By Matthew Black, CBC News Posted: Sep 03, 2017 9:00 AM PTLast Updated: Sep 03, 2017 1:34 PM PT
Live eSports events like this 2013 competition in Los Angeles have also packed the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. (The Associated Press/Mark J. Terrill)
When Denis Beausoleil first began breaking down data, he thought it would help his fledgling basketball coaching career.
Beausoleil, 36, learned data analysis skills while completing an undergraduate degree, and did well enough to earn a spot at the University of Victoria’s coaching institute.
“I did it to help myself be a better basketball coach but it opened up opportunities,” he said.
One of those opportunities materialized away from the hardwood and in the virtual world of competitive video gaming, better known as eSports. It’s an industry that has ballooned in popularity in recent years, drawing millions of dollars in corporate sponsorships as well as drawing thousands of fans to packed arenas, including in Toronto and Vancouver.
The rising popularity of the sport has also created a demand for coaches.
So, when Beausoleil found himself at an anime convention nearly three years ago and spotted a UBC eSports booth, he introduced himself and made the team an offer:  take the coaching and analytical skills he’d use with a basketball team and apply it to the world of competitive gaming.
“I saw how eSports is similar to traditional sports. I saw an opportunity. There wasn’t really anyone who was doing data publicly on League of Legends,” he said referring to the popular multiplayer battle arena game.
UBC’s eSports team won back-to-back collegiate League of Legends titles in 2015 and 2016. (UBC eSports Association/Facebook)
Last year, Beausoleil helped the UBC squad beat 31 other collegiate teams to win its second straight LOL Campus Series title in 2016 as the top college team in North America.
He’s turned that experience into data analyst jobs for both professional eSports and basketball organizations.
“I coached basketball for 10 years before I got paid anything … I was happy to volunteer my time. I wanted the experience and to learn about the game.”
He’s one of a growing number of eSports coaches who rely on experience, data, and management skills to help amateur and professional players improve their play.
“You don’t have to be the greatest statistician. It’s a piece of the argument and I try to make it convincing.”
Brandon “Mash” Phan is just 22, but has already been playing professionally for almost 5 years.
Phan picked up League of Legends for the first time on Christmas Day 2009, and by the next summer grew confident that he could play for more than just fun.
Brandon Phan, seen here competing for Echo Fox in July of 2017, says the best coaches help eSports players with both their physical and mental games. (Riot Games/Flickr)
“I realized that this could be a thing for me,” he said.
Since then, the Toronto resident has played for several pro teams and has seen coaching evolve from a novelty to a necessity.
“It was funny to see a coach. People thought ‘this guy is just here for show.’ Now, we have almost a minimum of two coaches per team.”
Phan now plays for Echo Fox’s League of Legends squad — a team owned by Canadian-born former NBA player Rick Fox — where Beausoleil provides data-based scouting reports on opponents.
His typical in-season work day starts with an hour-long players meeting with coaches to talk strategy and gameplan.
“We talk about anything we want to try. Anything we’ve seen from other regions.”
A three-hour practice session follows that meeting, then an hour break for lunch before the team ends the day with another three-hour practice.
“Most coaches are former players so there’s a lot of respect for those in the coaching role.”
Phan says good coaches go beyond gameplay, and work to improve teamwork and maintain a calm, healthy environment.
“Coaching facilitates a healthy discussion and positive feedback and making sure each player owns up to their own play if they misplayed it or played well.”
Coaching isn’t just for members of elite teams, it’s also for those players looking to replace them.
Hearthstone player and UBC eSports alum Benton “ItzBolt” Chan has made coaching amateur players into a steady sideline business.
Benton Chan, seen here while playing for UBC eSports Association, now coaches players as a part-time job. (Vivian Chung/UBC eSports Association)
Chan charges clients $15 US an hour for an individual online coaching session lasting up to four hours long where he works on strategy and gameplay.
“For a while I was thinking I don’t need a part time job because I can do this on the side.”
Chan, 23, uses social media to promote his service and typically draws players from as far away as Asia and the United States who are looking to advance to the elite level.
He says it’s a competitive industry, with other coaches charging anywhere between $5 and $150 US per hour for one-on-one sessions.
“I have to convince my clients that I’m the better coach.”
