esports
DESCRIPTION
eSPORTS. What is esports?. Organized video game competitions between professional gamers Two major titles are League of Legends and StarCraft 2. History of esports. Earliest known competition on Oct. 19, 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar E-sports goes online in the 1990s - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
eSPORTS
What is esports?• Organized video game competitions
between professional gamers• Two major titles are League of Legends and
StarCraft 2
History of esports
• Earliest known competition on Oct. 19, 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar
• E-sports goes online in the 1990s• ~10 tournaments in 2000 to ~260 in 2010
Growth of eSports
• No developer or publisher has ever invested nearly as much into eSports as Riot
• League Championship Series (LCS) is not profitable for Rioto Spent more on swag for attendees than
received in ticket sales• Platform games (Call of Duty Ghost)
U.S. VIEWING PLATFORMS
• Currently no actual TV channel that focuses on eSports
• Closest TV channel is G4 - geared towards young male adult viewers
• Online streaming: twitch.tv, Major League Gaming, spectator mode, YouTubeo GomTV, Azubu
Based in South Korea, Global Starcraft League (GSL) attracts more than 50 million viewers globally
Starcraft match televised on MBCGame in South Korea
Commentating
• Commentators are a recent development• Commentating improved with technology• Announcers are paid well• Announcers have lots of control• Nick Plott - former player turned announcer
o Offered insight to gameplay
NFLLCS
NFL
APM
• Actions per minute
• Most professional Starcraft 2 players can get up to 200-300 apm
Professional gamer Lifestyle• eSports is a lifestyle that often requires
sacrificeo Many drop out or skip college to become
pro gamers• Most teams usually live in a single gaming
houseo More of a time commitment than full time
job
Professional gamer salary• Livestream - problems with adblock• Sponsors• Boosting/selling accounts• Coaching• Tournament prizes• Games pay professional players
Annual League of Legends Salaries• Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez reveals he
makes nearly $1 million per year as a professional League of Legends player
• The most popular players can make over 6 figures a year
• Historically very secretive about money
Annual Starcraft Salaries• Top 23 players earn over 100k each
(2012)• 2nd place earns just shy of 400k• 1st place earns 400k (19yrs old)• Of the top 23, all but 2 are from S. Korea• Best U.S. player is 44th (24yrs old)
Viewers• Most popular streamers can get 20,000 - 30,000
viewers at a single time• LoL Season 3 LCS Finals sold out the Staples Center • 32 million people viewed the LoL World Finals• 50 million people viewed the StarCraft 2 Finals
o Over 100 million people watched the season worldwide
o Mostly foreign viewers
Tournaments• 44 premier event League of Legends tournaments in
2013o Not including major and minor events, show
matches, and collegiate tournaments• 36 StarCraft 2 tournaments in 2013• Top 16 StarCraft 2: 9 South Korea, 2 Taiwain, 5 China• Top 14 LoL: 3 North America, 3 Europe, 2 Southeast
Asia, 1 Lithuania, 3 Korea, 2 China, 2 Southeast Asia
Global Competition
• Korea and China• Europe growing• United States slowly getting there• Professionals moving to Korea to train• US Market still the most profitable
season 3 LoL NA Tournaments• Season 3 Spring Split• Spring Playoffs• Summer Promotion• All-Star 2013• Season 3 Summer Split• Regionals 2013• World Championship• 2014 Spring Promotion
LoL 3rd World Championship Prize Pool1st - $1,000,0002nd - $250,0003rd-4th - $150,0005th-8th - $75,0009th-10th - $45,00011th-12th - $30,00013th-14th - $25,000
Starcraft WCS 2013 Global Finals1st - $100,0002nd - $45,0003rd-4th - $17,5005th-8th - $7,5009th-16th - $5,000
After eSports
• Face many of the same problems professional athletes do after sports careers
• Lack of education and “real world” experience
Total Market
• Guide sites: Solomid, LoLKing, LoLNexuso Each website is worth millions
• Youtube Channels: Top5plays, trends• Interviews• Public appearances
The Differences
• Rules of video games constantly changingo New seasons = new ruleso Constantly new strategies with
older/slower players falling behind as younger ranks rise above them
• Video game fads are always changingo Traditional sports are constant
Meet a Pro
• Greg “Idra” Fields• 24 years old• American trained in Korea• Very successful• Poor player etiquette
Meet a Pro
• Jing Jun Wu• Must be 100%• Quit Dignitas• Family pressure• College > Gaming• Made $15K in high school