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Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – Understanding the rapid growth of the esports industry $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, January 30th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

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EGLX: TSX-V
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Understanding the rapid growth of the esports industry

From the rise of social media giants like Facebook to multinational e-commerce sites like Amazon, the digital revolution has helped create many overnight success stories.

  • A recent report by Newzoo stated that the esports industry is expected to be worth at least $1.7 billion by 2021, and seeing as the competitive gaming phenomenon has been with us for less than 20 years, it’s clear that there’s plenty of room for even more growth.

But one of the more surprising developments that rose with broadband technologies is that of esports. This competitive gaming phenomenon has come from nowhere to become one of the world’s most exciting entertainment trends. A recent report by Newzoo stated that the esports industry is expected to be worth at least $1.7 billion by 2021, and seeing as the competitive gaming phenomenon has been with us for less than 20 years, it’s clear that there’s plenty of room for even more growth.

But what is esports and how has it grown to become a billion dollar industry? Simply put, esports is just like traditional sports, but its competitors play video games rather than sports like football or tennis.

What’s truly surprising is the way that esports has grown to become a spectator sport. Whilst it might sound odd to want to watch other people playing video games, millions of people tune in live to watch other gamers playing popular esports like the first-person shooter Counter Strike Global Offensive or the battle arena title, League of Legends.

A key part of the appeal of esports is that it caters to a demand for competitive gaming that was always there, but never got chance to reach its potential. Whilst competitive gaming tournaments have been around for many years, it was only through the introduction of broadband technologies that gamers were able to compete with other gamers no matter where in the world they were. As a result, we have seen an explosion in competitive gaming that crosses borders to become a truly global phenomenon.

Some of the world’s leading games developers were quick to notice this trend, and there have been moves made to create gaming titles that appear to be specifically designed with esports in mind. For example, Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch game has become a massive hit in esports in just a couple of years.

By cleverly blending elements from first-person shooters and battle arena games, Overwatch has become one of the more dynamic team-based esports titles around that makes it perfect for achieving massive viewing figures.

We have also seen the growing standardisation of rules and gameplay in the esports realm. Whilst competitive gaming was fairly chaotic in its infancy, it looks to be gradually maturing with professionally organised tournaments like the Overwatch League ensuring that a fixed number of teams and players take part.

Such measures not only help to produce fair gameplay and accurate statistics that makes it easy to place a bet on an esports contest through a site like www.liveesportsbetting.com, but it also opens up competitive gaming to a range of big money sponsors.

In the past decade there has been many multinational firms taking steps to sponsor esports tournaments, teams and players. From energy drinks manufacturers like Red Bull to famous automobile brands like Audi, it seems that many companies are keen to partner up with esports so as to reach a younger demographic who increasingly bypass traditional media forms.

In addition to this, the fact that McDonalds would give up their sponsorship of the German football association to sponsor the German ESL Meisterschaft esports tournament tells you all you need to know about how quickly things are changing. 

Like in any rapidly growing industry, it’s the dynamic nature of esports that makes it so attractive to investors and sponsors. Overnight success stories such as Fortnite can appear from nowhere, and similarly, we have seen how famous esports players like Ninja can offer brands a fresh new face that is perfect for sponsorship deals that don’t follow the traditional archetype. So whilst it’s easy to be sceptical about the rapid developments in the esports realm, it seems as though the competitive gaming phenomenon is here to stay.

Source: https://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/business/understanding-the-rapid-growth-of-the-esports-industry

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – What’s Next for Esports? An Insider Weighs In $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:50 PM on Monday, January 28th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

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EGLX: TSX-V
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An interview with Mike Sepso, co-founder of Major League Gaming and Electronic Sports Group.

  • Esports, the professional level of video gaming, is still a relatively new form of entertainment, and many people still think watching other people play video games is an odd way to spend time.
  • However, the content category has come a long way and continues to grow at a rapid clip — and that hasn’t happened by accident.

Keith Noonan Jan 27, 2019 at 9:04AM

Esports, the professional level of video gaming, is still a relatively new form of entertainment, and many people still think watching other people play video games is an odd way to spend time. However, the content category has come a long way and continues to grow at a rapid clip — and that hasn’t happened by accident. People in the industry have been working for decades to get it to where it is today, and Mike Sepso has been a big part of the push.

In 2002, Sepso co-founded Major League Gaming (MLG), one of the pioneering organizations in esports and one that played a key role in bringing competitive gaming as a spectator sport to greater prominence. He sold MLG to Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) in 2015 and came on board at the company as a senior vice president in charge of esports. Sepso sees a huge growth runway for competitive gaming as spectator entertainment content, and he left Activision last year to form Electronic Sports Group, a company that’s advising clients across a range of industries about business opportunities in the esports space. 

I had the chance to interview him and pick his brain about the history of esports, where he sees the industry going, and what this emerging content category could mean for investors. Read on for an inside look at the rapidly expanding world of esports.

Image source: Getty Images.