He helps players prepare for tournament play, and advises them ahead of tournaments on how to beat elite level talent. He says that while coaching is important, just like in real sports, it’s up to the players to apply the lessons in future competitions.
“If you want to be better in the long term you want a coach who can get you thinking.”
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/coaching-competitive-esports-1.4269619
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) is a primarily a video game developer founded less than a decade ago through the merger of Vivendi Games and Activision. It operates through five business units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, Major League Gaming (a professional eSports organisation), Activision Blizzard Studios, and King Digital Entertainment (a social games development company).
The company owns and operates record breaking franchises, including the beloved Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Destiny and King’s social behemoth Candy Crush Saga. With a market cap of $47 billion, it is one of two dedicated gaming companies on the S&P 500, along with EA (NASDAQ:EA) at $36 billion. The gaming development industry is highly competitive, with a number of players, including Konami (NYSE:KNM), Ubisoft (OTCPK:OTCPK:UBSFY), Capcom, and Sony (NYSE:SNE).
Overall sales, including hardware, software, and accessories, rose 19% Y/Y to $588M, according to NPD Group, while PC and console software were up 14% and 17%, respectively. A large portion of that increase across the board belonged to ATVI’s Crash Bandicoot renaissance, with the game’s sales in its second month since release edged out only by Nintendo’s new release Splatoon 2 in July sales.
Looking forward, Newzoo predicts that the global video game industry will grow at a CAGR of 6.2% from $101.1 billion in 2016 to $128.6 billion in 2020. The interesting segment, though, is mobile gaming, with its revenue set to grow 68% from $38.6 billion in 2016 to $64.9 billion in 2020, with its share of the total market increasing from 29% to a full 50% over that time frame.
Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4103698-future-gaming-activision-blizzard
Players will also get health insurance, retirement benefits
League is built around company’s Overwatch shooting game
The league is one of several professional video-gaming organizations built to resemble traditional sports groups like the National Football League or National Basketball Association. Overwatch League will have franchises based in specific cities, with media rights, revenue sharing and free-agency periods. Unlike the established sports leagues, however, there is no players union to collectively bargain for benefits, leaving those decisions largely up to the publisher.
Video-game players competing in Activision Blizzard Inc.’s new esports league will receive minimum salaries of $50,000 a year, health insurance and retirement benefits.
Players in the Overwatch League, set to launch later this year, will also get at least 50 percent of all performance bonuses earned by their team, the Santa Monica, California-based company said in a statement Wednesday. Total bonuses distributed in the first season will be $3.5 million, according to Activision, with at least $1 million going to the season champion.
In esports, professional video-game players compete live and online before crowds of spectators. Game publishers see the competition as a way to showcase titles and connect with fans. The new league is built around Activision’s Overwatch game, a cartoonish version of a shooting game featuring six-player teams competing in a future version of Earth.
The league is one of several professional video-gaming organizations built to resemble traditional sports groups like the National Football League or National Basketball Association. Overwatch League will have franchises based in specific cities, with media rights, revenue sharing and free-agency periods. Unlike the established sports leagues, however, there is no players union to collectively bargain for benefits, leaving those decisions largely up to the publisher.
Mad Scramble
Activision’s announcement Wednesday sets the stage for a mad scramble for talent. All 30 million Overwatch players are considered free agents, meaning they can sign with any team, regardless of previous affiliations. The official signing window will run from Aug. 1 to Oct. 30. All players will sign a one-year guaranteed contract with an option for a second year. Teams will also provide housing and practice facilities. The $50,000 salary floor compares with a $53,000 minimum in Major League Soccer.
Activision shares rose 2.8 percent to close at $62.64 in New York Wednesday. They’ve gained 73 percent this year.
Earlier this month, Activision announced the first seven ownership groups in the league, a list that includes New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Jeff Wilpon, whose family owns the New York Mets. The groups each agreed to pay a $20 million franchise fee, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Activision Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick has identified esports as one of the growth areas for the company, the largest independent video game publisher. In March, Overwatch was named Game of the Year at the Game Developers Choice Awards.
The main rival to Overwatch League is Riot Games’ reformed League of Legends Championship Series, or LCS. The 2018 North American LCS announced that league revenue would be split among players (35 percent), teams (32.5 percent) and the publisher (32.5 percent). Los Angeles-based Riot Games is part of China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.
