AGORACOM Small-cap Investor Relations Blog

• PartyCasino.Fun, one of the world’s largest online casinos, to engage with gamers and esports industry at EGLX
• Designed a customized marketing campaign with multiple touchpoints to gamers to target the sought after demographic
• Partnership includes sponsor logo on Luminosity Jersey and sponsorship in EGLX 19+ Lounge to expand PartyCasino.Fun’s Canadian audience

TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2019 — Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV:EGLX) (FSE:2AV)(“Enthusiast Gaming” or the “Company”) is excited to announce that, in partnership with its esports division, Luminosity Gaming (“Luminosity”), it has entered into a sponsorship and partnership agreement (the “Agreement”) with PartyCasino.Fun, a leading online casino with over 500 games ranging from classics such as Blackjack and Roulette, to a wide variety of online slots.

Through the Agreement, PartyCasino.Fun’s logo will appear on Luminosity Gaming jerseys,  which will be visible during live streams and broadcast events, as well as in the online store. Additionally, PartyCasino.Fun will sponsor the 19+ gaming lounge at EGLX, providing mutual access and opportunity to another tier of gamers.

Enthusiast Gaming will run a series of polls that ask attendees to choose between a real-life location and a videogame location. After the poll’s conclusion in December, the results will be utilized on Enthusiast Gaming’s wide social media presence to promote PartyCasino.Fun as a personal getaway, giving PartyCasino.Fun a newfound Canadian reach.

The collaboration with PartyCasino.Fun unlocks a new audience segment for Enthusiast Gaming, the lucrative online gambling community. Enthusiast Gaming has multiple points of engagement to gamers which provides the unique ability to leverage the entire network of media, esports and events assets. Enthusiast Gaming’s newly hired direct sales team is already adding value by leveraging direct relationships with brands and agencies and offering a custom, targeted approach to reach the gamer demographic. The partnership with PartyCasino.Fun was driven by the sales team, and is a testament to how successful the overall strategy can be. 

Menashe Kestenbaum, President of Enthusiast Gaming commented, “The partnership with PartyCasino.Fun is exciting for us and validates the size and scale of our combined media and gaming platform. We used the sales and marketing expertise of our newly formed direct sales team, to create a unique, customized marketing strategy for PartyCasino.Fun to reach their media and sponsorship goals. It is encouraging to see our sales force already delivering value and driving revenue. We look forward to partnering with PartyCasino.Fun, and working closely with their team!”

Alessandro De Stasio, Head of Marketing of PartyCasino.Fun commented, “We are excited to have the chance to partner up with the largest gaming and esports organization in Canada. We are sure that the combination with our audiences will untap new marketing opportunities whether it comes to reach, events and/or activations.” 

About PartyCasino.Fun 

PartyCasino.Fun is the play for fun solution launched in H2 2019 with the scope to provide our customer a different online casino experience where no real money is involved. PartyCasino is the leading casino brand of GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC) (“GVC”) and, as one of the world’s largest online casinos, houses over one thousand games between slot machines, blackjack, roulette and other table games. GVC runs four main product verticals: sports, casino, poker and bingo. GVC, a leading e-gaming operator in B2C and B2B markets, has licenses throughout several countries including Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and others. With multitudes of established brands under its belt that have a combined heritage of over 250 years, GVC is one of the biggest sports-betting and gaming groups in the world.

About Enthusiast Gaming 

Enthusiast Gaming (TSX.V: EGLX)(FSE: 2AV) is building the world’s largest network of communities for gamers and esports fans. Already the largest gaming network in the U.S., the Company’s business is comprised of three main pillars: Media, Events and Esports. Enthusiast Gaming’s digital media platform includes 100+ gaming related websites and 900 YouTube channels which collectively reach 150 million visitors monthly. The media network generates over 30 billion ad requests and over 1 billion page views per month. Enthusiast’s esports division, Luminosity Gaming, is a leading global esports franchise that consists of 7 professional esports teams under ownership and management, including  the Vancouver Titans Overwatch team and the Seattle-based Call of Duty team. Collectively, the integrated ecosystem reaches over 200 million gaming enthusiasts on a monthly basis. Enthusiast Gaming’s event business, owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (eglx.com) with approximately 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com. For more information on Luminosity Gaming, please visit luminosity.gg

CONTACT INFORMATION

Investor Relations:

Julia Becker
Head of Investor Relations & Marketing
Telephone: 604-785-0850
Email: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements.  Forward looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future.  Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control of Enthusiast Gaming.  The risks include risks that are customary to transactions of this nature and customary to companies which have their stock traded on the TSXV. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits Enthusiast Gaming will obtain from them. For instance, there can be no assurance that the acquisition will close as anticipated, that the acquisition will position the Company as a leader in the mobile gaming sector and that the acquisition will result in growth of the Company’s online and offline gaming community.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States.  The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Neither 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.