Understanding esports and what’s ahead

Despite professional gaming’s exploding popularity, the content category isn’t broadly known or understood outside of millennial and Generation Z age demographics. There are differing opinions about what esports is, even among people who follow the space, but if anyone is qualified to describe it, it’s probably Sepso. I asked the industry veteran how he would describe esports to people who might not have a lot of previous exposure to it. Here’s what he had to say: 

I spent many, many years explaining esports conceptually to people. Generally speaking, it’s team-based competition. Two teams are pitted against each other to achieve an objective on an even playing field that requires a tremendous amount of skill and practice and teamwork to accomplish. So from that perspective, taking that athleticism out of it, everything sounds a lot like sports.

More recently, I would say in the past couple years, it’s much easier to describe esports because really all you have to say is, “There’s about a half a billion people that watch it.” It’s becoming far and away the fastest-growing spectator sport among people under 35. So, when you say that to people who work in the traditional sports or broadcasting business, it’s a massive sort of light bulb. 

A scene from Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch. Image source: Activision Blizzard. 

To put esports growth in context, Newzoo estimates that global revenue for professional competitive gaming will have climbed from $493 million in 2016 to roughly $1.5 billion in 2020 — and that’s just scratching the surface of the potential market. Other industry snapshots take a broader view of what constitutes esports — and they report bigger market sizes and faster growth than Newzoo, factoring in cash sources like gambling, investments, and business from more-casual gaming events and broadcasts. Precise figures for the current and near-term values of the market probably aren’t as important as the trend and the implications. There’s impressive growth here and huge room for expansion.

Building story lines

The esports and traditional pro sports industries won’t be neatly comparable across all dimensions, but it’s not unreasonable to think that the types of personal attachments and story lines that have formed around teams and players in the NFL and NBA (and been central to the growth of those leagues) could have counterparts in professional gaming. Sepso thinks that the evolution of those dynamics will play a role in encouraging industry growth, and he says he’s already seeing some promising developments on that front with the Overwatch League:

I think the most interesting thing will be, specifically with the Overwatch League, will be as it moves to a distributed city-based system. So now all of the teams, all of the franchise owners own a particular market: L.A., New York, Boston, et cetera. They’re not playing in those markets yet. Once that distributed model takes effect and you have teams playing home and away games in all of these cities around the world, I think you’re going to see a much more interesting narrative develop that intertwines those cities with the teams and their brands.

I asked Sepso how soon he sees esports becoming a reliable sales pillar for gaming’s major publishers. Here’s his outlook on when that might happen and how to measure the content category’s emergence for leading video game companies:

These are multibillion dollars of revenue businesses, so in order for esports to be kind of meaningful, it has to be at least over 10% of the total revenue picture. I think we’re still several years away from that being the case, but it’s hard to pinpoint when that’s going to happen because the growth rate is so high. It’s really just “How quickly can the audience be effectively monetized,” and some of that honestly is outside of the control of the publishers.

Sepso thinks that advertisers are still working out the best ways to approach and engage with the fast-growing esports audience.

So the revenue streams that are sort of powering that growth are going to come from rights fees and sponsorship and advertising. And, at the end of the day, rights fees are sort of inherently driven by sponsorship and advertising spend, too, so it’s really got a lot to do with how quickly the advertising industry and the consumer products industry and various other kind of big advertising vectors figure out how to tap into this type of property and engage with the audience.

Members of Overwatch League’s New York Excelsior team celebrating a win. Image source: Activision Blizzard.

Who’s winning the game?

When it comes to which video game companies are creating the content and structure needed to bring in advertisers and investors, Sepso sees a lot of promising efforts, but he outlined two clear leaders in these early days: Activision Blizzard with the Overwatch League and Tencent (NASDAQOTH:TCEHY) with the League of Legends Championship Series. He said:

So I think that across the board generally speaking, they’re doing a great job. But this is sort of early days of this new highly regulated, highly structured, highly controlled league system being developed. So you really only have Overwatch League and League of Legends Championship Series. Those are the two kind of big, global franchise league structures out there. Those are clearly the two best to invest in from an advertiser’s point of view because they’re big and stable and there’s a lot of capital and resources behind promoting them and making them bigger and investing in the quality of the content.

So, as more of those leagues are developed and launched by the publishers, and the ad industry figures out how to engage with that type of system, I think that’s when the growth curve will really take off from a financial performance basis. But the nice thing is that the audience is already there. You can kind of see that, with an audience as big as esports is at an aggregate level, if you can apply even a small percentage of the typical monetization rates per fan that the traditional sports leagues have to that model, you get a massive revenue opportunity.

Asked what it will take to get esports to the next level and generate increasing momentum for mainstream expansion, Sepso stressed the importance of expanding the appeal while still remaining true to what made esports attractive to the core fans.

I think what you’re starting to see is connection points outside of the core audience. So it’s important that as esports becomes more mainstream and more commercialized, that the core fan base is serviced. You don’t want to sort of skip past the people that got you there. Especially with esports, that authenticity metric is critical. So keeping that fan base engaged but then expanding into new connection points is very important, too.

The Electronic Sports Group co-founder sees television distribution deals, celebrity involvement, and increasing connection points across the media landscape helping to make the content more accessible and easier to discover.