There is no set launch date for Overwatch League. Activision said it may add more teams before the league starts later this year.
Online Wagering Platform for the Future of Competitive Gaming
Why Esports Entertainment Group?
“There is no other way to say it … Esports Entertainment Group represents one of the best potential mega winners I’ve seen in years.” George Tsiolis, AGORACOM Founder
“The Business of eSports Is Set To Explode…. Billions of dollars will soon be wagered on eSports competitions. Brands, consultants and investors are always looking for the next great opportunity and eSports appears to be an able applicant for the role.†Forbes Magazine
Things You Need To Know:
Who is Esports Entertainment Group?
eSports is undoubtedly a million-dollar industry with millions of fans worldwide. America, with its NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS is even witnessing eSports coming the fastest-growing and most-viewed sport. Each month, over 100 million viewers tune to watch video game play and that number is expected to near 145 million by the end of the year. eSports tournaments have exploded in the past 14 years and what started as small events between amateur players has grew to nearly 2,000 tournaments boasting the world’s top professional players.
The likes of Vodafone are now even getting in the action and took advantage of the thriving gaming market in Spain by launching its own eSports channel. The network provider launched a dedicated Twitter page for eSports Vodafone and has also announced a collaboration with G2 eSports, a world premier eSports club, to support a League of Legends team in Spain.
Many high-street bookmakers are capitalising on the buzz and host a platform for betting on eSports, offering great deposit bonuses and more. Betting on eSports may sound strange but live-betting is a form of wagering that has taken off in recent years, in particularly on live casino platforms like CasinoCruise.
Elsewhere in Europe, eSports is also big business in the UK with a number of eSports cafes propping up. In London, popular eSsports café Meltdown allows you to play games including Hearthstone, Starcraft 2, DOTA 2 and League of Legends to name a few. The café offers customers their PCs and consoles for free, whether its to play or watch live streams. All users need to pay for is any food or drink they consume, entry is free and the majority of tournaments are free to enter. The café is overwhelmingly popular and has been since its opening in 2013.
credit:Â Micko1986
Across the capital is Swan Wharf, a Victorian warehouse amassed with design agencies, metalworking workshops and other assorted businesses. It does not look like the place to find a promising new hub for gamers, but that’s exactly what you’ll find spanning two floors of this building. Named EXP, it is described by its founder as “the largest dedicated games and play-space in London, embracing video games, table top games, films, TV, books and comic hobbyists”. On the top floor, you’ll come across 32 gaming PCS – all great for watching and playing eSports, 20 consoles ranging from Xbox One to PlayStation 4 from the modem era and retro favourites such as Nintendo 64.
The popularity of eSports tournaments is booming. Players are simply competing against one another on the latest computer games and the industry is booming.
eSports tells us that the likely winners in the online gambling market will be not only the obvious casino players, but also others that embrace the full spectrum of entertainment and social media around it.
The total of number of hours spent watching eSports events last year exceeded six billion worldwide, up 19% from 2015. Not only has the popularity of eSports grown exponentially but so has its profitability, thus gambling websites are leveraging the trend’s success.
Read more: The rise of eSports sees wave of Gaming Cafe’s open – TNT Magazine
In this March 31, 2017 photo, video game players compete against one another in an esports tournament at Caesars casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Casinos are slowly embracing esports as a way to help their bottom line, but so far, the money is coming from renting hotel rooms to the young players and selling them food and drinks, not from turning them into gamblers. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Casinos are slowly embracing competitive video game tournaments as a way to help their bottom lines, but the money is coming from renting hotel rooms to the young players and selling them food and drinks, not from turning them into gamblers.
Like most other ways gambling halls have tried to attract millennials and their disposable income, it hasn’t been easy. Atlantic City was first city in the nation to adopt skill-based slot machines to woo millennials but bailed on them after a few months when the response was underwhelming.
Competitive video game tournaments, known as esports, are a growing industry around the world. The fast-paced action, vivid graphics and often violent on-screen action is catnip to millennials, the audience casinos are targeting as their core slot players grow old and die.
But it’s been difficult to move them from the video console to the craps table.
“Everybody’s still trying to figure out, how do you make this appealing for the consumer and make sense for the business? How do we all profit from this?†said Kevin Ortzman, Atlantic City regional president for Caesars Entertainment, which owns three casinos in the city.
