k or higher. This purchasing power and ability to engage on technology platforms makes the esports audience particularly desirable to target for big brands, which we will discuss later on.

A decade ago, one-off sales of packaged home-console software comprised 64% of the global gaming market. Since then, it has fallen to 30%. With esports now included in the 2022 Asian Games, gaming companies can now start to develop similar revenue streams as media companies, including advertising, ticket sales, shares of TV rights and more.

The upcoming year should see esports reach ~$700 million, an esports industry growth of 41% from the previous year and an increase from $325 million in 2015. The 2017 figure does not include betting or fantasy esports numbers. Revenues are projected to reach $1.5 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR (2015-2020) of 35.6%.

The well-known gaming/tech esports sponsors are increasing their involvement and at the same time, lifestyle brands and non-endemic brands (brands not inherent to the gaming industry) are also moving from experimental to dedicated esports budgets. On top of that, local teams, leagues, and events are starting to tap into new marketing budgets to reach this audience.

Media rights revenue is the revenue paid to industry stakeholders to secure the rights to show esports content on a channel. This includes payments from online streaming platforms to organizers for broadcasting their content. This also includes foreign broadcasters securing rights to show content in their country and paying for copyright to show video content or photos of esports competitions.

In esports, broadcasting and media rights will be a key growth driver as the worlds of media and gaming continue to converge. As mentioned previously, this sentiment is echoed in Newzoo research, which projects the media rights sector to grow from $95 million in 2016 to $340 million by 2020, making it the fastest growing portion of the esports market.

Although now is a great time to invest in esports, many investors understandably find it challenging to navigate its complexity. Still, this complexity translates to a vast, broad range of investment opportunities. Exciting times undoubtedly lie ahead as these various verticals continue to develop monetization strategies for the massive audience base.

The best deals in esports and gaming can admittedly take some time to find. Today, they are found primarily through word-of-mouth and through your personal network. Below is a quick checklist for evaluating companies in the esports industry: 2351a5e196