Shane Talbot, eSports Manager, MLSE, spoke about the world of eSports.
eSports are video game competitions that pit teams of players against each in front of audiences. The industry has grown to 380 million people and draws both online and live audiences. There are even talks of eSports being included in the Olympics. It is important to note that video game demographics have changed over the past two decades. The eSports fan is age 28, 70% male, earns $75,000 and plays video games for three or more hours a day.
The NBA is also interested in the growing phenomenon, creating its own eSports league for virtual basketball. Its teams have expressed tremendous enthusiasm for eSports, and “we are looking forward to forming something truly unique for basketball and gaming fans round the globe,” said Talbot.
The NBA’s entry into this market suggests that eSports is not a fad but rather an evolution in the gaming market. Lottery and eSports market could have similar target audiences over the next few years, which is why OLG is one of the founding sponsors of the Toronto Raptors uprising team. According to Talbot, the NBA 2K franchise is very well known with 11 million units sold and 1.6 million daily active users.