Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:00 PM on Monday, July 8th, 2019
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———————–
This NFL giant just got into esports, and here’s what the tipping point was
On Tuesday, Activision Blizzard revealed that the Wilf family’s WISE Ventures investment fund, founded by Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf, will become part of its upcoming Call of Duty league by fielding a Minnesota-based team.
It’s just the first step in getting in on the “next evolution of entertainment.â€
That’s how Jonathan Wilf describes his family’s, and subsequently the Minnesota Vikings’, first esports play. On Tuesday, Activision Blizzard
revealed that the Wilf family’s WISE Ventures investment fund, founded
by Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf, will become part of its upcoming
Call of Duty league by fielding a Minnesota-based team.
And while the Vikings owners have had their eye on the esports
industry for awhile, it was Activision Blizzard’s approach to building
the space that led them to finally get in on the hype. Just like their
Overwatch League, the gaming giant intends to run another city-based
franchise with Call of Duty as inspired by traditional sports leagues.
“Having watched closely as the ecosystem evolved and matured with the
first few years of franchised leagues, we are confident in the
long-term potential of what Activision Blizzard is building and in the
esports industry as a whole,†Wilf told CNBC.
This makes the Vikings the latest traditional sports entity to charge
into the esports industry, which research firm Newzoo projects will
generate over one billion dollars in revenue this year. That’s a
year-on-year growth of 27% with the North American market accounting for
over a third of that $1.1 billion revenue.
But the Vikings are also entering a field where a good number of
traditional sports giants have already snapped up slots in various
leagues or started their own esports branches. Take-Two’s
NBA 2K League, for example, features 21 teams that are each owned by
their respective city franchises. Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch
League, which features city-based franchise teams, also boasts a few
traditional sports entities including the owners of the New England
Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.
These same traditional sports entities have also been wheeling and
dealing in the space. In 2017, the Houston Rockets paid $13 million for a
slot in Riot Games’ League of Legends North American league. This past
April, the Rockets sold their League of Legends team, known as Clutch
Gaming, to Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent company
of the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils and esports team
Dignitas, for a reported $20 million.
But despite their later entry into esports, Wilf emphasizes that the
Vikings owners were waiting for what they perceived as a strong
investment that would give them a solid foothold in the space.
“For us, investing in esports was never about being first, it was
about finding the right opportunity at the right time,†said Wilf. “The
proven staying power of Call of Duty as a franchise certainly factored
into our thinking.â€
Wilf also revealed that WISE Ventures is looking to expand into other
games, and that they are exploring the possibility of building an
esports-dedicated arena in Eagan, Minnesota on the Vikings Lakes campus.
The Call of Duty league is set to launch in 2020, and its addition of
the Wilf family brings the total number of announced teams to seven.
Back in March, ESPN reported that franchise spots for the new esports
league were being sold at $25 million per slot, though Activision
Blizzard has never confirmed that number.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:27 AM on Monday, July 8th, 2019
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Canada’s cannabis supply issues are real, despite feds’ denial, says business professor
A Canadian business professor says Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, was simply wrong when he said Canada’s cannabis supply shortage was “non-existent.â€
A Canadian business professor says Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, was simply wrong when he said Canada’s cannabis supply shortage was “non-existent.â€
On Wednesday, Rod Phillips, Ontario’s minister of finance, and Doug
Downey, Ontario’s attorney general, criticized a federal cannabis supply
shortage when announcing Ontario will be licensing 50 new cannabis retail locations across Ontario.
Blair shot back, saying Ontario was “making excuses†and using a
“non-existent supply shortage,†for their slow success in subverting the
illegal cannabis market in the province.
Blair pointed to Health Canada data that showed in April alone, Canada’s overall cannabis inventory was 24 times more than total sales that month.
But Michael Armstrong, a professor at the Goodman School of Business
at Brock University, said the federal government is using seemingly
impressive data to skirt around the fact that there are still
significant supply issues in Canada.
