These Are Some of the Best Ways to Gain Exposure to the Booming eSports Market

November 25, 2020 - By: Baystreet Staff


eSports has become big business. So much so that by 2022, the industry could be worth up to $1.8 billion from $950 million today. By 2025, according to Research and Markets, that figure could be up to $3 billion. Helping quite a bit, the eSports audience is expected to nearly double from 335 million to 646 million by 2023, as reported by Business Insider. From here, as eSports continues to go mainstream, revenue is could grow further from sponsorships, advertising, media rights, merchandising, and streaming to name just a few. Also, consider this. In 2012, gamers spent about 1.3 billion hours watching eSports videos. By 2013, they spent 2.4 billion hours with eSports. By 2019, they spent 6.6 billion hours with eSports. In short, business is good for eSports. That excitement is creating big opportunity for related companies, such as Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX:EGLX)(OTCQB:ENGMF), Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), HUYA Inc. (NYSE:HUYA), and Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI).

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX:EGLX)(OTCQB:ENGMF) BREAKING NEWSEnthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. the largest gaming platform in North America, connecting with over 300 million gamers monthly worldwide, recently concluded its Enthusiast Gaming Live Experience 2020 (“EGLX 2020”), a fusion of video games, esports, music, fashion, and lifestyle content and events. Supported by key sponsors, including SpiderTech, G FUEL and TikTok, the virtual event featured world premieres, unique performances and thrilling competitions - all live streamed to millions across the globe.

Entering its fifth year - the four-day free event was live streamed on eglx.com and on the Company’s main Twitch channel: LG Loyal at twitch.tv/lgloyal. With a main broadcast centre in Toronto, multiple feeds were simultaneously streamed from all over the world in real-time, from as far away as Australia. The Toronto production and control centre hosted three cameras on-site and LED-lit walls and lighting were used to further enhance the viewer experience. Altogether, the digital event drew over 12 million viewers, totaling 53 hours of live streamed content during the event.

In addition to performances by musicians ZHU and Goldlink, and appearances from NFL Stars Richard Sherman and Darius Slay, the event hosted a variety of announcements. Luminosity Gaming, Enthusiast Gaming’s esports organization, which counts 70 million fans, hosted the finale of its Rising Stars reality competition to find the next gaming superstar, which included more than a month of preliminary challenges and judging. With a panel featuring top Luminosity content creators Félix “xQc” Lengyel and Elliott “Muselk” Watkins, up-and-coming streamer, BabyCappah, was announced as the winner and was awarded a $100,000 Luminosity Gaming sponsorship. Fortnite pro Nicholas “Nick Eh 30” Amyoony was also signed to Luminosity Gaming’s roster where he will continue to create family-friendly content.

“We are tremendously proud of how much EGLX has grown over the past five years, from a small cottage event to a premium, tier 1 gaming and esports fan experience. We look forward to continuing to create new and unique content experiences for our fans like Rising Stars and Gamers Got Talent, that consistently attract new sponsors and create additional content distribution opportunities on other platforms,” shared Adrian Montgomery, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming. “EGLX, which has traditionally been a live, in-person event, pivoted this year to a digital format. I could not be more pleased with the finished product that drew an audience of over 12 million. During a time when we are all physically separated - gaming has a unique advantage in its online communities that have existed for years, and we want to continue building on them through events like EGLX where they can all come together.”

Additional event highlights included:

- The Escapist Magazine’s Games Showcase

- Gamers Got Talent with guest judges, Anomaly, Justin Guarini, runner-up on the first season of American Idol and hosted by Corey Mandell and Dreezy

- SlayVS, NFL star Darius Slay joined fellow NFL players Richard Sherman and the Griffin Twins and American Rap Artist Goldlink to play a friendly game of Call of Duty Warzone

- Call of Duty Tournament hosted by RockyNoHands

- The Sims Resource LIVE featuring designs by Louise Goldin and hosted by Sims content creator and streamer, Deligracy

- Pocket Gamer Launchpad, celebrating new, upcoming or updated iOS and Android games

Other related developments from around the markets include:

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) announced the worldwide launch of the highly-anticipated Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War, an all-new entry in the #1 selling series in Call of Duty and a direct sequel to the fan favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops. The new title infuses 1980s pop culture into a gripping conspiracy set at the height of the Cold War. In the fictional story campaign players must stop a plot decades in the making that could destabilize the global balance of power and change the course of history. The game delivers the next generation of online multiplayer combat with an arsenal of Cold War weapons and equipment across a wide variety of new maps and modes. Black Ops Cold War also provides an all-new co-operative Zombies survival mode experience. The title supports cross-play across next generation and current generation systems with cross progression across all modes. Players can look forward to the biggest series of free, post-launch content in Black Ops history across Multiplayer and Zombies, as well as a robust schedule of in-game community events.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) is taking The World’s Game to the Next Level with today’s unveil of EA SPORTS™ FIFA 21 on PlayStation®5 and Xbox® Series X|S, launching December 4. The power of new generation consoles combined with advances in the Frostbite™ engine enables players to experience lightning fast load times and enhanced sights, sounds, and player movement, in addition to ultra-realistic football environments that immerse fans in the most authentic matchday experience in EA SPORTS FIFA franchise history. The sights and sounds of FIFA 21 are reimagined for next generation consoles, with the brand new EA SPORTS GameCam inspired by the look and feel of top-level football broadcasts and LiveLight Rendering, a deferred lighting system that enhances every aspect of the on-pitch experience. Thousands of authentic chants captured exclusively from the world’s biggest competitions, including the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga, deliver the ultimate EA SPORTS Atmospheric Audio experience, unparalleled in sports video games.

HUYA Inc. (NYSE:HUYA), a leading game live streaming platform in China, announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. "Despite a relatively shorter summer vacation period due to the impact of COVID-19 in China, we were still able to increase our user base by offering enriched content and enhanced experience, as well as through our deepened collaboration with Tencent," said Mr. Rongjie Dong, Chief Executive Officer of Huya. "In the third quarter of 2020, average MAUs of Huya Live reached 172.9 million. The continued user growth momentum sets a solid foundation for the strengthening of user engagement and incremental monetization opportunities."

Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI), a leading online entertainment platform for young generations in China, announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020. “We are excited to announce another great quarter with exceptional growth in both user numbers and our top line,” said Mr. Rui Chen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Bilibili. “Our effective user growth strategy and expanding content library helped us to reach an even broader audience. In August, our MAUs exceeded 200 million, marking a new monthly record. This milestone is just the beginning. We envision that the inevitable video-lization trend will lead to great opportunities for Bilibili to grow and expand as the go-to platform for online content in China. As we leverage our core capabilities in providing engaging content and community experience, we are committed to further improving our brand equity and capturing this market opportunity. We believe the investments we are making now to increase our stronghold in China’s entertainment market will yield considerable and sustainable return in the long run.”

Legal Disclaimer / Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Winning Media is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Winning Media is only compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation. Pursuant to an agreement Winning Media has been paid three thousand five hundred dollars for advertising and marketing services for Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. by a third party. We own ZERO shares of Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. Please click here for full disclaimer.

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