Since primarily you only had esports broadcast on places like Twitch, outside of the gaming community, it was difficult to generate any awareness that this was going on. But now … you’ve got Overwatch League in particular distributing on Disney network channels, and the whole industry is getting more mainstream in general…

So I think you’re going to see more and more mass-market awareness of this happening, and as fans come in, the other interesting thing that we’re starting to see is more and more fans that aren’t gamers. So it becomes an interesting place for them to connect — where potentially esports starts to drive more adoption of the core business of these publishers, but importantly, I just think that you’re getting bigger and bigger and more mainstream audiences engaged with esports.

What started out as small tournaments held in conference rooms and auditoriums and had its biggest events occasionally featured on niche, gaming-and-tech-focused television networks and websites has evolved to become one of the most popular content categories on streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch and is making inroads at channels operated by TV leaders including Disney, Comcast, and AT&T.

Esports is still relatively young, and investors should proceed with the understanding that individual leagues and organizations will have to navigate unpredictable twists and turns, but there’s undeniable momentum behind the content and excitement for what lies ahead. If Sepso and other insiders are right, competitive gaming is on track for meteoric growth over the next decade, and industry players that help facilitate that growth will be richly rewarded. 

Source: https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/01/27/whats-next-for-esports-an-insider-weighs-in.aspx

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – Major Streaming Companies Threatened by #Fortnite as Gaming Communities Capitalize on #Esports Explosion $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:50 AM on Thursday, January 24th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

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EGLX: TSX-V
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Major Streaming Companies Threatened by Fortnite as Gaming Communities Capitalize on eSports Explosion

  • Analysts are now calling eSports and egaming the greatest investment opportunity of the past few years, and the proof is in the threat it poses to competitors.
  • Huge gaming networks such as Enthusiast Gaming(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) are best positioned to cash in on the upcoming eSports investment rush.
  • Online gaming communities form the most crucial link within the eSports ecosystem.

NEW YORK, January 23, 2019 – NEW YORK, January 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — FN Media Group Presents Microsmallcap.com Market Commentary 

Analysts are now calling eSports and egaming the greatest investment opportunity of the past few years, and the proof is in the threat it poses to competitors. In a recent letter to shareholders, Netflix NFLX, +2.78% wrote, “We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO.” Multiplayer video games like “Fortnite,” which raked in a massive $2.4-billion in digital revenue last year and is one of the fastest-growing games of all time, have evolved into a popular spectator sport where gaming enthusiasts spend hours watching others play online. Major streaming companies such as Netflix are now in competition for screen time with eSports, and they’re worried that the growing youth demographic is starting to find their primary source of entertainment from YouTube or Amazons AMZN, +0.61% Twitch. Chinese social media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd TCEHY, +1.11% which holds a 40% stake in Epic Games (Fortnite’s developer), plans to invest $150-million a year in eSports, a burgeoning industry that’s already generating up to $1-billion in revenue for Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI, +2.74% But for those who want to get in early on the eSports gold rush, investors should look at Enthusiast Gaming(EGLX) , who has managed to capture the largest gaming network in North America in three short years.

Online networks fuelling the growth of eSports 

Huge gaming networks such as Enthusiast Gaming(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) are best positioned to cash in on the upcoming eSports investment rush. Online gaming communities form the most crucial link within the eSports ecosystem. These networks are to eSports what the nation’s sports bars and living rooms are to the NFL and MLB – serving as a crucial hub for the growth of a real community while propelling the eSports engine, driving the popularity of games such as Fortnite. Let’s take professional sports as an analogy: A first-time viewer watching a baseball game, for instance, may have no notion of what’s happening. Fans and enthusiasts are an outgrowth of a real community of passionate people, sharing their love and discussing strategies and techniques. With the Internet, gamers can now visit these forums and websites to get research on how to play the game better, finding like-minded peers to share their enthusiasm and build an authentic community.

These days, Gen-X, Millennial and Post-Millennial gamers frequent popular media sites such as Destructoid, Daily eSports, Operation Sports and the Escapist (all owned by Enthusiast Gaming) or on Twitch, a streaming network that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) purchased back in 2014 for $1-billion. Within these networks, gaming enthusiasts become part of a wider community, sharing their passion for video games while discussing tips and strategies. This is why companies like Enthusiast Gaming(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) who understand the value of building a network have positioned themselves at the forefront of the video gaming market.

Cultivating these communities is how Menashe Kestenbaum, founder and CEO of Enthusiast Gamin, got his start when he began writing for a then-new gaming site called IGN. Connecting for the first time with people as passionate about gaming as he was, Kestenbaum went on to start a passion blog named “Nintendo Enthusiast”, taking his followers with him, and organizing small meetups of gamers at a local Toronto pub.

It’s a testament to the popularity of video gaming and eSports that over the next three years, this single blog grew into one of the largest network of gaming enthusiasts in North America. Enthusiast Gaming (EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) now boasts a network of 80 sites and counting, drawing over 75 million visitors a month. High-performing sites become targets for buyouts from Enthusiast Gaming. It’s on these online communities, where gamers actually learn how to excel at multiplayer games such as Fortnite and learn about their favourite teams and players. This record haul contributed to pushing digital games revenue up 11% to $109.8 billion last year.

