The Consultancy is in the blog

Ninja Early 2020 got off to a rough start, as we all know, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and the measures taken to slow its spread, literally blocking a big chunk of the economy. Without a doubt, the sports industry has been hit hard . Almost all big events have been cancelled or postponed, pushing event organizers, leagues and federations to the brink of bankruptcy. The latest announcement to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was the final blow : the Olympics have only been canceled three times (1916, 1940 and 1944) because of war, but never postponed. This will have huge repercussions for all stakeholders.  Jae C Hong/AP But if we want to focus on the positive, inside the reign of sports, the younger esports has the potential to gain terrain on its elder sibling by seizing new opportunities during these unprecedented times. Still unaware of exactly what esport is and its origins? Check out the three-part article we wrote on that subject a while ago! ...

Riot Games Of the USD1.5 billion worldwide eSports market , investors account for 50 per cent and sponsors/advertisers are close behind at 35 per cent . The remaining portion is comprised of prize pools (6 per cent), merchandise and ticket sales (5 per cent), and betting and amateur tournaments (5 per cent).  Intel, T-mobile, Coca-Cola, Airbus, Mercedes-Benz and Nike are some of the biggest sponsors at the moment. The link is obvious for internet-computer moguls Intel and T-Mobile, but what’s in it for Airbus and Mercedes-Benz?  Coca-Cola Company eSports puts brands in front of an audience that is becoming notoriously difficult to reach . The viewers of eSports’ content are less likely to consume traditional media . They grew up watching YouTube and getting content on demand. For them, heading to popular video game streaming site Twitch to watch a match is traditional. Primarily comprised of millennials, they are also v ery savvy at avoiding old-school advertis...

Getty Images ESports exploded in 2010. Good players started posting their gaming sessions on global online platforms such as Youtube and Dailymotion , but they lacked the capacity to live stream interact directly with the gaming community. This led to a simple yet remarkable solution that changed the industry forever: Twitch .  Called ‘Justin.tv’ before being absorbed by its mother branch, Twitch is the No. 1 destination for gamers wanting to showcase their skills and for people wanting to watch them. The streaming service was branded as the online gathering point for gamers around the world. Its growth has been spectacular: in 2012, the number of minutes spent on Twitch videos was 72 billion. In 2018, the minutes jumped to 560 billion . This exponential expansion can be explained in part by gamers professionalizing their content and achieving more and better sponsorships, plus gaming companies’ choice to live stream their tournaments on Twitch.  Quick note: in 201...

  Epic Games Unless you were living under a rock these last few months, you learned that a formerly unknown 16-year-old video game player from Pennsylvania named Kyle Giersdorf, aka Bugha , was the first-ever winner of the Fortnite World Cup, earning USD 3,025,900 in prize money. As a comparison, Novak Djokovic’s prize money for winning Wimbledon this year was USD 2,983,748. Yes, you read right, Nole won less money than Bugha. Another irony of this tennis comparison is that the Fortnite World Cup took place in the legendary Arthur Ashe Stadium , home of the US Open. With this, ladies and gentlemen, we have officially stepped off the high board into the depths of eSports. . Humble Beginnings The first known eSport competition was more of a geeky reunion at a time when the term didn’t even exist. In October 1972 , a Stanford student saw a flyer on a bulletin board that read:  “The first 'Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics' will be held here, Wednesday 19 October...