SPANISH BROADCASTER MEDIAPRO BUYS MAJOR STAKE IN ESPORTS LEAGUE LVP
Mediapro Buys Major Stake In eSports League LVP (Photo: Mediapro)
TNL Take: Just follow the money and everything get's easier to understand.
We've seen the stampede of traditional Sports investment into eSports.
Followed by more activity via Financial companies.
What started with Turner's E LEAGUE, Media companies are now following suit. After last week's French acquisition of ESWC (Electronic Sports World Cup) by Media Publisher Webedia, now comes Spanish Broadcaster Mediapro's controlling share in Spain's biggest eSports League, LVP (Liga de VideoJuegos Profesional).
A few interesting tidbits about the investment and Spain's eSports scene:
/01 FANDROID
Fandroid's Gamergy Event In Spain (Photo: Gamergy)
Fandroid was set up in 2009 by a few ex-AV professionals and created Spain's initial eSports broadcasting platform. In 2011, the first national Finals hit 10,000 Unique Viewers, increasing to 300,000 for the most recent Event in 2016.
As always, be careful of Unique Viewers without Average Concurrent Viewers.
Fandroid also launched Gamergy, the biggest eSports event in Spain, in 2014 which now attracts a stunning 30,000 participants twice a year.
Finally, Fandroid manages Spains eSports League (LVP), which has 250,000 Registered Players, and more importantly, also owns the broadcasting rights in Spain and for the Spanish-speaking market to the major international League of Legends competitions.
/02 SPAIN'S ESPORTS MARKET
With 15 million gamers, Spain ranks fourth in the EU, each playing - not watching - an average of 6.2 hours per week.
Spain's eSports Market has a whopping 74% penetration rate among those under 24.
/03 MEDIAPRO
Mediapro Group (Photo: Mediapro Group)
Mediapro made a fun video - sorry, Spanish - about why they acquired Fandroid/LVP.
Ill break it down anyway - Just like with the traditional Sports teams or previous Media company eSports investments, the value of the investment comes from helping the acquired company with the following:
Sports Rights + Production + Resources + Sponsorship + Marketing + Content
How many times have I talked about the need for content in eSports?
The space is starting to get really fun.