Enthusiast Gaming(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) recognize the opportunity that lies in multiplayer games such as Fortnite, Overwatch and League of Legends. To truly grasp the size of this opportunity, we need to first understand that online gamers and the gaming community are essentially recreating the very thing that traditionally makes live television into a tremendously profitable ratings juggernaut. With multiplayer games, we can now have must-watch live eSports events seen by millions and then sell ads at these showcases. Currently, these events are streamed online through sites such as Amazon’s Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and the Microsoft-owned Mixer, but there’s been talk about streaming services such as Netflix NFLX, +2.78% getting into streaming eSports too.

Live eSports events are now pulling in larger and larger amounts of marketing and sponsorship budgets, as brands jump at the opportunity to showcase their brand at events such as Enthusiast Gamings(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo (EGLX) pulling in over 55,000 attendees in 2018, smashing its own records year after year as the largest gaming convention in Canada. Approximately 39% of the total US gaming demographic is in the 25-34 age range, according to Gamescape, with 16% of 18+ viewers taking in an above-average $50,000-per-year income. This hard-to-target market is why the sponsorship and advertising funds in eSports continue to increase annually.

It’s now the spectator sport of choice among the youngest generation-which is why well-known sports industry giants are also throwing their hats in the live eSports ring. In 2017, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and two of his fellow sports owners, the New York Mets’ Jeff Wilpon and LA Rams’ Stan Kroenke, all invested tens of millions into their own franchises within Activision-Blizzards ATVI, +2.74% Overwatch eSports league. Meanwhile, Tencent Holdings Ltd. (otcpk:TCEHY), which has plans to create a $14.6 billion eSports industry in China, already owns a 40% stake in Epic Games, which publishes Fortnite, currently the world’s most popular game.

eSports: an iPhone-class industry disruptor 

As shown by Enthusiast Gamings(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) ascent, the growth of this industry has been absolutely staggering. From a small Sunday gathering of 120 gamers, EGLX is now the largest gaming convention in Canada. The live EGLX event also helps to fuel the growth of Enthusiast Gamings(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) online network, lending it authenticity within the wider gaming community.

eSports is on the cusp of revolutionizing the gaming industry. ESPN has signed deals to broadcast hours of gaming on its main channel and affiliates. 2024 Olympics organizers are now in talks to include eSports as a “demonstration sport” at the Games in Paris. According to Newzoo, eSports is the “biggest disruption to hit the industry since the launch of the iPhone in 2007.”

Meanwhile, Enthusiast Gamings(EGLX) (otcqb:EGHIF) continues to add to its online portfolio at a rapid pace, having recently announced an exclusive partnership with Blue Ant Media to represent all the United States online traffic of the 900-channel Omnia Media network, the No. 1 network for global gaming in terms of viewership. With such a diversified network, the company can now better cater to a fast-growing gaming segment, which allows advertisers to better target their gaming audience. A current comScore rank of No. 5 in gaming traffic and climbing puts them just behind corporate-owned sites such as Twitch, IGN, GameSpot and Curse. In its latest third quarter results, the company posted eye-watering YoY revenue growth of 625% year to date, with plenty of room for growth.

The communities within Enthusiast Gamings networks are the birthplace of eSports and will continue to have the finger on the pulse of which new games will skyrocket in popularity. Companies such as Enthusiast are well placed to secure opportunities and position themselves to dominate the video game and eSports industry far into the future.

DISCLAIMER: Microsmallcap.com (MSC) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with MSC or any company mentioned herein. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by MSC are solely those of MSC and are not shared by and do not reflect in any manner the views or opinions of FNM. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable MSC and FNM for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. MSC and FNM and their respective affiliated companies are a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.   The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author (MSC), and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author (MSC) has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, MSC, FNM, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer’s securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment. FNM was not compensated by any public company mentioned herein to disseminate this press release but was compensated forty six hundred dollars by MSC, a non-affiliated third party to distribute this release on behalf of Enthusiast Gaming.   FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.   This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and MSC and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements.  

Media Contact: FN Media Group, LLC [email protected]   +1(561)325-8757

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca Announces Exclusive Partnership With Omnia Media And Its 900 Channel Youtube Network And 50+ Million Monthly Visitors $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:26 AM on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019
  • Entered into two agreements, one with Omnia Media Inc. to exclusively represent all of Omnia’s online gaming traffic in the United States, and another with Blue Ant Media
  • Omnia is a leading global gaming YouTube platform which creates, manages and operates a multi-channel YouTube network that distributes premium, original content.
  • With over 50 million monthly visitors 1, 400 million subscribers across 900 channels, Omnia’s network is one of the most highly visited destinations on YouTube for video game related content

TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2019 – Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV: EGLX) (OTCQB: EGHIF)  (“Enthusiast” or the “Company”), a digital media company building the largest community of authentic gamers, is excited to announce that it has entered into two agreements, one with Omnia Media Inc. (“Omnia”) to exclusively represent all of Omnia’s online gaming traffic in the United States, and another with Blue Ant Media (“Blue Ant”) pursuant to which Blue Ant will act as an exclusive advertising sales agent of Enthusiast in Canada. Omnia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Ant.

