Competition it created in partnership with Take-Two Interactive, the developer of the popular NBA 2K series
league is going to have its first season next May
The line between eSports and traditional sports is blurring, and organizations like the National Basketball Association are looking to stay ahead of the curve. Seventeen teams from the NBA will be part of the upcoming 2K League, a competition it created in partnership with Take-Two Interactive, the developer of the popular NBA 2K series. And that league is going to have its first season next May, NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue revealed to Engadget in a recent interview.
He also said that participating NBA teams will begin drafting their eSports players in mid-March 2018, with tryouts taking place a month before that. Once each franchise selects the five people who are going to represent it, they’ll be official members of their respective organizations in April. Yes, that means they will get a proper contract and sponsorship deals, just as NBA players do.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick
Since being announced in February, the NBA 2K League (initially known as the NBA 2K eLeague) has piqued the interest of both fans of professional gaming and conventional sports. That’s mostly because this is the first league where eSports squads are owned by professional sports organization such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, two of the teams that will play in the 2K League. Traditionally, ownership of eSports teams are by firms like Cloud9, which fields players Rocket League, League of Legends and Call of Duty and other gaming tournaments.
Along with the Cavs and Warriors, the rest of the teams in the first season of the 2K League include the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
Donohue said that aside from these, there “four or five” others that have already reached out with interest in being part of the second year. There are 30 NBA teams total, and some of the notable absences from the 2K League include the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, three of the most decorated franchises in league history. “We would expect to expand pretty quickly,” he said.
Until that happens, though, Donohue said the NBA is focused on ironing out a few more key details. For starters, the league and its partner, Take-Two Interactive, are still trying to determine how the tryout process will work and whether official games are going to be played on PC, PlayStation or Xbox. They’ve also yet to lock down where people will be able to watch the 2K League.
Donohue said media rights are still being worked out, but the idea is to have studios on the East and West Coasts that broadcast or stream the games. It’ll be interesting to see if the NBA strikes a deal with a platform like Twitch or one of the many TV networks trying to take eSports into the mainstream. ESPN, NBC and TBS could all make a move, though it’s also worth keeping in mind that the NBA has its own TV network, NBA TV.
One thing is certain: The NBA 2K League is taking shape rather quickly, especially when you consider that it was unveiled a few months ago.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:51 AM on Monday, September 25th, 2017
Secured 3 additional contracts for employee training across a variety of management, leadership, technology and trade programs
‘Dimensions Data’ a USD $7.4 Billion IT Services company with offices in 49 countries and over 30,000 employees.
‘Dena Bank’ a USD $1.7 Billion bank owned by the Government of India with a branch network of 1773 locations and 13,906 employees.
‘Unibic Foods’ a $13 Million premium cookie manufacturing company is considered one of the fastest growing FMCG Brands with a presence in Australia, NZ and the UK.
OTTAWA, Sept. 25, 2017 – betterU Education Corp. (the “Company†or “betterUâ€), is pleased to announce that they have secured 3 additional contracts for employee training across a variety of management, leadership, technology and trade programs. The Company is expected to close several additional corporate training partnerships in the upcoming weeks.
betterU’s corporate training team was selected to deliver Instructor-led training (ILT) for:
‘Dimensions Data’ a USD $7.4 Billion IT Services company with offices in 49 countries and over 30,000 employees. betterU’s ILT program will include a Microsoft System Centre Confirmation Manager (SCCM) training program.
‘Dena Bank’ a USD $1.7 Billion bank owned by the Government of India with a branch network of 1773 locations and 13,906 employees. betterU’s ILT program will include soft skill training including time management, communications skills, team building and leadership programs.
‘Unibic Foods’ a $13 Million premium cookie manufacturing company is considered one of the fastest growing FMCG Brands with a presence in Australia, NZ and the UK. betterU’s ILT program will include a Modern Trade Promoters / Merchandisers Best Practices program.
