- When an investing firm which boasts about how few investments it makes, says it’s excited about a company, then it’s time to listen
- Rossbach says eSports are the future and will likely leave the pro-sports in the dust, at least for investors
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When an investing firm which boasts about how few investments it makes, says it’s excited about a company, then it’s time to listen.
The operation in question is London-based J. Stern & Co., which describes itself as a private investment office — somewhere between a family office and an investment manager.
“We are very long term investors and since inception of the core portfolio in October 2012, we have traded only two or three companies a year,†says Chris Rossbach, chief investment officer at J. Stern.
He and his team have recently been turned on by a new trend that could reap big rewards. Specifically, Rossbach says eSports are the future and will likely leave the pro-sports in the dust, at least for investors. The stock in question is Activision Blizzard.
Visitors play the video game ‘Overwatch.’ Credit: LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images
If you don’t already know, eSports are competitive video game sports that people not only like to play but also like to watch when others play.
“The management and CEO of ActivisionBlizzard almost created the industry,” says Rossbach.
If watching others play video games sounds strange to you, don’t worry, there are plenty for whom this is normal. How many? A July-dated report from J. Stern sums it up:
“Newzoo, an expert in video games data, predicts that the global eSports audience will increase to a staggering 385 million people in 2017 and estimates that revenues from eSports will grow from $130 million in 2012 to $696 million this year.”
More than that, the “audience is highly engaged,” says Rossbach.
So eSports has a fast growing audience that is really ‘in’ to gaming as an activity to participate in or as a spectator. The same could be said about other pro sports. Yes, and that is also where the comparison is instructive.
Simon Constable is a writer, economics commentator, and a fellow at The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health and the Study of Business Enterprise.
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