Omnia is a leading global gaming YouTube platform which creates, manages and operates a multi-channel YouTube network that distributes premium, original content. With over 50 million monthly visitors1, 400 million subscribers across 900 channels, Omnia’s network is one of the most highly visited destinations on YouTube for video game related content. Under the representation agreement with Omnia, Enthusiast will act as Omnia’s exclusive United States sales agent for the sale of the advertising inventory across Omnia’s gaming media platform.

Omnia’s content platform that includes recently launched ‘Sidemen Show’ on YouTube Premium and animated series ‘The Squad’ a highly viewed Fortnite-inspired cartoon series on YouTube/Snapchat. Omnia’s portfolio of content can also be found across Facebook, Amazon, Twitch, Roku, and a number of linear channels worldwide.  

Enthusiast anticipates that the arrangement will grow its community, while diversifying the platform to include a large library of video content. The partnership is also an important step in Enthusiast’s long-term expansion strategy across North America and allows the company to focus on monetizing its growing US traffic base.

Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast, commented, “We are excited to partner with Blue Ant Media, a recognized international digital media platform to represent its US advertising inventory. The beneficial partnership adds Omnia Media, a leading YouTube video gaming community to our platform and significantly increases our network’s reach. We are committed to expanding our US presence and are focused on developing our sales force to capitalize on our rapidly growing network.”

Austin Long, VP, Gaming Partnerships & Strategy of Omnia, added, “We will greatly benefit from Enthusiast’s sales experience in the media space, which will have a positive impact against our global inventory. We are hopeful that further synergies will come from our partnership between Omnia’s talent and content generation and Enthusiast’s website portfolio and live expo, EGLX. We look forward to partnering with the Enthusiast team.”

Enthusiast has entered into a second representation agreement to engage Blue Ant as the Company’s exclusive sales agent for the sale of Enthusiast’s Canadian consumer marketing opportunities, including digital inventory, consumer show sponsorships, content creation and experiential activations.

Kestenbaum continued, “Being backed by Blue Ant’s strong Canadian presence and talented sales force will help us drive advertising revenue across our Canadian digital inventory. Engaging Blue Ant is one part of our strategy to build out a strong, multileveled sales force in North America. We look forward to working with Blue Ant and the Omnia team moving forward.”

1 (Source: Google Ad manager, January 2019)

About Omnia

With over 400 million subscribers across 900 channels, Omnia has an impressive content slate including the recently launched ‘Sidemen Show’ on YouTube Premium and animated series ‘The Squad’ which is a highly viewed Fortnite-inspired cartoon series on YouTube/Snapchat. Omnia’s portfolio of content can also be found across Facebook, Amazon, Twitch, Roku, and a number of linear channels globally. Visit www.omniamedia.com for more information.

About Blue Ant

Blue Ant Media is a privately held, international media company that creates and distributes content worldwide across streaming video, linear television, digital, magazines and live events. The company’s broadcasting business offers a robust portfolio of Canadian and New Zealand-based media brands. Content distribution, lead Blue Ant International, offers a catalogue of 2,200+ hours of premium, unscripted content worldwide, which includes the largest 4K natural history library on the market. Blue Ant Media is headquartered in Toronto (Canada), with offices located in Los Angeles (US), London (UK), and Auckland (NZ). blueantmedia.ca

About Enthusiast

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (www.eglx.ca) with 55,000 attendees in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Investor Relations:
Julia Becker, Head of Investor Relations & Marketing
[email protected]
(604) 785.0850

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca Starts Trading on the OTCQB as Part of North American Expansion Plan $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:10 AM on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019
  • Company’s common shares will commence trading today on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol “EGHIF”.
  • The Law Firm of Burns Figa & Will PC acted as the Company’s sponsor.  Enthusiast’s common shares continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “EGLX”.

TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2019 – Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (“Enthusiast” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EGLX) (OTCQB: EGHIF), a digital media company building the largest community of authentic gamers, is pleased to announce that the Company’s common shares will commence trading today on the OTCQB Venture Market (“OTCQB”), under the symbol “EGHIF”. The Law Firm of Burns Figa & Will PC acted as the Company’s sponsor.  Enthusiast’s common shares continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “EGLX”.

Listing on the OTCQB Venture will enhance our liquidity by giving us access to the US investor capital pool.” Commented Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast. “Currently, over half of our network traffic is generated from the US and many of our key partners and affiliates are US based, therefore, listing on the OTCQB is an exciting next step in our long-term expansion strategy.”

The OTCQB is a well-established American financial marketplace for international entrepreneurial and development stage companies. The market offers listed companies the opportunity to diversify their shareholder base with increased liquidity and brand visibility, while maintaining a high level of transparent trading, annual verification and continuous regulation for US investors.

Real-time quotes and market information on the Enthusiast are available at www.otcmarkets.com/stock/EGHIF/overview

About Enthusiast

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (https://eglx.ca/), with over 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.

CONTACT:

Julia Becker
Head, Investor Relations & Marketing
(604) 785-0850
[email protected] 

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – Esports Disrupt How Brands and Events Engage With Their Communities $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:36 AM on Monday, January 21st, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

Images
EGLX: TSX-V
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Esports Disrupt How Brands and Events Engage With Their Communities

  • How organizations and events build communities is shifting with new digital networks and the evolution of how people interact online.
  • The culture and growth of esports represents a window into how these changes will affect associations, businesses, and the event sector at large.  