These Corporate wins provide training across Mumbai and Bengaluru and have provided betterU with a gateway for much larger opportunities as well as ongoing repeat business. “Our focus is getting Corporations to see the value proposition across Industry verticals, build their trust and confidence and then open our global offerings to show how we can support the entire needs of their business no matter the type of training they require. This takes time and positive results to continue to drive more opportunities for betterU and our content partnerships and it is one of our top prioritiesâ€, said Sameer Vatsa, India’s Country Head of betterU Education Corporation.
betterU’s corporate development team has begun to gain traction across India’s corporate training industry due to its ability to quickly adapt to the needs of the corporation. The team has spent the last several months working to understand each corporation’s requirements and developing a customized plan to meet their needs.
Skills development is a critical part of any corporate environment and with advancing technology and globalization corporations must continually work to ensure their employees receive upgrading skills to stay competitive and innovative. betterU has built a corporate learning ecosystem that provides access to thousands of skills development programs from some of the world’s leading educators. Today’s corporate HR departments must source, negotiate and validate multiple training partners to support their wide range of training across their many verticals of operations. By leveraging the breadth and depth of programs available through betterU, corporations can offer innovative, leading programs across all their needs including for soft skills, leadership, management, IT / Technology, office and more. As a master training partner, betterU can collaborate with an organization to assemble a full service self-paced, Instructor-led and/or blended national programs that can support the requirements of an entire organization.
betterU, a global education marketplace, aims to provide access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ‘education-to employment’ ecosystem. betterU’s offerings can be categorized into four broad functions: to compliment school programs with flexible KG-12 programs preparing children for next stage of education, to foster an exceptional educational environment by providing befitting skills that lead to a better career, to bridge the gap between one’s existing education and prospective job requirement by training them and lastly, to connect the end user to various job opportunities.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements and information, which may involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, competitive developments, risks associated with betterU’s growth, the state of the financial markets, regulatory risks and other factors. There can be no assurance or guarantees that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, betterU disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not place undue reliance on any statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Further information on betterU’s public filings, including their most recent audited consolidated financial statements, are available at www.sedar.com.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:37 AM on Monday, September 25th, 2017
Desktop Metal has already earned a number of fans with its 3D printed metal technology — Lowe’s, Caterpillar and BMW were all among its earliest clients.
As first noted by CNBC, the Massachusetts-based startup is also getting some healthy monetary support, adding $115 million of venture funds to its coffers this week.
The Series D features a number of high profile names, including New Enterprise Associates, GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, Future Fund and Techtronic Industries, the holdings company that owns Hoover U.S. and Dirt Devil.
Founded in 2013 by four MIT professors, Desktop Metal isn’t the first company to bring metal 3D printing to market, but it’s probably the most efficient. By its own measure, the company’s machines are able to print objects at up to 100-times the speed of their competitors. That’s good news for those clients using Studio, the prototyping machine the company announced last year — but even more useful for those planning to use the upcoming Production, a system designed to bring the technology to manufacturing.
Speed has been of the main bottlenecks in mainstreaming 3D printing for manufacturing — metal or otherwise. The Production system isn’t going to replace wide scale manufacturing any time soon, but it will make it a more realistic possibility for smaller speciality parts, with its ability to print 500 cubic inches of metal per hour. According to CEO Ric Fulop, that works out to millions of parts per year for a given machine.
“You don’t need tooling,†he tells TechCrunch. “You can make short runs of production with basically no tooling costs. You can change your design and iterate very fast. And now you can make shapes you couldn’t make any other way, so now you can lightweight a part and work with alloys that are very, very hard, with very extreme properties.â€
The list of companies that have embraced the $50,000+ Surface is pretty diverse. Automakers like BMW are using it to prototype products, and the local robotics community has also been extremely excited about the device’s ability to print in a broad range of alloys. For smaller companies without access to big machining warehouses, prototyping with metal is a pretty big pain point.
