AGORACOM Small-cap Investor Relations Blog

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information

Esports exec: ‘Every day, a baseball fan dies, and two gaming fans are born’

• “Every day, a baseball fan dies, and two gaming fans are born. And there’s truth in that,” Ari Segal, IGC CEO, told Yahoo Finance’s On the Move. “So, I think the greatest expansion is going to just come from the generational kind of aging out of what you would currently think of or characterize as adults, and the birth of young people, who grow up in a world that’s digitally native.”-

Ralston Ramsay August 7, 2019

Professional esports is exploding and Immortals Gaming Club (IGC) has its eye on the next generation of gamers as it expands its revenue streams.

Launched in 2015, IGC reaches more than 35 million gamers and brings them together to play on teams across every major league. It recently bought Infinite Esports, OpTic Gaming parent company, for $100 million — the largest deal in esports history.

“Every day, a baseball fan dies, and two gaming fans are born. And there’s truth in that,” Ari Segal, IGC CEO, told Yahoo Finance’s On the Move. “So, I think the greatest expansion is going to just come from the generational kind of aging out of what you would currently think of or characterize as adults, and the birth of young people, who grow up in a world that’s digitally native.”

The biggest segment right now in terms of esports growth is 13- to 17-year-olds., according to Segal. “We certainly expect that that segment will continue to accelerate and adopting competitive gaming in all forms. And that is new young people are born and mature, that they will become the fastest growing segment pretty soon.”

‘More like traditional sports’

While IGC continues to attract a younger audience, it also is moving toward a direct-to-consumer model. So far, most of the company’s revenue comes from sponsorships and media rights. IGC plans to host more events like the Activision Blizzard’s LA home stand Overwatch League August 24 and 25 at LA Live, where it can sell tickets to consumers.

“Not only do we get the ticket revenue but there’s all the downstream revenue. There’s merchandise and parking and food and beverage and also access to first party data,” Segal explained.   Members of the teams ‘NAVI.GG.BET’ and ‘Ninjas in pyjamas’ compete during the ESL ONE Counter-Strike video game tournament at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, western Germany, on July 5, 2019. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo credit should read INA FASSBENDER/AFP/Getty Images)

Competitive gaming will look “more like traditional sports from a monetization standpoint,” said Segal, adding that IGC’s deal with K-Swiss “represents a little bit of a three dimensional approach to monetization.”

In addition to a sponsorship deal with the athletic shoemaker, IGC has developed a performance shoe for gamers. “This is actually a shoe developed by gamers for gamers and for use in competitive gaming. It’s the first performance shoe in gaming,” he said. “It’ll give the player complete control while they’re playing so that they never need to think about their shoe, or their foot or anything else. They can focus purely on the task at hand [game play].”

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/esports-exec-every-day-a-baseball-fan-dies-and-two-gaming-fans-are-born-esports-exec-154701208.html

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information

Shanghai sets the standards for building esports arenas

Xing YiChina Daily/Asia News Network Aug 06, 2019

• Shanghai has taken another stride toward building itself into a global esports centre, as it announced standards for the construction and operation of esports venues during the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference which ended on Monday.
• “The esports sector has been growing quickly in the past few years, but there is a lack of top design. The guidelines can boost industry growth in a healthy manner,” Yu Xiufen, director of the bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinmin Evening News.

Published by the municipal culture and tourism bureau, the standards for esports venues specify the construction requirements in areas such as stage lighting and telecommunication networks and set the service standards for operating such venues.

“The esports sector has been growing quickly in the past few years, but there is a lack of top design. The guidelines can boost industry growth in a healthy manner,” Yu Xiufen, director of the bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinmin Evening News.

The criteria for esports venues have four categories, from A to D.With a construction area of more than 50,000 square meters, class-A venues can host the highest level esports competitions, while class-D venues must have a 500-square meter construction area, and will be used to hold qualification trials.

One of the most important upcoming esports events in the city is The International 2019, an annual tournament for the popular multiplayer online battle arena game Dota 2, which will be held in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, a class-A venue, from Aug 16 to 25.

It will be the first time for China to host one of the most-watched esports events in the world. Its crowdfunded prize pool reached a record of more than $30 million (S$41.5 million) in July and is still growing.

According to Perfect World Zhengqi, a subsidiary of Perfect World Co Ltd and the operator of the game in China, the event’s 26,804 tickets were sold out in just 53 seconds in May.

“We have organised many esports events in Shanghai before, so we know the venues here are excellent and the viewers are very active,” said Xiao Hong, CEO of the company. “Shanghai has the best environment for esports in the country – both in facilities and government policies, and we’d like to co-operate with the government to build mature industrial chains in the future.”

Wang Yong, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Esports Association, said the development of esports includes not only hosting tournaments, but also esports training, performance and public experience, which requires a number of esports venues of different sizes and functions.

Many shopping malls are interested in building esports venues, and these standards will help them find the right partners, Wang added.

A report published by gaming industry analyst company Gamma Data estimated that esports market revenue in Shanghai reached 14.6 billion yuan (S$2.9 billion) in 2018, accounting for 19 per cent of the national total.

Source: https://www.asiaone.com/digital/shanghai-sets-standards-building-esports-arenas

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information

Attitude toward esports does 180 at X Games

• Gaming has become more mainstream and is currently at the forefront of public discussion due to the $30 million prize pool — one of the largest prize pools ever at an esports event — offered at the Fortnite World Cup Finals last weekend.
• The winner, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, took home $3 million as the solos champion.

Emily Rand

Wade was a competitor and silver medalist in BMX Freestyle Big Air in 2014.

Eight teams competed in Call of Duty: Ghosts in the MLG X Games Invitational in Austin, Texas. OpTic Gaming, then made up of Matt “Nadeshot” Haag, Seth “Scump” Abner, James “Clayster” Eubanks and Jordan “ProoFy” Cannon, became official X Games medalists.

The reaction against esports athletes receiving the same medals that the action sports athletes were getting was instant and vocal. At the crux of the issue was the fact that gamers didn’t put their physical bodies on the line in the same way as action sports competitors.

“I can see both sides,” Wade said. “I wasn’t particularly bothered by it, but from one point of view, the X Games are really physical sports in general, and gaming isn’t really physical. It’s very difficult, I’m not taking away from that, but the physical aspect of it, we do stuff with our bodies, we show our talents physically with what we can actually do. Whereas gaming is on the other end of the spectrum. The other side of that coin is that the gaming industry brought in a lot of sponsor revenue to keep all of us alive, so I’m not hating on it. Gotta keep the games flowing.”

A lot has changed since 2014.

“Honestly, the attitude shift I’ve seen is that no one talks about it,” Wade said. “When it first came out it was like, ‘What is this? It’s not even an action sport.’ Now it’s just kind of old news. It’s cool that there’s a spot for those guys. Everyone deserves to excel in what they love.”

Gaming has become more mainstream and is currently at the forefront of public discussion due to the $30 million prize pool — one of the largest prize pools ever at an esports event — offered at the Fortnite World Cup Finals last weekend. The winner, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, took home $3 million as the solos champion.

The World Cup even made its way into an X Games Minneapolis news conference this week, when the EXP Apex Legends Invitational was introduced, with skateboarder Jagger Eaton asking if the event was a Fortnite tournament.

“Sports has always been the backbone of what we do,” said Tim Reed, vice president of X Games. “But the focus is on trying to remain relevant to youth culture and what kids are into so that people who show up at the X Games get a sense of what’s important to kids and important to young people in the world. So what we’ve just tried to do from the X Games perspective is make sure that we can bring in those elements that are also relevant.

“This year we’re doing more gaming. They’re getting different medals because last time we made that decision it was, uh,” Reed paused and laughed. “One that wasn’t very well-liked, so we made some adjustments, but we’re excited to bring those in.”

BMX rider Ryan Williams joked, “I’ll see how this X Games goes, and if I don’t do too well I think I’m going to start gaming.”

“I’ll carry you, I’ll carry you,” BMX rider Kyle Baldock replied.

“What’s the rule with that because I’m down to win some money if we’re going to do this,” Eaton said. “I’m down to play Apex. Let me know.”

“When we did it in, I think our first one was 2014, just the reaction was totally different,” Reed said. “There’s more athletes that play games than there was back then. You guys should hop in and try it out.”

“I’m gonna,” skateboarder Nicole Hause said. “Let’s go.”

Hause, a Minneapolis native, turned to video games while recovering from an injury that kept her from skating.

“I’ve been pretty shy about it,” Hause said. “I don’t usually talk about it that much, but at the same time, I don’t really care if anyone knows. It’s not something a lot of people would guess I do in my free time, but I do. A lot.”

Hause enjoys Battle Royale games, including Apex Legends, describing it as a mix of Halo and Call of Duty, but with a Battle Royale component.

“I like the Battle Royale gameplay style a lot,” Hause said. “I like Apex, but everyone wants to play Fortnite, and you need three people to play Apex,” Hause said. “I like both of them a lot, but I play Fortnite the most. In the past I played a lot of Call of Duty. A lot of Call of Duty.”

As for whether esports belong at the X Games, Hause thought it fit since so many X Games athletes play video games casually. In a way, video games have become a low-impact sport that traditional athletes can play in their offseason without serious injury risk.

“I think it’s cool because a lot of the action sports people play video games,” Hause said. “Especially nowadays. Most of the dudes in the park that I know play Fortnite — everybody plays video games now, NFL players — it’s like a sport we do in our off time. When we’re resting or it’s just a rainy day or whatever, you’re not practicing, it’s something everyone does whether they want to admit it or not.”

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information

Dota 2’s The International 2019 Prize Pool Surpasses $30M

• The prize pool for Dota 2‘s The International 2019 tournament has topped $30M USD to date.
• The total is primarily crowdfunded via in-game Battle Pass sales, with 34 days of funding left until the final tally is reached.
• The International 2019’s prize pool has now surpassed the $30M pool of this coming weekend’s Fortnite World Cup.

Andrew Hayward

The prize pool for The International 2019—the de facto Dota 2  world championship—has topped $30M to date, beating the prize pool for the upcoming Fortnite  World Cup finals.

As of this writing, The International’s prize pool sits at $30.2M, which beats the 2018 record of $25.5M. The prize pool can continue to grow for another month, as well, until the end of the actual tournament on August 25.

The International’s prize pool primarily comes via crowdfunding. Dota 2 publisher Valve  contributes the first $1.6M, with the remainder provided by a percentage of sales from the game’s Battle Pass. The purchase lets players unlock in-game content and access The International Compendium, which includes a Fantasy Challenge for the tournament.

Every edition of The International has surpassed the prize pool of the previous year ever since Valve introduced the Battle Pass in 2013. Each tournament has also set a new record for the largest prize pool for any single esports event. Last year’s winner, OG , took home $11.2M of the $25.5M pool.

This year’s prize pool surge is especially interesting in the wake of this coming weekend’s Fortnite World Cup finals, which has a $30M prize pool provided entirely by Epic Games .

With 34 days of crowdfunding left and the $30.2M tally already 29% of last year’s prize pool total at this point (according to the Dota 2 Prize Pool Tracker), the final amount could still be significantly higher. The International 2019 takes place at the Mercedes-Benz  Arena in Shanghai from August 20-25.

Source: https://esportsobserver.com/dota2-ti19-prize-30m/

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information

Over 3.5 billion people are on social media; Facebook still biggest with teens; Esports on the rise

• Within internet users aged 16 to 24, 32 percent saying they’ve recently watched an esports tournament

By: Simon Kemp

The new Global Digital Statshot report from Hootsuite and We Are Social is packed with all the latest data you need to understand how people are using the internet in July 2019. You’ll find the complete report in the SlideShare embed below, but read on for my summary of this quarter’s essential headlines.