Andrew Sheivachman, Skift  

How organizations and events build communities is shifting with new digital networks and the evolution of how people interact online. The culture and growth of esports represents a window into how these changes will affect associations, businesses, and the event sector at large.  

No matter how boring and trite you may find the concept of esports competition and culture, the hobby is on the forefront of a major shift in the habits of how we consume media and interact in online communities.

The event industry needs to adapt to the reality of how a new generation of attendees demand engagement through a variety of online platforms.

Fortnite, a video game wherein cartoon characters blast each other with weapons and dance around, captured the imagination and dollars of the world in 2018. For the extremely online millennial and Gen Z generations, the game’s free online battle royal mode represents something more than just a colorful time-waster. Since everyone is online all the time, the game acts as a platform for engagement on multiple levels. Interested in more stories like this? Subscribe to Skift’s Meetings Innovation Report to stay up-to-date on the future of business events.

Friends play and chat over the internet with each other each night, earn almost random rewards that incentivize them to keep playing, closely track the news regarding updates and exploits on websites and message boards. They do this while watching tournaments and streams populated by players who routinely dedicate 10 hours a day to mastery of the game’s competitive systems. Kids may be dancing the stupid dances from the game, but plenty of adults have embraced this style of engagement with Fortnite as a platform.

It’s no surprise that the multifaceted elements of the online gaming ecosystem are starting to bleed into the world of big business; Fortnite publisher Epic Games routinely holds online tournaments with a million dollar prize, and fans flock to real-life stadium events featuring the best in the world at other games.

As Skift has reflected consistently over the years, shifts in the behavior of travelers and consumers begin in their personal lives; their expectations shift as their habits do, leaving organizations to often play catch up as old paradigms become ineffective.

Building Community

Social networking has undergone a reckoning as of late.

Facebook has become a cesspool of racism and misleading clickbait, while LinkedIn is rapidly becoming Facebook for people who wear suits. Twitter is chaotic and dense, making it hard to identify and join communities. Instagram is style over substance, rewarding a motif that everyone is trying to ape for increased engagement at the cost of true value to users.

As the battle over online privacy has heated up, new players have slowly entered the social networking arena.

Slack, a messaging app for the workplace, has picked up casual social users for communities based on certain topics while Discord, an online voice and text chat service, has slowly risen to prominence as a successor to old-school IRC (Internet Real Chat) of yore. As Instagram expands the ability of organizations to sell tickets to events, also expect the platform to introduce group and community interaction capabilities and management tools for organizers.

The truth is that the explosion in online communities spurred by esports has serious ramifications for the traditional events sector, particularly business events and conventions. Keeping association members engaged and educated is a complex issue, particularly in the always-on digital world. How do you keep members engaged and satisfied in a world defined by digital distraction?

Engagement is going to be limited even if you offer an app for your association, group, or event; people want to be reached where they spend most of their time, which will increasingly be in apps like Slack that provide the ability for hundreds of contributors to chat, send files, and more. The conversation is persistent and doesn’t disappear after an event ends. Chatting with organizers and direct messaging between attendees has been common for event apps for a few years, but lacks the ability to facilitate communication, education, and bonding over the full event lifecycle.

Dedicated message boards or LinkedIn or Facebook groups lack the immediacy of live chat, particularly for those looking for timely information or advice. Why wait until your chapter meeting to pose a question? There is no replacement for real-life meetings and the face-to-face connections they create, but digital platforms can help enhance the overall event experience the rest of the time.

So often, organizers encourage attendees to post on Twitter or Facebook from an event.  Sure, it looks good for the organization’s marketers that people are tweeting, but does it provide any lasting value to attendees or the organization’s health?

Building an engaged community is more valuable than things like Twitter chat or webinars, even if it can’t be seen by the outside world as a visible marketing success. In particular, it offers increased value to those who may not be able to attend a real-life event for whatever reason, and those new to a group or sector who may lack the connections to feel comfortable at an event.

Live chat that persists beyond the timeline of a physical event is more valuable, a living and searchable testament to the strength and power of an association or community. With digital communication and content more effectively threaded throughout a physical experience, so too will the overall event experience become more cohesive and powerful for attendees. If stronger digital personalization really ever comes to meetings, digital platforms will be intermediating the experience anyway.

This will help thread the offline event experience with a persistent, always-on digital community that younger professionals operate within. It’s not enough to be relevant once or four times a year; groups need to provide constant value and brain food to members, wherever they are.

Source: https://skift.com/2019/01/21/esports-disrupt-how-brands-and-events-engage-with-their-communities/

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – This week in esports: #Shell, #Puma, #Mercedes-Benz, #Panini $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:28 PM on Friday, January 18th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company has year to date revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

Images
EGLX: TSX-V

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This week in esports: Shell, Puma, Mercedes-Benz, Panini

  • This week in esports has proven that the industry still has pulling power when it comes to bringing in major non-endemic companies.
  • Energy company Shell, athletic brand Puma, and collectibles company Panini have all entered esports in the last few days!