“One of the benefits for this technology for robotics is that you’re able to do lots of turns,†says Fulop. “Unless you’re iRobot with the Roomba, you’re making a lot of one-off changes to your product.â€
Desktop Metal is still pretty small, at around 150 people — mostly engineers, according to Fulop. Along with R&D, this latest funding round will go a ways toward increasing that staff and reach, with plans to extend to more markets, including Europe and Asia.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:03 AM on Friday, September 22nd, 2017
Announced the development of the company’s ‘RESTful API’ that will enable the automation and management of global partners and additional services to be made available on betterU’s marketplace
‘RESTful API’ is a services layer of the betterU ecosystem that will enable the company to advance its asset-light model and support scalable global growth
OTTAWA, Sept. 22, 2017 — betterU Education Corp. (TSX-V:BTRU) (FRANKFURT:5OGA), (“betterUâ€), is pleased to announce the development of the company’s ‘RESTful API’ that will enable the automation and management of global partners and additional services to be made available on betterU’s marketplace. The ‘RESTful API’ is a services layer of the betterU ecosystem that will enable the company to advance its asset-light model and support scalable global growth.
the ability for partners to add and manage their content, sign-up promotions, set their pricing;
a quick and easy onboarding process for thousands of courses from around the world;
the ability to manage partners, programs and course promotions;
an opportunity for partners to add and manage jobs postings;
a quick and easy onboarding process able to support thousands of jobs;
ability to provide access to partners’ online sales data and reports;
ability of new partners to be able to register automatically on betterU marketplace;
ability of content and other partners to ‘push and pull’ information of all course content;
an infrastructure for ‘coming soon’ onboarding portal.
betterU’s RESTful API will enable its partners to dynamically control the content and pricing of courses posted on betterU marketplace. This will enable them to easily come up with ad hoc promotions and post marketing materials on the company’s marketplace all subject to approval stages by betterU.
The advancement of the betterU’s marketplace ecosystem has been an important part of the company’s development. As betterU continues to advance its global efforts with the integrating of course providers, employment opportunities and corporate partners, automated efficiencies will help support rapid growth. This automation will support reduced ongoing management costs, increase available products and services and support expansion of new company offerings. “The advancement of our RESTful API has been part of the company’s main goals for the last several years. It is wonderful to see the company advancing our technology infrastructure,†said Hagai Amiel CTO of betterU Education Corp.
betterU, a global education marketplace, aims to provide access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ‘education-to employment’ ecosystem. betterU’s offerings can be categorized into four broad functions: to complement school programs with flexible KG-12 programs preparing children for next stage of education, to foster an exceptional educational environment by providing befitting skills that lead to a better career, to bridge the gap between one’s existing education and prospective job requirement by training them and lastly, to connect the end user to various job opportunities.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements and information, which may involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, competitive developments, risks associated with betterU’s growth, the state of the financial markets, regulatory risks and other factors. There can be no assurance or guarantees that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, betterU disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not place undue reliance on any statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Further information on betterU’s public filings, including their most recent audited consolidated financial statements, are available at www.sedar.com.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:48 AM on Friday, September 22nd, 2017
Esports are second only to movies in the 18 to 25 demographic
Nick Allen, who until recently was the vice president of esports for video streaming service Twitch, was named the head of Madison Square Gard Company’s “growing esports division,” effective October 2nd
The holding company for Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the New York Knicks just hired a Twitch executive to head up its esports efforts.
Nick Allen, who until recently was the vice president of esports for video streaming service Twitch, was named the head of Madison Square Gard Company’s “growing esports division,” effective October 2nd, according to the company.
Allen will be responsible for driving the company’s efforts to expand its presence in the esports industry, with a primary focus on operating Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), MSG’s newly acquired esports franchise. In his new role, Allen will serve as CLG’s chief operating officer, working with CLG Founder and President George “HotshotGG” Georgallidis on advancing the company’s initiatives, including creating live, tickets events. He will also be in charge of creating esports events at MSG venues across the country.
The Madison Square Garden Company operated a number of high profile venues around the country including New York’s Madison Square Garden, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Beacon Theatre; the Forum in Inglewood, CA; The Chicago Theatre; and the Wang Theatre in Boston. The company also owns the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the New York Liberty (WNBA).