The company in March hosted an esports tournament at Caesars that drew about 900 competitors and spectators.
The bottom line result was encouraging, if not dynamite.
“We certainly experienced a spike in our hospitality offerings — the hotel, food and beverage side of things,†Ortzman said. “We didn’t see as much on the gambling side, which we weren’t terribly surprised by.â€
But he said coming up with ways to attract millennials is a necessity for the casino industry as a whole, adding that esports players could be cultivated to embrace casinos for video game competitions the way their parents and grandparents went there to play slot machines.
Gambling requires discretionary income and free time, things that people starting their careers or families may not have in abundance, said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
“The big question is whether people who are 40 or 20 now will begin to play casino games as they get older,†Schwartz said. “This isn’t a given.â€
Schwartz agreed the real money for casinos in esports tournaments comes from ancillary spending on food, drinks and hotel rooms.
The Caesars video tournament offered $200,000 in prize money, including a $70,000 top prize, that lured players like Jose Mavo, of Charlotte, North Carolina, who has been playing competitively for a decade and has become a casino customer as a result of being in tournaments hosted by gambling halls.
“We had a tournament in Vegas, and that was the first time I went to a casino, so ever since then, I’ve been gambling quite a bit,†he said, listing blackjack and roulette as favourites.
Alec Collins, of Piedmont, South Carolina, who goes by the competitive name Shock, is only 18, so he’s three years away from gambling legally. But it’s something he’d like to try then.
“I love Atlantic City so in a few years I would definitely come back and experience the casino a little bit,†he said.
Until then, he added, referring to the video game competition, “We’re just here to shoot our guns.â€
Wall Street sees growth potential in esports. Deloitte Global pegged the worldwide esports market last year at $500 million, up from $400 million in 2015, and estimated the industry has a global in-person or online audience of nearly 150 million people a year.
Newzoo, a company following the esports market, predicted in a report that esports will generate nearly $700 million this year, including media rights, ticket and merchandise sales, brand partnerships and game maker investments. The company projects that figure will surpass the $1.5 billion mark by 2019.
One of the biggest supporters of esports among casino owners is Seth Schorr, CEO of the Downtown Grand in Las Vegas, whose casino regularly hosts video game tournaments that, he said, “make a little bit of money.†But Schorr said the tournaments offer other revenue opportunities, including suites for groups and meal packages.
“Is it the silver bullet? Of course not,†he said. “Is it one tactic in an overall strategy? Of course it is.â€
Tencent, the world’s largest mobile gaming developer and the parent owner of Riot Games, has revealed a five-year outline for its esports ventures. The investment holding company announced at a press conference last Friday that it would create a 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) industry within China, complete with new leagues, tournaments, associations and its previously announced esports-themed industrial parks.
Tencent sits within the world’s top ten companies measured by market capitalisation.
The announcement was made by Tencent E-sports, its competitive gaming subsidiary established in December 2016. At the same conference, Ding Dong, Director of the information center of the State General Administration of Sports, confirmed that Chinese sport authorities would be working closely with Tencent over the next five years to establish unified standards for esports in the country.
Tencent, as well as fellow esports competitor Alibaba, sits within the world’s top ten companies measured by market capitalisation. Alongside its esports success with League of Legends, Tencent acquired 84% of Finnish mobile developer Supercell in 2016 for $8.6 billion, and recently launched a $1 million prize pool league platform for its tower defense/MOBA hybrid title Clash Royale.
In China, Tencent’s LoL “inspired†MOBA Honor of Kings has consistently been a chart topper for mobile devices, was largely responsible for an 87 per cent spike for the company’s mobile game revenue in Q3 of 2016, and its Pro League last year was watched by over 70 million people. The title was soft-launched in Europe earlier this year, under the alternative title Strike of Kings.
According to the research firm IDC, China’s total revenue from the esports industry has grown 52% year-on-year to $7.3 billion, and 34 percent of this was generated by mobile gaming. Tencent’s major investment in their home esport-turf could be an attempt to finally claim the last area where they aren’t #1: prize-winnings. According to Unibet, Chinese esport tournament winnings last year eclipsed $19.3 million, primarily on the back of Valve’s Dota 2.
Source: https://esportsobserver.com/tencent-china-investment-plan/
by Jonathan Easton
about 3 hours ago