By: Adam Fitch

This week in esports has proven that the industry still has pulling power when it comes to bringing in major non-endemic companies. Energy company Shell, athletic brand Puma, and collectibles company Panini have all entered esports in the last few days!

We have a twice-weekly newsletter that informs you of every significant happening in the business and industry side of esports, feel free to subscribe here.

LEC enters partnership with energy company Shell

Riot Games has brought in energy giant Shell as a partner of its newly-franchised European competition, LEC.

Shell will power the Baron Power Play segment of the LEC broadcast and it will offer XP incentives for German fans. The British-Dutch oil and gas company will also act as the main partner of the 2019 DACH Premier Tour.

Read the full article here.

Cloud9’s LCS team finds apparel partner in Puma

North American organisation Cloud9 has partnered with Puma, marking the German athletic apparel company’s first venture into esports.

The deal specifically involves Cloud9’s LCS team and is expected to last the duration of the Spring Split. Puma will provide trousers and trainers on match days, as well as occupying a spot on the team’s jersey.

Read the full article here.

Mercedes-Benz and FC Köln purchase stake in SK Gaming

ESforce has agreed to sell 67% of its stake in German organisation SK Gaming to FC Köln and Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz).

Mercedes-Benz will appear on the front of the organisation’s jersey, while the German football club will have its #effzeh branding located on the sleeves.

Read the full article here.

Panini enters esports through compLexity Gaming partnership

Sticker and trading card company Panini has entered esports through a partnership with North American organisation compLexity Gaming.

The one-year deal is partially seen as compLexity helping Panini enter esports in an efficient and natural way – it’ll also result in trading cards and posters being made for the organisation.

Read the full article here.

INTERVIEW: Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca Discusses Acquisition of “The Sims Resource”, the World’s Largest Female Video Gaming Website $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:42 PM on Sunday, January 13th, 2019


It is undeniable. It is here and we haven’t seen anything yet.

The world of online gaming and esports is no longer the domain of basement dwellers – and it hasn’t been in years – but mainstream finance people are only now coming to that realization.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the Enthusiast Gaming acquisition of The Sims Resource, the world’s largest female video gaming website.  How big?

  • 2.5 Billion Page Views Per Year
  • $7M Annual Revenues
  • $4.5M Net Income
  • It generates more than 10% of the total views of Twitch

Now, it is owned by Enthusiast Gaming, which is no slouch either:

  • Q3 Revenue $2.8M (record quarter)
  • 9 Month Revenue $7.4M (625% increase)
  • 75M Active Monthly Users
  • Owners of Canada’s Largest Gaming Expo Where 30,000 Attended In OCT 2018

We sat down with CEO Menashe Kestenbaum to discuss the acquisition and the future of Enthusiast in much further detail.

Grab a coffee or your favourite beverage and start taking notes.

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca to Host Conference Call Today to Discuss “The Sims Resource” Transaction

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:42 PM on Monday, January 7th, 2019
  • Scheduled a conference call at 3pm EST on January 7, 2019 to discuss the acquisition of The Sims Resource

TORONTO, Jan. 07, 2019 — Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (“Enthusiast” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EGLX), announces that the Company has scheduled a conference call at 3pm EST on January 7, 2019 to discuss the acquisition of The Sims Resource (“TSR”) previously announced this morning (see release here). Individuals will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with senior management of Enthusiast regarding the acquisition. Conference call details are as follows:

Enthusiast Gaming Conference Call

Date of call: 01/07/2019
Time of call: 3:00 PM Eastern Time

US/CANADA Participant Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (866) 691-5896
US/CANADA Participant International Dial-In Number:(409) 216-0841
Conference ID:5661438

Enthusiast also announces that it has engaged Native Ads Inc. (“Native Ads”) to provide and manage a comprehensive digital media marketing campaign for the Company.

The Company has entered into an eight (8) week programmatic digital advertising campaign for a total cost of C$150,000. The campaign includes, but is not limited to: content creation, web development, media buying and distribution, advertising development, and campaign reporting and optimization. A budget of C$112,500 from this payment will be allocated for digital advertising, paid distribution, and media buying and C$37,500 will be allocated for consulting, managed services and management fees over the campaign period. Neither Native Ads nor any of its directors and officers own any securities of the Company.

About Native Ads

Native Ads is a full service ad agency, that owns and operates a proprietary ad exchange with over 80 integrated SSPs (supply side platforms) resulting in access to 3-7 billion daily North American ad impressions.

About Enthusiast

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (www.eglx.ca). Over 30,000 people attended EGLX in October 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.

CONTACT:

Julia Becker
Head, Investor Relations & Marketing
(604) 785-0850
[email protected]

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

BREAKING: Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX to Acquire “The Sims Resource”, the World’s Largest Female Video Gaming Website $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:07 PM on Monday, January 7th, 2019

Transformative acquisition to add approximately 35% to Enthusiast’s rapidly growing revenue base

  • Company to acquire 100% of the assets of The Sims Resource from Generatorhallen AB and IBIBI HB on an arm’s length basis for US$18 million in cash and US$2 million in stock for an aggregate purchase price of US$20 million
  • TSR generated C$7 million in revenue and C$5.25 million in Adjusted EBITDA2  and approximately C$4.5 million in net income
  • world’s largest female video gaming content and community destination online.
  • Sims™ franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide and is widely considered one of the best-selling video games series of all time.