This July, Madison Square Garden bought a controlling interest in Counter Logic Gaming, which was founded in 2010 as a League of Legends team. CLG now fields teams in a variety of esports including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Hearthstone, Call of Duty and Super Smash Bros.
“We couldn’t be happier with the addition of Nick to our team here at MSG as we start to take a leadership role in the growth of the esports industry,” Jordan Solomon, executive vice president, MSG Sports, Madison Square Garden Company, said in a prepared statement. “Nick brings with him an extensive knowledge of esports and a deep set of relationships developed through overseeing some of the industry’s most popular events, and he has created initiatives that have continued to grow the gaming community. His vision for the esports space will be an invaluable asset to The Madison Square Garden Company and to CLG.”
Prior to joining Twitch in 2015, Allen was the esports operations manager for Riot Games, establishing the organization’s first team dedicated to the operation of esports competitions, including League of Legends World Championships, Championship Series, and Challenger Series. Before Riot Games, he served as an esports division and operations manager for IGN Entertainment.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:11 PM on Thursday, September 21st, 2017
betterU Education Corp. is a global education marketplace that provides access to quality education from the top educators into emerging markets such as India.
To date, the company has enlisted over 10,000 programs from over 50 institutions and 8 countries. betterU has also announced several global strategic partnerships that have gone unnoticed by the general public, with each deal having the potential to generate enormous value for its shareholders.
Current Price: C$0.42
Shares Outstanding: 51.8 million
Market Capitalization: C$21.8 million
Currently focused on the hundreds of millions of potential customers in India, betterU aims to equalize education around the world by providing accessibility, choice, and affordability, all within an ‘Amazon’ like platform providing opportunities to those who want to better their lives. The company’s vision is to provide a better education, which can lead to a better job and ultimately create a better life by bridging the gap between education and the job industry.
betterU was founded in early 2013, and it took over 4 years to put the foundation in place, including global leadership, localized teams, international partnerships, mass marketing, support technologies and infrastructure to operate in India.
It took more than 2 years to establish the company’s operating entity within India including incorporating, banking and an ability to collect payments in local currency. 98% of the country’s population of over 1.3 billion do not have credit cards to enable them to purchase international education. India is considered a closed currency market, and the only way to transact is to be established as an Indian entity, which has been for many foreigners too lengthy of a process to set-up.
This was one among many significant barriers to entries that make it extremely difficult for other educators to do business in India. betterU has the first mover advantage, and is the only global education marketplace established for emerging markets.
The business model is simple, betterU provides mass marketing across India, collecting all registrations payments, user data and then connects the learner seamlessly into a content partner’s learning environment. betterU holds back 20% to 50% of revenues collected as their fee depending on the partner’s brand and offering that is available. betterU has over 10,000 courses in its arsenal, provided by reputable institutions such as edx’s Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Udemy, Pluralsight, Skillsoft and more.
(Sample of content partners, Source: betterU)
Education In India – Big Business
There is no denying India is a large market. Ever since Jim O’Neill, the global economist at Goldman Sachs, coined the phrase ‘BRIC’ in the early 2000s, India has proven to be a financial juggernaut on the world stage. The country is singled out due to its young population, healthy savings and investment rates, and its increasing integration into the global economy. In fact, for the first time, India was the first on the World Bank’s growth look in 2015-2016.By extension, the education sector provides massive opportunity, with almost 30% of the population between the ages 0-14, and 260 million students enrolled in more than 1.5 million schools. Over 34 million students are enrolled in ~50,000 colleges and institutions for higher education, making it the largest vertical in the world. The education sector is currently valued at $98 billion, and is expected to climb to $144 billion by 2020.
Intuitively, the online education market will be growing just as fast. In a recent study released by KPMG, the sector is currently valued at $250 million, and is expected to reach ~$2 billion by 2021. This growth will be primary fueled by paid users, which is expected to grow from current 1.6 million users to 9.5 million in 2021. The largest segment of online education is re-skilling and certification, currently valued at $93 million, and expected to grow to $463 million by 2021.
Strategic Partnership With The Largest National Media Company
betterU’s head office is located in Ottawa, Canada, but it also has local offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. One of the key shareholders in its Indian entity, Skillsdox India Private Ltd., owned 50% by betterU and 50% by Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. (the Times Group), the largest media company in India.
betterU and the Times Group have entered into an investment and marketing agreement, where the Times Group will make an in-kind investment of ~$30 million into Skillsdox India. The Times Group will provide media-based marketing that will cover 80% of India. This partnership provides betterU with immense exposure and penetration for education in India.
Last month, the company launched a visibility campaign, and saw 14,000 visitors with a bounce rate of 29% versus the average of 50%. Last year numbers saw a 3% conversion to registrations, 40% of whom ended up buying. The company’s social media followers grew from ~20,000 over the last year to now over 130,000 in just the last 6 weeks.
The company has only used $1 million of the in-kind investment, and is now building out a digital campaign to fully utilize the marketing partnership. Once this campaign is fully active, it will provide a significant pipeline of learners to the platform.
Strategic Partnership With The Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC)
Prime Minister Modi has a vision to skill 500 million people by 2022. Thus, many global educators are clamoring for a spot at the table, however, most simply do not have the infrastructure to do so. betterU’s unique approach of pre- and post assessments to determine the ideal learning path has given the company an incredible edge in dealing with a variety of learners and scenarios.
In November 2016, betterU held its first Skills Leadership Summit in Delhi that included many industry, academia and government leaders. A panelist, the CEO of TSSC, Lieutenant-General Kochhar outlined the importance of skills development and the required collaboration between industry and educators.
betterU fostered this relationship, and after 10 months of discussions, an MOU was executed with the TSSC to jointly support the skilling of millions of workers in the telecom sector. The two organizations will combine efforts to support multiple initiatives, including the development of country-wide learning centres; the development and acquisition of localized educational programs; development of rural area mobility learning; and the further advancement of a customized skilling platform.
The TSSC expects the need to skill over 8.8 million people in the telecom sector by 2022, and will do so by utilizing the portfolio of courses available through betterU’s global education marketplace. This will be an incredible collaboration once formalized, and will provide a robust and steady stream of revenue for betterU.
Strategic Partnership With NASSCOM/IT-ITes SSC
Similar to the TSSC MOU, betterU have begun formal discussions and due diligence with NASSCOM/IT-ITes SSC for the purpose of skilling millions of professionals across the IT sector. In show of support for betterU and Canada’s commitment to bilateral trade, Brian Parrott, Minister Commercial and Senior Trade Commission Services from the Canadian embassy, was also present at the meeting.Robust Pipeline
Speaking with management, there is a variety of opportunities in the pipeline at various stages of development. Each has the potential to either bolster revenues or provide game changing cash flow to the table.betterU is on the cusp of consummating a partnership with one of the largest technology companies in the market, which will allow this company to establish itself in India with a strategic partner who can collect its revenue. This can lead the way to a larger, more formal agreements down the line.
betterU’s most recent partnership is with the Central Bank of India to provide instructor led leadership training in Mumbai for all their Assistant General Managers. The company is currently expecting feedback on the training results, and looking forward to continue building its relationship.
Proven Management Team – Brad Loiselle
Brad Loiselle, President, CEO, Founder, is a serially successful entrepreneur, with an exit in the online education space already.He was the founder of Canada’s largest supplier of licensed paper goods, EasyWrapLines, which manufactured and distributed licensed paper goods products (gift bags, wrapping paper, etc.) for entertainment companies such as Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, and Fox Entertainment, just to name a few.
After this venture, Brad was in China and saw the struggles of education up close. He thought that technology was the perfect way to organize the space, and realized no one was offering content to the online masses. He created his own methodology, built the platform, and hit the conference circuit to get the word out.
His company, iPal (Interactive Professional Applied Learning), provided a full development solution to online education. His focus was to create a company that would eventually bring quality education to the mass population of the emerging markets.
iPal developed courses for employees at companies such as BMW, Scotia Bank, IATA, Service Canada College, and Knightsbridge. In fact, it was Knightsbridge that eventually acquired iPal in July 2011, using the methodology to build courses across North America.
Brad saw the potential of what online learning could bring to the developing world, and built betterU to service this lucrative space. Brad has a significant equity position in betterU and has entered into a volunteering pooling agreement to restrict his shares for sale on the exchange, and maintains the burning desire to build a leading company to eventually sell off to a major tech company.
The online education space is a hot sector. Some notable acquisitions include Tutor.com acquiring IAC for an estimated $40 million; Pearson Education buying a controlling stake in TutorVista for $127 million. Chan-Zuckerberg, Sequoia and others have -backed Byju for over $125M; Chegg acquiring InstaEDU for $30 million; and Linkedin acquiring Lynda.com for $1.5 billion.
Moving Forward
At a $20 million market cap, betterU is undervalued.It appears there is a lot of interest on the investment front, and we believe Brad will be able to secure a significant investment in the next six months.
The company will experience rapid organic growth through its partnership with The Times Group, with each partnership in the pipeline offering significant leaps in valuation once solidified.
Brad is a proven company maker, and it also helps he already has a significant exit in the online education space. This will be his third home run, and at current prices the perfect entry into this company.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:13 PM on Thursday, September 21st, 2017
Advancing its River Valley PGM project to a Preliminary Economic Assessment in 2018
Project has a measured and indicated resource of 91 Mt grading 0.84 g/t Pd + Pt + Au, 0.06% Cu, and 0.02% Ni, containing 3.9 Moz PdEq (palladium equivalent)
Currently pursuing a 16,500 ft drill program to confirm and expand the newly discovered high-grade near surface resource on the northern portion of the project
Palladium prices have almost doubled since the end of 2015
Also has a portfolio of five hard-rock lithium projects in Canada
Global platinum production was approximately 5.5 Moz, and global palladium production was approximately 6.6 Moz in 2016. To put in perspective, global gold production was 99.2 Moz in 2016. The following charts show the top platinum and palladium producers in the world.Â
Canada is the fourth largest platinum (8% of global), and third largest palladium (11% of global) producer. The U.S. imports approximately 1.38 Moz of platinum (92% of its demand) and 1.92 Moz of palladium (86% of its demand) every year. The strong reliance on imports indicates the importance of PGM projects in North America.Â
Canada is the fourth largest platinum (8% of global), and third largest palladium (11% of global) producer. The U.S. imports approximately 1.38 Moz of platinum (92% of its demand) and 1.92 Moz of palladium (86% of its demand) every year. The strong reliance on imports indicates the importance of PGM projects in North America.Â
Palladium has been one of the best performing commodities in recent times as prices were up 96%, from US$500 per oz at the end of 2015, to the current price of US$980 per oz.Â
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:26 AM on Wednesday, September 20th, 2017
Could the day come where more people watch the video-game avatars of average folks than superstar NBA athletes?
Don’t laugh. The growth of esports — defined as “a multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers†— has been nothing short of staggering.
Millions of people love to watch these top-notch players show their stuff. Sometimes, they even fill up arenas, and it’s only getting bigger and bigger every year.
The NBA joined forces with Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the NBA 2K video game series, to create a new league that will begin play in 2018, with 17 NBA franchises, including the Toronto Raptors, taking part in the inaugural season.
“It all started last February, when (NBA commissioner Adam Silver) and Strauss Zelnick (CEO of Take-Two) announced we were going to be doing the league, but even before that, we had been exploring the esports space, trying to figure out where we could fit into it,†Brendan Donohue said Monday.
Donohue, the managing director of the NBA 2K esports league, was in town to shed some light on the venture, since many of a certain age don’t have much of a clue of what it is all about, or why esports is so popular.
“It’s 5-on-5. Oftentimes, people are used to seeing video games being played 1-on-1,†Donohue said. “This actually is going to be five human beings playing five other human beings, controlling every player on the virtual court. So there will be no artificial intelligence whatsoever.
“The good thing is, several of our owners previously had and still own other teams and other titles … So we’ve had our owners that have been passionate about esports in general, so it just made logical sense for us to make the next step. The NBA has been running a league for two-quarters of a century, and then you have 2K, which is the most popular sports game amongst the major leagues. It just seemed logical for us to take a run at this.â€
In this Sept. 3 file photo, fans watch a League of Legends esports competition at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris. Christophe Simon / AFP / Getty Images
There is already a waiting list for Year 2, as other NBA teams look to join the party.
And why not? Last month, Palisade Research released an esports primer which read in part: “The Esports sector is forecasted to generate $1.13 billion (U.S.) in 2017, with 258 million viewers. By 2021, revenue is expected to grow to $2.70 billion, and to 438 million viewers. Some analysts peg revenues to reach as high as $3.31 billion, which would almost match the revenues of the established National Hockey League ($3.7 billion), and on the heels of the National Basketball Association ($4.8 billion).â€
Donohue said he has heard those projections, but right now, the focus is on “just wanting to be the best possible.â€
He is well aware of how the financial world feels about esports, though.
“For example, you look at something like Twitch, which has 10 million daily viewers,†Donohue said. “Goldman Sachs has looked at it and I’ve seen their reports — they predict it will be 20 million (daily viewers) by 2020. Everyone who is looking at this is predicting both viewership and revenues to continue to explode in the near future.â€
Donohue knew Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment wouldn’t sit on the sidelines.
“I’ve known the folks at MLSE for a long period of time,†he said. “They are extremely innovative, they are very digitally savvy, they are a great organization and I know they are passionate about this space, so I assumed they were going to be in.â€
Could the NHL follow in the NBA’s footsteps in getting into esports in a major way?
It could happen down the line considering the massive financial potential. Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is already heavily involved, and MLSE, Madison Square Garden (New York Knicks and Rangers) and Joshua Harris (Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils), three of the 17 initial NBA participants, also own NHL franchises.
In this March 1 file photo, Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka (centre) drives to the hoop against the Washington Wizards. Chris Young / CP
MLSE declined to comment on Monday about a potential Maple Leafs esports franchise.
At a business summit back in March, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, “We envision something that would augment a fan’s affinity to his team … because, ultimately, I could envision a league-wide competition where each club runs a competition to see who will be represented in the equivalent of our championship, but for our esport game.â€
At the time, Bettman said the NHL had been discussing the idea for over a year, “and if (NHL video game maker Electronic Arts) can continue to get some traction in developing a game that would work like that, we’ll be in that business.â€
Which would be no surprise at all to Donohue.
“I would expect other leagues to follow our lead and to get involved in this. I would expect that to happen. I think it’s great for esports,†he said.
“Other (professional league) games being successful just continues to grow the broader universe.â€
ONLY THE BEST
The players for the new NBA 2K esports league will come from all over.
“Our goal, to make this the best league possible, is to find the best 85 players on the planet. They can be anywhere in the world, they can be male, they can be female — we just want the best 85 players,†league managing director Brendan Donohue told Postmedia on Monday.
Players will be paid by their respective teams. Tryouts will start around Feb. 1, 2018, with a draft to follow in mid-March. The season will run from May 1 and go for 15 weeks, before concluding with two weeks of playoffs ending the third week of August.
When most people think esports, if they know anything about the phenomenon in the first place, they picture teenagers and people in their early 20s playing video games. Donohue said NBA 2K players don’t really fit that description.
“We actually don’t skew that young. So, 58 per cent of our player are actually over 25, so we skew a little older,†he said. “I think there are some myths about our players in general. They’re actually more likely to be educated, more likely to have a higher income. There are some myths out there about esports.â€
For the first season, the 17 teams will play “in a central studio, or maybe two, somewhere in North America,†Donohue said.
Games won’t be played in sold-out arenas just yet, but that could happen down the line.
“We’re excited to be in Toronto (long-term),†Donohue said. “When they’ve had esports events (at the Air Canada Centre) before they’ve been very successful. We see this as a great market.â€