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 85 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 150 million monthly visitors. The company exceeded 2018 target with $11.0 million in revenue. Learn More

Esports: Transforming Media and Entertainment

• Competitive gaming esports phenomenon is poised to eclipse the billion-dollar threshold as it represents a game-changing new media and entertainment category.
• Audience engagement and growth have driven esports industry revenues on a steep trajectory tracking towards $1.1B in 2019 from merely $195.0M five years back, representing a cannot-be-ignored CAGR of 41.3%.

by Rob Goff

We are exceptionally bullish on the broadly defined esports ecosystem as an emerging new media and entertainment market set to eclipse the billion-dollar threshold. Technology, demographic, regulatory, and capital tailwinds support compelling value realization across the ecosystem. The shift of legacy advertising and sponsorship dollars to esports’ audience demographics where the IP enabled targeting capabilities and measured advertising ROIs are in the early innings is on track to surpass the billion-dollar mark.

Billion-dollar legacy sports franchises need to play the long game given audiences that are increasingly long-inthe-tooth with average ages of 50+. Esports leagues and franchises represent both a hedge on audiences moving away from traditional sports but also a means to cultivate younger audience.Technology titans have placed billion-dollar bets on platforms and publishing titles. Their competitive dynamics support further capital flows and a selfregulation of league and tournament economics to stimulate user growth ahead of near-term monetization. We refer investors to the hockey stick analogy of going to where the puck is headed – we see sustained momentum in audience growth and consequently esports revenues.

We do not see this as a build it and they will come situation. Rather, the audience is there, set to grow fuelled by aggressive infrastructure investments and regulatory support, and monetization is key. Gambling is viewed as both an audience catalyst and source of revenues. Continued audience growth is expected to push advertising/marketing through the billion-dollar level.

DEEP DIVE INTO THE ESPORTS INDUSTRY

Solid Viewership | Lucrative Brand Partnerships | Underappreciated Esports Betting Summary

The competitive gaming esports phenomenon is poised to eclipse the billion-dollar threshold as it represents a game-changing new media and entertainment category. Audience engagement and growth have driven esports industry revenues on a steep trajectory tracking towards $1.1B (estimates by Newzoo, Exhibit 1) in 2019 from merely $195.0M five years back, representing a cannot-be-ignored CAGR of 41.3%.

Structurally, esports is similar to traditional sports as both have professional and amateur players that compete in leagues and tournaments for prize money, either individually or as part of a team. Much like legacy sports, the growth in pro-level gaming has been an important driver in audience growth and amateur adoption as professional players have broadened awareness, provided playing strategies, and inspired young players to pursue professional careers.

Technological innovation, the use of data analytics and investment in gaming arenas, initially for pro-level gaming, are supporting increased amateur engagement and user growth. In fact, the amateur gaming industry has created its own niche in the last few years with open source tournaments and social play that bring additional industry revenue potential.

Advertising growth along with in-game purchases have the titans of game publishing and online platforms leveraged to accelerate esports adoption ahead of near-term monetization strategies that could potentially moderate growth.

We highlight the continued appreciation in legacy sports franchises where NBA franchise prices have jumped from $5.0M to ~$2.2B over the past 40 years. We now draw on the much-used hockey quote where Wayne Gretzky’s greatness was attributed in large part to his ability to go where the puck was going.

“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

We are optimistic that esports franchise valuations, and more broadly the ecosystem, represent a new media and entertainment category where audience trends suggest the analogy to traditional sports franchises applies for investors and industry participants. We find that the reference also applies to owners of legacy sports franchises where we see esports team ownership and audience outreach as a strategic imperative to reach and engage millennials.

We have seen forecasts that have US esports viewer levels exceeding those of all legacy sports leagues with the exception of the NFL by 2021. The NFL’s just-announced partnership with TikTok reflects its strategic imperative to engage younger viewers and broaden its audience.

Both Wimbledon and the NBA have begun working with TikTok to similarly engage younger viewers. It is noteworthy that the NFL similarly moved to expand its audience through live-streaming video on Twitter, it was the first sports league on Snapchat Discover, and launched an Alexa voice app. With legacy sporting franchises sporting billion-dollar valuations, owners are playing the long game where audience rejuvenation and broadening must be a central consideration.

Esports player demographics continue to expand at both ends of the age spectrum…

The average viewer of an NFL game is over 50 years old with a downward trend in personal consumption (average age of MLB/PGA viewers is put at ~57/64+ years). Esports player demographics continue to expand at both ends of the age spectrum, while the industry moves to attract younger amateur and prospective professional players.

Significant investments and strong partners have invested in both college and high school level platforms broadening the development of younger participants and audiences. For example, Cineplex (CGX-TSX, C$25.34, Buy, C$34.00 PT) invested C$15.0M to acquire WorldGaming where it saw the value in its US college network and the potential to leverage its Canadian real estate platform for tournament and league play.

Moving below the college level, PlayVS (Private), a gaming platform targeting high school esports tournaments, received $30.5M from investors including Adidas (ADS-ETR, NR), Samsung (005930-KSE, NR), Sean “Diddy” Combs, and the VC arm of the Los Angeles Dodgers to make esports more accessible for teenagers and to support recruiting new talent. We highlight that Discord (Private), a messaging app with a focus on video gamers and particularly strong with youth, raised $50.0M at an implied valuation of $1.7B in Q218 with an estimated 150M+ users at the time versus its 250M unique users in March 2019 (including 180K+ members on Fortnite’s server).

We see the roll-out of esports gambling as a significant catalyst for greater audience engagement and growth…

It is also worth noting that, the US High School Esports League (HSEL) has advanced from 200 to 1,200+ during 2018 with its current reach at 2,000+ schools representing 50K+ students. The HSEL reflects both the expanding North American market and prospectively a pipeline for further growth.

However, at its core, the solid viewership of wealthy millennials, mostly male (we expect that to normalize in the coming years), provides esports its oxygen. If Newzoo’s numbers are to be trusted, there were around 380.2M esports viewers globally in 2018 and it is set to grow by 15.0% y/y to 453.8M in 2019, ~44.0% of which are esports enthusiasts (individuals that watch more than once a month). This number is expected to reach 557M by 2021, out of which 44-45% would be enthusiasts and the remaining would be occasional viewers. Still, similar growth in both categories suggests a possible natural evolution of occasional viewers to enthusiasts.

We see the roll-out of esports gambling as a significant catalyst for greater audience engagement and growth. Esports gambling, due to its solid viewership, is a sub-segment that should not be overlooked by early stage investors. Globally, the total amount of money/items wagered around major esports titles was at $5.5B in 2016. Eilers & Krejcik predicts this number to reach $13.0B by 2020, at their base level assumptions suggesting royalties of $700-800M.

Broad-based brand interest: Both endemic (within the ecosystem, such as hardware manufacturers) and non-endemic brands are rushing to partner with the elite leagues/tournament organizers, players, influencers, and team organizations to reach millennials..

Broad-based brand interest: Both endemic (within the ecosystem, such as hardware manufacturers) and non-endemic brands are rushing to partner with the elite leagues/tournament organizers, players, influencers, and team organizations to reach millennials in a meaningful way, as traditional digital advertising formats are losing their sheen and advertisers are continuously looking for innovative ways to interact with their customers.

If we put advertising and brand sponsorships into a single basket of money flowing into esports from marketers, they currently account for ~60% or $645.9M of the total estimated $1.1B esports industry in 2019 (Exhibit 1). North American revenues are forecast at roughly 37% or $407.0M for 2019 with China put at 19%.

Endemic brands to esports such as Intel (INTC-Nasdaq, NR), MSI (Private), and Logitech (LOGI-Nasdaq, NR) are promoted when players either use or recommend their products based on their own experience. Yet, with their growing maturity, non-endemic brands now account for the majority of the total sponsorship and advertising esports spend.

In a recent partnership, the Overwatch League (OWL) signed a multi-year deal with Kellogg (K-NYSE, NR) to promote Pringles and Cheez-it, which is one example.

Drawing on the traditional sports model, brands are looking for spots where they can interact with consumers either by placing an ad in the competition arenas or placing a branded logo on players clothing or sponsoring the event. Interestingly, individual players and influencers who stream on platforms such as Twitch (owned by Amazon (AMZN-Nasdaq, NR)), YouTube Gaming or Mixer (owned by Microsoft (MSFT-Nasdaq, NR)) also partner with brands, where non-endemic brand logos appear on their clothing or their game screen.

Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as “Ninja”, on Ellen.

For instance, Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as his online alias “Ninja”, has partnered with brands such as Adidas and Red Bull (Private). Ninja also recently signed a lucrative contract with Mixer (speculation includes as much as $100.0M although the debate then moves on to whether it was per year or for the duration of the three-year contract) leaving Twitch, which many argue was a key to his fame.

Nonetheless, Ninja amassed more than 2M subscribers in his first month of joining Mixer. This talks to the strength of these celebrity players/influencers in the esports ecosystem and their ability to influence viewers to migrate from one streaming platform to another. Ninja had 14M followers on Twitch prior to his departure.

Source: https://www.cantechletter.com/2019/10/esports-transforming-media-and-entertainment/

• The gaming ecosystem is approaching a market share comparable to professional sports
• Enthusiast Gaming has its eyes set on building the largest community of authentic gamers to monetize and leverage their market-leading analytics network
• EGLX is the most adept enterprise at increasing fan engagement for its influencers and teams through its massive media portfolio

By: Eva Bieniarz

The gaming industry is colossal — there are more than 2.5 billion gamers around the world, and the gaming market is set to grow to US$196 billion by 2022 alone! With a CAGR of nine per cent for the period 2018–2022, this industry has become a legitimate rival to the traditional sports market.

To compare earnings, the global sports market generated US$488.5 billion in 2018, whereas the global gaming industry hauled in US$135 billion. While both segments are projected to see significant growth in the short term, the gap is poised to shrink as gaming solidifies itself at the “heart of the entertainment business,” according to Newzoo.

The gaming industry is also thriving based on its growing and diverse audience base. For instance, 65 per cent of American adults play video games, and the average gamer is only 34 years old.

Transforming the gaming world one acquisition at a time

Within this massive industry, Enthusiast Gaming (TSX.V: EGLX) is building the largest vertically integrated gaming media and esports company in the world.

As a newly listed public company by way of its merger with Luminosity Gaming, J55, and Aquilini GameCo, the company is on track to make this global vision a reality. One of the new conglomerate’s goals will be to build out a central gamer data source from its three divisions (media, events, influencers), to facilitate brands and advertisers.

Regarding the company’s merger and acquisition strategy, Menashe Kestenbaum, president and founder of Enthusiast Gaming, explains, “Enthusiast has an aggressive growth strategy through accretive acquisitions, which allows us to scale the business quickly and effectively.

“Our strategy is to acquire the leading digital communities across the entire gaming ecosystem, which keeps our platform diversified and agnostic. It also provides us with significant competitive advantage against anyone trying to enter the space.”

The company’s largest acquisition to date, The Sims Resource, is the leading female gaming website in the world, generating $7 million in revenue and $5.25 million in EBITDA (2018).

“This acquisition provided us with immediate access to the growing female gaming demographic and 2.5 billion page views a year. The Sims Resource also has a unique subscription model, which generates recurring monthly revenue from over 60,000 subscribers. We see this as an opportunity to adopt a similar model across our network of 85 websites to drive future revenue growth,” Kestenbaum notes.

Enthusiast has an aggressive growth strategy through accretive acquisitions, which allows us to scale the business quickly and effectively. Our strategy is to acquire leading digital communities across the gaming ecosystem, which keeps our platform diversified and agnostic.Menashe Kestenbaum, President, Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.

What Enthusiast’s merger means for esports

Enthusiast’s merger will make the company a leading publicly traded esports and gaming organization, with $22 million in pro forma revenue on the closing of the merger backed by $55 million in financing, with a combined global audience reach of approximately 200 million.

So why is this merger so significant, and why did Enthusiast partner with Aquilini GameCo? How, exactly, will this benefit the company in the long run?

Well, since Enthusiast’s successful monetization strategy and wealth of analytical data covers an abundance of demographics in the broader gaming industry, the company’s knowledge can be combined with Luminosity’s influencers and esports properties to create a unique gaming ecosystem.

Enthusiast’s success in monetizing gaming properties will also allow the company to monetize Luminosity’s championship esports franchise through the same data-centric, ad tech approach to engage partnership and advertising opportunities.

The fact that Enthusiast is merging with Aquilini GameCo gives the company a huge boost to diversify and expand its presence across more than merely sports and entertainment, but potentially food and hospitality, living, and more.

Enthusiast is also party to a long-term services support agreement with Vancouver Arena Limited Partnership (VALP), pursuant to which VALP will provide Enthusiast with a broad range of marketing and business support services, including corporate partnership and selling support, retail support, brand association and marketing support (to be provided by Canucks Sports and Entertainment), and more.

Apart from a company perspective, when taking a holistic look at the esports and gaming industry, it’s clear that sentiment towards gaming is growing. The industry even has tech giants Amazon and Google wanting in on the action.

What’s more, esports is also being compared to professional sports — hockey, baseball, you name it — in terms of garnering millions of fans around the world.

For instance, in 2017, the League of Legends tournament garnered more viewers than the MLB World Series, the NBA Finals and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals! This would have been unheard of a few years ago.

Kestenbaum explains, “The size and scalability of our ecosystems are a significant competitive advantage. Enthusiast’s online presence of 150 million visitors, combined with Luminosity’s rich content creation reaching over 60 million followers, will be invaluable for us moving forward.”

Enthusiast’s merger is expected to provide further significant strategic and financial benefits to the company, including but not limited to expected margin improvement, involving a combination of the net funds from the private placement and cash-on-hand that may be used to repay all or part of the Sims Resource Deferred Payment, as well as an enhanced capital market profile through the closing of the transactions.

Growth drivers propelling the company towards success

Enthusiast is also growing its fan base and subsequently its customer base through seven strategies:

• Growth in revenue per user goal: Target revenue per user of $0.40
• Build out a direct sales team: Increase of 10–20x / CPM compared to commoditized programmatic advertising rates. Expand to key financial hubs like Toronto, New York, London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco
• Subscription model growth: Offer unique content and player access to increase subscriptions. Currently, over 60,000 subscribers generating approximately $2.5 million in recurring revenue
• Mergers and acquisitions: Grow the size of Enthusiast’s fan base, and better engage with them to increase revenue and profitability
• Expand the EG Live division: Build on the success in Toronto and bring similar events to New York, Chicago and the Pacific Northwest
• Franchise value appreciation: Increase the value of the franchise through content creators, influencers, professional esports professionals and championship esports teams
• Non-endemic opportunities: Sell more non-endemic sponsorships and partnerships through direct sales and programmatic advertising

Apart from the company’s strategic growth model, Enthusiast has five key business segments that enhance the company’s overall expansion plans. They include:

Content: Enthusiast offers news, reviews, videos, live streams, blog posts, tips, chats, message boards, and other video-gaming related content.

Advertising: The company operates an advertising network for brands targeting the gamer demographic, generating over 30 billion advertisement requests per month.

Events: Enthusiast organizes Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, which attracted over 55,000 attendees in 2018, including a Rising Star Series.

Data and ad tech: The company has built a proprietary ad tech platform around a tech-enabled gamer data platform.

Leading esports franchise: Luminosity Gaming is one of the most popular esports brands, offering a subscription growth model that leverages content and player access to increase subscriptions.

Add in celebrity endorsement from Canadian recording artist Tory Lanez, and the top esports athletes and influencers including YELO, and the company has all the right ingredients to reach success.

A knowledgeable management team leading the way

Enthusiast’s skyrocketing success and popularity is catalyzed by Menashe Kestenbaum, president of Enthusiast, who began his career in video games when he was 13 years old, writing for IGN, a large gaming media site. Kestenbaum launched his first gaming blog, called “Nintendo Enthusiast,” in 2011, which subsequently became the foundation of Enthusiast Gaming today.

Adrian Montgomery, CEO of Enthusiast, has also been instrumental in Luminosity’s new partnership with Enthusiast. As ex-president of Canucks Sports and Entertainment, Montgomery brings decades of knowledge about sports and what it means to be a dedicated fan.

Steve Maida, president of esports at Enthusiast, built the popular esports franchise from the ground up and was responsible for finding talent like “Ninja,” one of the world’s top Fornite players.

With its merger between Aquilini GameCo and Luminosity completed, Enthusiast Gaming is on the right path towards dominating the gaming industry. Through its clear growth objectives, diverse revenue streams, acquisitions, partnerships and more, the company is building a world-class gaming company that cannot be replicated.

Investors should look forward to more company updates as Enthusiast continues to scale and add to its roster.

Source: https://business.financialpost.com/business-trends/enthusiast-gaming-is-building-the-worlds-most-formidable-gaming-enterprise