“They are wildly incorrect to say there’s no cannabis shortage and
that there’s enough legal cannabis for those who want it,†Armstrong
said in an email.
Canada’s cannabis supply
Armstrong says the majority of Canada’s cannabis inventory, more than
85 per cent of it, is unfinished — that means raw cannabis product that
has not been processed, packaged and made ready to sell.
Health Canada data shows that the majority of Canada’s cannabis supply is not ready to sell.
Health Canada
Some of that inventory may also never be ready to sell.
“Some of it, unfortunately, may not be sellable, whether that’s
contamination or microbial risk or pesticides or anything of that
nature,†said John Fowler, president of Supreme Cannabis and vice-chair of the Cannabis Council of Canada,
a cannabis business association. “The law does not allow licensed
producers to sell that product but it also doesn’t require them to
immediately destroy it.â€
Armstrong also criticized Blair and Health Canada for equating sales of legal cannabis with national demand.
“Sales isn’t the relevant measure of demand here, because legal sales
satisfy just a fraction of total consumption; most is met by black
markets,†Armstrong says.
Legal marijuana retailers are competing with illegal dealers,
Armstrong says, so to use legal sales as a benchmark for demand in
Canada is wrong.
“No one really knows how big the black market is and how much total consumption there is,†Armstrong said.
Nevertheless, he has estimated, using Health Canada data from a
report they commissioned on estimated cannabis use in the fall, overall
demand of dried cannabis, including illegal and medical sales, would
land somewhere around 56,000 kilograms a month.
Health Canada has been tracking cannabis sales since legalization on
their website. Numbers for April show dried cannabis sales reached just
below 9,000 kilograms, leaving just over 13,000 kilograms inventory
available to sell.
WATCH: Industry experts: Education on cannabis edibles needed
If Armstrong’s numbers are correct, this would leave a 43,000 kilogram gap that may have been filled by illegal sales.
“They’re looking at sales as their consumption. Businesses often do
that — they look at ‘are we keeping up with sales,’ but they’re doing
that when they have a healthy industry where sales is almost equal to
demand,†Armstrong said.
Blair’s team said Health Canada is holding up their end of the bargain when it comes to licensing producers.
As of March 31, 2019, Health Canada says federally licensed
cultivators are reporting nearly 700,000 square metres of land under
active cultivation, which can produce 1 million kilograms of cannabis
per year.
“This is roughly equivalent to estimates of the total quantity of
cannabis (legal and illegal) consumed in Canada, made by independent
market analysts, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and federal government
departments,†said Marie-Emmanuelle Cadieux, senior communications
advisor for Blair.
But Armstrong maintains that the numbers show the industry is continuing to have trouble meeting demand.
Getting cannabis on the shelves
In the past, Health Canada has acknowledged that Canada’s supply
issues don’t lie with the creation of the product, but rather with the
production process itself.
What exactly is wrong with production is a bit of a mystery,
Armstrong said. Whether it’s that producers are not growing high enough
volumes of quality cannabis that can turn into dry cannabis, or they
don’t have production facilities, or there are still issues with
shipping, Armstrong said he can only speculate.
“Big inventories are not translating into shipments going out the door,†Armstrong said.
Armstrong said that issues with federally mandated labelling could
have also slowed things down. He also guessed that certain producers
focused on getting greenhouses ready for marketing purpose rather than
setting up a production line that could handle orders coming in from
huge markets like the Ontario Cannabis Store.
John Fowler, is chalking production issues up to growing pains of a new market.
“I think, overall, things have been working pretty well,†said
Fowler. “Perhaps there was a lack of understanding of the complexity,
not just regulatory complexity of license approvals, but just building
the businesses and the supply chains to go from a market that literally
didn’t exist on October 17th.â€
Fowler said at this point, every part of the industry is being
stretched. It’s taking time to get licenses for smaller growers, as well
as licenses to expand growing spaces, and packaging and equipment
manufacturers are also being weighed down by a huge surge in demand.