TORONTO, Jan. 07, 2019 — Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (“Enthusiast” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EGLX), is pleased to announce that it has, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, signed a definitive agreement on January 3, 2019 (the “Agreement“) for the Company to acquire 100% of the assets of The Sims Resource (“TSR”) from Generatorhallen AB and IBIBI HB (the “Vendors”) on an arm’s length basis for US$18 million in cash and US$2 million in stock for an aggregate purchase price of US$20 million (the “Purchase Price“).  Thirty percent (30%) of the Purchase Price is payable on closing and the balance payable by the first anniversary date of closing, subject to certain customary adjustments (the “Transaction“). Completion of the Transaction is subject to satisfaction of a number of customary conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and is expected to close prior to February 15, 2019.

THE SIMS RESOURCE

Established in 1999, TSR (www.thesimsresource.com) has grown to become the world’s largest female video gaming content and community destination online.1 The website offers custom content built around the popular Sims™ video game franchise, which can be downloaded by users to alter and/or expand gameplay. Published by Electronic Arts, The Sims™ franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide and is widely considered one of the best-selling video games series of all time.

“The Sims Resource is one of the largest video game communities, ranking in the top 5 independent sites in total views in the US, Canada and the UK.  It currently generates more than 10% of the total views of Twitch.com, the largest video game website, which was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for approximately US$1 billion,” said Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming (Source: Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform/®, Games – Gaming Information, Total Views, November 2018, U.S., Canada, U.K.). “Further, with the rapidly growing female video game segment, TSR provides us with immediate reach into this valuable audience.”

  • TSR is the largest female video gaming content site in the world generating in excess of 2.5 billion page views per year (Google Analytics);
  • Comscore’s Gaming Information category currently ranks TSR in the top 5 independent video game websites;
  • The site ranks #7 on Quantcast’s Top 25 websites with the highest concentration of female audience in the United States, closely behind Oprah.com and Bravotv.com (Quantcast, Top 25 websites with the most female audience, 2017);
  • In 2018 TSR generated C$7 million in revenue and C$5.25 million in Adjusted EBITDA2  and approximately C$4.5 million in net income (CohnReznick LLP unaudited “Quality of Earnings” report prepared for Enthusiast); and
  • Approximately 60% of revenue is derived from advertising with 40% received from monthly recurring subscribers.

“We see three key growth opportunities associated with this acquisition,” Kestenbaum continued. “Initially we intend to drive significant organic growth in advertising revenue via direct sales, an area of strategic importance to Enthusiast in recent months. Further, we now have an opportunity to monetize with advertisers seeking a large female video game audience. Finally, TSR’s subscription model has the potential to add considerable revenue across our entire portfolio.”

TRANSACTION TERMS

  • As consideration for the acquired assets, Enthusiast will pay, at closing, an initial amount of US$4 million in cash and US$2 million in common shares in the capital of the Company valued at C$1.00 per share;
  • The Company will pay a deferred payment (the “Deferred Payment”) of US$14 million on or before the first anniversary of closing;
  • Enthusiast will enter into a transition services agreement, pursuant to which the Vendors will manage, operate and administer the acquired assets and in particular the relationships with the TSR community for a period of up to one year;
  • Until the Deferred Payment is made, the Company has agreed on a profit-sharing split of 70% in favour of the Vendors, which decreases proportionally if the Company elects to prepay a portion of the Deferred Payment; and
  • Pursuant to the Transaction, the Company will acquire all of the assets related to TSR, including, but not limited to, customer and supplier lists, trade names, business goodwill, intellectual property, software, the domain name, website content, social media accounts and the Company will not assume any liabilities or obligations of the Vendors outside of those normally assumed in relation to employment and certain other contractual obligations.       

The acquisition of TSR is the largest acquisition to date for Enthusiast and follows the successful completion of seven strategic acquisitions in 2018. The Company anticipates that it will need to secure financing in order to meet the Deferred Payment. The Company expects to continue to grow through a combination of organic growth and acquisition utilizing its balance sheet as well as being opportunistic with respect to additional equity and/or debt financing to execute on its defined growth strategy.

About Enthusiast

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (www.eglx.ca). Over 30,000 people attended EGLX in October 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.

CONTACT:

Julia Becker
Head, Investor Relations & Marketing
(604) 785-0850
[email protected] 

Eric Bernofsky
COO, SVP Finance
(416) 623-9360
[email protected] 

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

____________________
1 See Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform and Quantcast report referenced below.

2 Adjusted EBITDA as used by the Company means earnings before interest and financing costs (net of interest income), income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring and other non-recurring costs, and non-controlling interests. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. Enthusiast believes this non-IFRS financial measure provides useful information to both management and investors in measuring financial performance, the ability to fund future working capital needs, to service outstanding debt, and to fund future capital expenditures. This measure does not have a standard meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measurers presented by other publicly traded companies and should not be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS.