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Some notable milestones in the past 18 months have included (in no particular order):
eSports Versus Traditional Sports
Specialist market research company Newzoo reported recently that 76% of eSports fans claim eSports viewing is taking away from their traditional sports viewing.
Newzoo also predicts eSports viewership around the globe to jump 11.2% (based on a CAGR from 2014) to 345 million by 2019.
It’s not all a bed of roses for eSports. A number of challenges exist, many of which traditional sports resolved long ago. These include:
~ A lack of rules or regulations to combat match fixing (monitoring systems will need to be developed that alert competition organisers and authorities to suspicious results and betting patterns)
~ A lack of clarity regarding ownership of media rights (in terms of event content, in-game content and data (offline and in-game))
~ A lack of measures to combat doping (substances to enhance player concentration are considered by many to be prevalent in competitive gaming circles)
Despite the challenges, traditional sports clubs are increasingly getting involved in eSports for a number of reasons. Namely,...
~ Growing audiences of young, hard-to-reach males (eSports represent a good opportunity to grow the clubs brand on- and offline)
~ Increasing interest from the commercial sector
~ High levels of engagement (eSports can be a valuable source of content and viewers watch live eSports content online for long periods of time)
Keep reading.........