“It’s one of those things it’s not one issue that’s holding the industry back from meeting its growth objectives.â€
When it comes to whether it’s a smart strategy to limit the amount of
cannabis stores in Ontario because of a production issue, Armstrong
says Ontario may be shooting themselves in the foot, considering
provinces like Alberta and British Columbia will have booming markets
with retailers ready to receive the inventory when it’s ready to sell.
But he says, they aren’t wrong in their reasoning for doing so.
“When they say that there’s not enough supply and there’s massive shortages, absolutely, that is correct.â€
In the end, Fowler doesn’t believe these delays, whether to overall
supply or to Ontario’s cannabis stores, will mean much to an industry
that’s meant to last.
“I think cannabis stores hopefully are going to be here for the next
100 years in this province. So a little bit of a six-month delay in
launch to be better for the next ninety-nine-and-a-half years. You know,
I don’t think it is a bad decision.â€
The Minister of Finance did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:24 AM on Monday, July 8th, 2019
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Automakers to trading houses from North America to Europe are
becoming more concerned about future supply shortages of key materials
needed for electric vehicle batteries as spending on new production
soars, according to the developer of a $1.5 billion project in
Australia.
More than a dozen parties have now expressed interest in taking up as much as a 50% stake in Clean TeQ Holdings Ltd.’s
Sunrise nickel-cobalt-scandium project, Chief Executive Officer Sam
Riggall said Monday in an interview. They include companies in regions
that until recently had shown less impetus to tie up raw material
supplies.
“It’s dawning on North America and Europe that there’s a raw
materials issue that needs to be addressed here,†Riggall said by phone.
“For the previous two years, I’ve been wearing out a lot of shoe
leather and banging on a lot of doors trying to get interest in Europe
and North America with very little success. In the last six months
things have changed quite dramatically.â€
Volkswagen AG in May picked Sweden’s Northvolt AB as a partner to start production
of battery cells for electric cars, while the German and French
governments have pledged funding and political support for efforts to
spur a European battery manufacturing industry. In the U.S., the number
of battery electric models available to consumers is forecast to double
by the end of 2021, according to BloombergNEF.
Melbourne-based Clean TeQ, which said last month
it had appointed Macquarie Group Ltd. to run a process to identify a
partner, is seeking final offers for a stake in the Sunrise project by
the end of September, and will aim to complete any sale by the end of
the year, according to Riggall.
China’s grip on lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing is forecast to
loosen through 2025, as new capacity is added close to demand centers
in the U.S. and Europe, BNEF said in a May report.
Battery Shift
New plants will boost lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing in Europe
Source: BloombergNEF
The scale of planned investments in electric lineups means both
automakers and related industries in Europe and North America are
focusing on how to secure future supplies of battery-grade nickel — and
also on ensuring there’s sufficient cobalt after the market tightens
from about 2021 to 2022, Riggall said. “Their minds are being forced to
turn to raw materials,†he said. “They are seeing significant risks on
that side of the business.â€
There’s a looming shortage of nickel sulfate, the material used for
battery products, with demand forecast to outstrip planned new capacity,
BNEF said in a July 2 report. Cobalt demand may also top global supply
from about 2025, according to the note.
Cobalt prices have tumbled since early 2018 on new supply from
incumbent producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and as some
battery makers seek to reduce the amount of the metal in their packs.
Nickel has declined about 11% on the London Metal Exchange in the past
year.
Clean TeQ is targeting commerical production at the Sunrise project,
with a forecast mine life of more than 40 years, from 2022, Riggall
said.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:07 AM on Monday, July 8th, 2019
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New ECB Boss is “Extremely†Pro-Crypto; What Could This Mean for Bitcoin?
Christine Lagarde, who is replacing Mario Draghi as the next head of the ECB on November 1st of this year, has long shown interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and has even advocated for state-backed digital currencies that could increase the efficiency of those state’s economies.
Investors and proponents of Bitcoin and the aggregated crypto markets
have long believed that the ultimate pinnacle of adoption would be
found when governments and central banks began growing friendly towards
the nascent technologies.
Now, the nominee who is replacing the outgoing European Central Bank
(ECB) head is pro-crypto herself and has shown tremendous interest in
how the nascent tech can help shape the future’s global economy.
ECB Boss is Pro-Crypto, Will This Help Spark Adoption?
Christine Lagarde, who is replacing Mario Draghi as the next head of
the ECB on November 1st of this year, has long shown interest in Bitcoin
and cryptocurrencies, and has even advocated for state-backed digital
currencies that could increase the efficiency of those state’s
economies.
This past April, Lagarde spoke to CNBC and bullishly noted that crypto and blockchain is currently “shaking the system.â€
“I think the role of the disruptors and anything that is using
distributed ledger technology, whether you call it crypto, assets,
currencies, or whatever … that is clearly shaking the system,†she
noted, tempering this sentiment by adding that “We don’t want to shake
the system so much that we would lose the stability that is needed.â€
Although there is no way to deny that Bitcoin and crypto
are shaking up the current system – or at the very least have the
potential to do so – many critics will write off their utility, so
Lagarde’s openness to the technology is a powerful endorsement.
Will Lagarde Embrace Bitcoin, Or Focus on More Centralized Options?
Although the incoming ECB boss is certainly more open to crypto than
previous ones, it is important to note that her interest seems to be
more in centralized crypto options than in decentralized ones, like
Bitcoin.
Mati Greenspan, the senior market analyst at eToro, explained in an
email that her interest currently seems to be in JPM Coin and XRP.
“Not bitcoin, of course, but she has advocated already for
state-backed cryptocurrencies as well as settlement tokens like XRP and
JPM coin. In this video, we can see her taking notes while listening to Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse,†Greenspan explained.
Furthermore, Greenspan also explained that crypto certainly won’t be
her main focus as the head of the ECB, as her biggest challenge will be
to “bring unity and prosperity to the various EU States and QE will
probably take precedence over the digital landscape.â€
Regardless of whether or not crypto, Bitcoin, or blockchain are one
of her main focuses, her interest and openness to the technology is
certainly positive for the industry as a whole and may help incubate further adoption.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:15 PM on Sunday, July 7th, 2019
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———————–
Facing off with Fortnite, Apex is turning to esports
Fortnite soared to the top of the video game world when it launched in 2017.
New York (CNN Business) Fortnite soared to the top of the video game world when it launched in 2017. Electronic Arts’ “Apex Legends,” a similar free-to-play battle royale game, where players fight until the last squad standing, eclipsed “Fortnite” in online views in February.
Apex’s victory was short-lived, and Fortnite surpassed
its viewership the following month. Now EA has plans to get Apex back
on top once again. The company is betting competitions of professional
and amateur gamers — known as esports — will broaden Apex’s audience.
Game enthusiasts play “Apex Legends” during the EA Play 2019 event at the Hollywood Palladium in June.
New features and esports deals
EA made a big play to bolster Apex’s esport credentials in June when it announced a deal with ESPN to allow college and professional esports players to compete in Apex games at two events over the summer.
The game also added a new competitive mode Tuesday that ranks
gamers based on how many wins and kills they can pull off. Fortnite implemented a similar competitive-ranking mode in March.
“Pro teams typically scout from the upper echelon,” said Chris
Hopper, head of esports for North America at Riot Games, which develops
“League of Legends,” one of the biggest esports titles. “But they also
find up-and-coming talent in the ranks immediately below.”
EA is leaning on its partnership with ESPN to stream Apex games
live online and, later, on the air on the ESPN and ABC networks. ESPN’s
director of business development, Kevin Lopes, told CNN Business the
network was attracted to Apex Legends’ rising popularity and esports
potential. The two companies already had an existing esports partnership
over football game “Madden NFL.”
“Making Apex an esport will help drive the audience,” said Michael
Pachter, an analyst at financial services firm Wedbush. “It gives
players something to watch and learn from.”
World’s top gamers vie for $500,000 in prizes at a Fortnite International video game tournament.
The esports industry has attracted millions of viewers across
multiple platforms, and it could reach about $3 billion in market size
in 2022, Goldman Sachs forecasts.
It’s not clear how exactly that translates into money for EA —
esports revenue is hard to pinpoint, though sponsorships and event
ticket sales can all generate revenue to some degree. Apex also makes
money through in-game purchases such as cosmetic upgrades.
But esports can encourage gamers to stick with particular titles
and can keep the game feeling relevant for longer, “both of which lead
to more chances for monetization,” said Nicole Pike, managing director
at Nielsen Esports.
EA estimated during its last earnings call that Apex would bring in
$300 to $400 million next year. For comparison, Fortnite made $2.4
billion in revenue in 2018, according to Nielsen’s SuperData.
Apex vs. Fortnite
“People play Fortnite partly because their friends are on
Fortnite,” said Will Partin, a doctoral candidate at UNC Chapel Hill who
studies esports. “The best-case scenario for the Apex Legends [ESPN]
event is that it exposes the game to a lot of people who haven’t tried
the battle royale genre yet.”
Esports is EA’s latest strategy to try and generate buzz for the
title. When Apex debuted in February, EA paid well-known game streamers
to play Apex for the first 24 hours. EA told CNN Business it stopped
paying them after that.
The marketing bid paid off: Apex attracted 50 million players
within the first month of launch. EA’s chief executive Andrew Wilson
said it was the “fastest-growing new game we’ve ever had” during a May
earnings call.
“It was our way of showing the world, when people go on
[game-streaming platform]
Twitch and it’s one of the top games, you’re like ‘Oh, that looks interesting. What’s that?'” said Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn, which made Apex. EA acquired the developer in 2017. If people play Apex as a sport, the game could start winning back fan attention and viewership on live-streaming services. Â Some observers think there’s potential for the game to actually succeed as an esports arena. Apex has unique characters and is not updated as frequently as Fortnite, so it’s easier to adapt to, said Will Hershey, co-founder and CEO at the investment advisory firm Roundhill Investments. Â “Ultimately, I believe [Apex] has the potential to be more of an esport, in the traditional sense, than Fortnite does,” he said. Â
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:30 PM on Thursday, July 4th, 2019
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Shopify has previously highlighted the need for dynamic ads and has offered advice on how to automate
it to help boost your brand. However, in 2019, it’s not just enough
that you know when to post on Facebook to get the most engagement: it’s
important that you find a smarter way to advertise.
This article will discuss what programmatic advertising is all about and how you can leverage it for your brand.
Programmatic Advertising Defined
Digiday simplifies programmatic advertising when it said: “It’s using machines to buy ads, basically.â€
Traditionally, ad space was sold and
bought by humans. Requests for Proposal (RFP) were made and sent,
multiple meetings were set, and negations dragged on before the
advertisement was actually published. This meant the advertisers could
be losing valuable real estate if they do not successfully secure an ad
space. On the other hand, agencies may be putting money into ad spaces
that might not actually be seen by their target audience.
Essentially with the automation of
programmatic ad buying, these risks are minimized. Advertisers get an
agreed upon number of impressions per ad space, provided that the
publisher is targeting their buyer personas. Instapage expounds on when
it said that when you buy ad space through software, you rely on “complex algorithms to deliver advertisements contextually.†This also makes the entire ad buying, targeting, and placement process possible in less than a second.
How it works
Agencies and advertisers use a
demand-side platform (DSP) that helps them decide which impressions to
buy from publishers, and how much they are willing to pay for them. On
the other side, the publishers have their own platform, the supply side platform (SSP), which shows available ad spaces.
These two platforms are then paired
in real time, so advertisers can see how their ads are doing. In case
you see an opportunity to amplify or modify your message, then you can
bid for more impressions. If not, then your continuous campaign will run
as planned.