Social media users pass 3.5 billion

The number of people around the world using social media has just passed the 3.5 billion mark, less than two years after we reported that the number had reached 3 billion. The number of social media users has grown by more than a quarter of a billion over the past twelve months, with 46 percent of the world’s total population using social media in July 2019.

What’s more, if we focus on ‘eligible audiences’ – people aged 13 and above – the social media penetration figure increases to 59 percent, with the latest trends indicating that it should pass 60 percent within the next few months.

Half the world now watches online videos

The latest data from GlobalWebIndex shows that more than 4 billion people around the world now watch online video content each month, equating to more than half of the world’s total population. Vlogs are particularly popular, with more than 2 billion people tuning in to watch their favorite influencers over the past 30 days.

Snapchat’s audience jumps

Data published in Snapchat’s self-serve tools show that the platform’s advertising audience jumped by a massive 19 percent in the past three months, reaching a total of 369 million users by July 2019. That translates to an increase of almost 60 million users since April, with growth rates consistent across all age groups.

It’s not just Snapchat’s data that shows the platform is growing, either. The latest data from App Annie shows a spike in downloads of the Snapchat app over the past three months, with App Annie’s analysts attributing the platform’s renewed success to the launch of new A.R. filters, and improvements to its Android app.

Facebook still rules when it comes to teens

Despite Snapchat’s impressive growth, the platform still can’t claim to be the kids’ favorite. That honour doesn’t belong to Instagram or TikTok, either.

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s Facebook that boasts the largest number of global users aged 13 to 17, and if we extend the age range to include all teenagers, Facebook now has almost as many users as Snapchat and Instagram combined.

Facebook’s youth audience actually increased over the past three months, with the number of 13 to 17-year-olds using the platform up by almost 5 million since April.

The key take-away here is that we need to be more wary of clickbait and received wisdom. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that ‘the kids’ have given up on Facebook, but the cold, hard facts tell a different story.

Esports win with younger audiences

There are more surprises for brands marketing to teens when it comes to sports. The latest data from GlobalWebIndex suggest that esports may have reached a tipping point amongst internet users aged 16 to 24, with 32 percent saying they’ve recently watched an esports tournament, compared to 31 percent who say they’re interested in watching more ‘conventional’ sports like football, cricket, or motor racing.

Almost 1 billion people around the world have watched an esports tournament in recent months, with interest particularly high in Asian countries.

‘Game spectating’ is gaining broader momentum, too. Roughly 3 in 10 internet users say that they recently watched a live stream of someone else playing video games, equating to a global audience of 1.25 billion people.

The case for voice gets stronger

100 million people started using voice search and voice commands since April, with more than 43 percent of internet users now using voice tech every month. More than 1.88 billion people around the world now use voice to control their devices, with half of all internet users below the age of 35 already converted.

It’s also important to stress that most voice activity takes place on smartphones, so you don’t need to wait for everyone to have a ‘smart speaker’ before you take voice seriously. Now is the time to start making sense of what voice means for your business – before you need to play catch-up.

The value of truth

Despite the fact that more than half of the world’s internet users say they’re worried about ‘fake news’ online, it turns out that we’re four times more likely to use an ad-blocker than we are to pay for digital news content.

However, the excellent new Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019 finds that people are starting to realize the potential value of paying for quality news content, although they’re much more likely to pay for a video streaming service like Netflix than they are to pay for news.
These findings are supported by the latest data from GlobalWebIndex, who report that roughly two-thirds of all internet users paid for some form of digital content in the past 30 days. Once again, video streaming platforms were the top choice.

Digging deeper

That’s all for this summary, but I’ll be digging deeper into all of these stories – together with the rest of this quarter’s key findings – in a series of additional articles over the next few days, so be sure to check back for those.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/podium/2019/07/17/over-3-5-billion-people-are-on-social-media-facebook-still-biggest-with-teens-esports-on-the-rise/