This transparency and flexibility are
what make programmatic advertising a growing industry. As alluded to
earlier, an estimated $84 billion will be spent on programmatic ads in
2019. And with features like cross-device campaigns, and improved retargeting, the industry can only be expected to grow.
How Programmatic Ads Help You Reach the Right Audience
It has always been a challenge to get
ads in front of the right audiences. With programmatic ads, you can
place your ads based on your buyer persona’s age, social status, gender,
and even geographic location. By design, you will be paying for highly
effective and targeted ads that are delivered to the right users at the
right time. This is akin to having your online store work across all devices.
What’s more, once paired with
analytics and its real-time insights, you can get valuable lessons on
how you can improve your campaigns immediately. This has the added
benefit of enhancing your targeting approach so that it will be spot-on
in the future.
Now that you know what programmatic
ads are and how they can be helpful, here is how you can incorporate
them in your strategy this 2019.
How to Maximize Programmatic Ads
1. Use a programmatic model you are comfortable with
While the majority of advertisers are
comfortable with the use of their DSPs, some would want better
flexibility to validate ad buys and ensure that there is no fraud. For
this reason, it is important that you consider your programmatic model
before committing to it long term.
Some brands are opting to go in-house,
particularly since this gives them full control. All aspects of the
campaign—from ideation, execution, and to activation—are controlled by
the company. However, this is far trickier than that. Programmatic
advertising is complex, and unless you have an in-house team that
actually knows what it’s doing, then you could be purchasing ad space
that might not provide optimal returns.
For this reason, many brands are
choosing a hybrid approach, where advertisers can see what their
agencies are buying, and having an internal team (whether through the
agency or in-house) validate these buys.
2. Pool all your data and come up with a sound programmatic strategy
Once you decide on a programmatic
model, then you should consider your strategy. Do not isolate your
creative arm from your agency; rather, bring the two parties together to
come up with creative executions of your programmatic ads.
What this means is that you look at
all your data—your analytics, CRM stats, and market research, as well as
other data sources you may have—and try to see which media type,
location, or device would best appeal to your audience. This way, your
campaign is not a shot in the dark: you are actually running a data-driven programmatic ad campaign, so you are more likely to get better leads.
Go beyond retargeting, and see how
you can get the right response by testing out varying accuracies and
scales of your campaign. Scale it back if you think you’ve gone too far,
or choose a different method if you think your ads are not hitting the
mark.
To come up with a sound strategy,
have a sit down with your data, creative, and agency: talk about your
prospects and goals, and see how efficient your ads should be.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:30 PM on Thursday, July 4th, 2019
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It’s the real deal, millennial driven eSports is the next big thing
In 2018, the global eSports market revenue reached US$865 million. According to Statista, global eSports market revenue is forecast to reach US$1.79 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 22.3%.
The number of eSports enthusiasts worldwide was estimated at ~168 million in 2018, and for total global viewers, the forecast for 2019 is ~453 million.
Enthusiast Gaming (TSXV: EGLX)/Aquilini GameCo Inc./Luminosity – The merged group will now include seven eSports teams (including management of the Vancouver Titans Overwatch League franchise), 40 eSports influencers, 80+ gaming media websites, 900+ YouTube and Twitch channels
Think of eSports organizations the same way you would see any other
mainstream sporting organization, for example, the New York Yankees or
Manchester United. eSports organizations operate similarly by building
their brands in the e-gaming ecosystem versus the traditional sports
ecosystem.
A brief history of eSports and how the revenue is distributed across the industry
The first eSports event happened all the way back in October
1972 at Stamford University where students competed on the video game
Spacewar. In more recent years the industry has become professional and
involves large eSports tournaments, prize money, and media deals.
In 2018, the global eSports market revenue reached US$865 million. According to Statista,
global eSports market revenue is forecast to reach US$1.79 billion in
2022, growing at a CAGR of 22.3%. The number of eSports enthusiasts
worldwide was estimated at ~168 million in 2018, and for total global
viewers, the forecast for 2019 is ~453 million.
The major players in the eSports space
Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) owns the popular Overwatch League as well as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Hearthstone.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is headquartered in California. It is the second-largest gaming company in the Americas and Europe by revenue and market capitalization
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is based in New York City. The Company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games, and 2K.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. (OTCPK: TCEHY) acquired Riot Games and now owns the very popular League of Legends game and also own King of Glory. Tencent is the Chinese leader in eSports game streaming.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a dominant player in the eSports streaming market. The online streaming market in the USA is led by Amazon’s Twitch.
Huya Inc. (NYSE: HUYA) is a spin off from YY Inc. Huya is known as the “Twitch of Chinaâ€. Huya mostly works off a gift model.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) own YouTube Gaming which makes money via subscriptions and advertising.
Enthusiast Gaming (TSXV: EGLX)/Aquilini GameCo Inc./Luminosity – The merged group will now include seven eSports teams (including management of the Vancouver Titans Overwatch League franchise), 40 eSports influencers, 80+ gaming media websites, 900+ YouTube and Twitch channels
Enthusiast Gaming merges with Aquilini GameCo and Luminosity to create a market leader in gaming and eSports
In just four years Enthusiast Gaming has gone from a basement-based
business to form the leading publicly traded eSports and gaming media
organization in North America. Enthusiast Gaming recently announced a
merger agreement
with Aquilini GameCo Inc. and Luminosity that will create a publicly
traded eSports and gaming organization with $22 million in pro forma
revenue and $36 million in cash on closing of the merger, with a
combined global audience reach of approximately 200 million.
CEO of Enthusiast Gaming, Menashe Kestenbaum, stated: “Our vision has
always been to build the largest, vertically integrated eSports and
gaming company in the world. The merger with Aquilini GameCo and
Luminosity was a strategic decision that positions us as a dominant
player in the gaming industry and unlocks access to Luminosity’s 50
million dedicated eSports fans and one of the largest eSports
franchises.â€
eSports companies are doing well and eSports is gaining acceptance
So far 2019 has been a strong period for eSports with some great
returns in H1 2019 for investors including: Huya Inc. (NYSE: HUYA) up
71%, Kuuhubb Inc. (TSXV: KUU) up 81%, Enthusiast Gaming Inc. (TSXV:
EGLX) up 39%, Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) up 61%, and Electronic Arts Inc.
(NASDAQ: EA) up 33%.
eSport was featured at the 2018 Asian Games as a
demonstration sport, and eSports will be a medal event at the 2022 Asian
Games.
The eSports phenomenon is growing at a rapid pace and
offers many opportunities globally for up to date investors, just ask a
millennial.
“Employees in India are looking forward to picking up new-age skills to make themselves more relevant in the current workforce. upGrad’s highly engaging online learning solution along with CohortPlus’s deep penetration in the community of Data Scientists and Product Managers, will allow us to reach a much larger and relevant audience,†Ronnie Screwvala and Mayank Kumar, Co-founders, upGrad said in a joint statement, published by yourstory.
Bengaluru-based CohortPlus was founded by Srinivasan Narayan
in 2015. It is an online community, which brings together like-minded
career aspirants on a single community platform, where they can network
with each other, ask and clarify doubts, and be abreast of the latest
events in the field of data science and product management.
Members can post their questions and get various perspectives from
industry professionals and can also get assistance for job interviews.
While, upGrad was founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh
in 2015. It has introduced 35 programmes in areas such as data science,
technology, and management, and has a paid learner base of 13,000.
On the other hand, according to the Talent Supply Indes (TSI) by
Belong, India has seen more than 400 per cent rise in demand for data
science professionals across varied industry sectors at a time when the
supply of such talent is witnessing a slow growth.
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—————-
4 crypto trends for the next 5 years
Not long ago, only a handful of accountants dealt in cryptocurrency.
Now, just a few years later, every major financial news outlet dedicates
a portion of its coverage to crypto. Times have changed quickly, so
what will the crypto accounting industry look like in five years and
beyond?
Consider the following four trends in crypto accounting and how they will affect CPAs.
1. Increased automation
As cryptocurrencies further infiltrate the public consciousness,
traditional accounting services will automate more of their work to keep
up with the increased workload. Spreadsheets work well enough for fiat
transactions, but in the volatile crypto environment, static tools can’t
effectively serve anyone with a serious investment in alternative
currencies.
Average consumers today can do their taxes online
through services like TurboTax and H&R Block. Businesses and complex
individual situations require personalized care, but standard programs
can handle the load for most people. Tax programs don’t need to offer
advanced functionality just yet — a few equations on the back end do a
fine job.
But cryptocurrencies make things more complicated.
Accountants need automated tools to track increased crypto complexity,
like cost basis. Without smarter software, experts in the financial
services industry won’t be able to keep up with higher sophistication at
scale. Tax software providers will eventually offer new and highly
automated services for crypto investors, and consumers will pay for
those services using their crypto investments.
AI accountants
Accounting experts will use smarter tools to help their corporate
clients and major investors make better decisions. But the public won’t
need real accountants for their simple crypto investments; they’ll
simply turn to artificial intelligence tools that minimize human
interaction in most accounting scenarios.
The future will see
consumers interact with intelligent AI, machine learning, and bots
capable of natural language processing. Challenging concepts like crypto
cost basis, which can confuse even the sharpest accountants, pose
little threat to intelligent software. Accountants will still have a
place in the world, but their duties will evolve drastically as crypto
demands bring widespread change in the financial industry.
Not
everyone will feel comfortable doing taxes through AI. Accountants will
need to lean on automated tools of their own to keep pace, but
enterprise clients, heavy investors, and people suspicious of advanced
tech will continue to prefer the human touch. With more money going
toward nicer tools and less money going toward human intermediaries,
accountants must specialize and adapt to stay relevant.
3. Knowledge enrichment
Schools and universities will soon offer programs and specialty courses
to educate future accountants, bookkeepers, and CPAs on the intricacies
of crypto. Few schools today offer such services, but the more prominent
cryptocurrencies become, the greater the need will be for new
accountants to understand the rules of digital currency.
Some businesses already offer services to certify accountants
as crypto tax experts, but schools will remain the top trainers in the
accounting world. By educating students before they begin their careers,
universities can prepare graduates to operate effectively in an
industry with broad new responsibilities and expectations. Businesses
and crypto organizations will need new accountants who understand their
evolving needs.
For accountants already out of school, options
for continuing education will evolve from useful to essential. More
crypto trading means more crypto investors and crypto companies. Those
entities need experts who understand the cryptocurrency landscape. If
experienced accountants fail to adapt, fresh faces will gladly take the
business.
4. Updated regulatory standards
Where crypto regulation used to be nonexistent, legislators have
actually made some limited progress. The SEC now has more oversight to
shut down illicit initial coin offerings (ICOs), and the IRS clarified
that cryptocurrencies are property, not currency — at least for now.
But
the more that crypto changes, the more regulations will change with it.
Every business that deals with cryptocurrency will encounter newer,
more robust laws in the years to come. Soon every company and project
that deals with crypto will need an accountant (or accounting service)
with crypto experience to help navigate the unknown.
As new laws
get passed, businesses will invest more heavily in smarter crypto
accounting solutions. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will
do the heavy lifting while human accountants interpret that data to help
executives make smarter business decisions. More technology startups
will emerge to cater to this growing audience. Before long, crypto
accounting will become an industry unto itself.
These changes may seem like far-off concerns for another year, but crypto accounting — like cryptocurrencies themselves — moves quickly. Expectations and the tools to meet them become more complex and sophisticated each day. Accountants must stay vigilant to keep up with the times, or they risk losing ground to a new generation of crypto-savvy competitors. Â
