2016 eSports Review: eSports and TV
TNL Take: This week The Next Level will look at how eSports performed and grew in 2016 across a few categories - and where it could go in 2017.
The first will look at eSports and TV.
Clearly Turner's investment in E LEAGUE helped drive further programming and deals across the board.
Here's what happened in 2016:
- Why E LEAGUE's Ratings Do and Don't Matter
- E LEAGUE Week 2 Beats EPL
- Ginx.tv Gets $4M From Sky TV and ITV
- Vivendi and Canal Group Partner With ESL
- ESL Signs 5 Year African TV Deal
- Spanish Broadcaster Mediapro Buys eSports League LVP
- ESPN to Air 18 Hours of eSports On 1 Day
So what's going to happen in 2017?
/01 20+ eSports events in 2016. We may see double that this year.
/02 More broadcast deals as Publishers look to monetize their content.
/03 Another OTT deal such as MLBam and Riot's $300M deal.
/04 More Sports eSports on TV like Madden, FIFA and NBA2K.
/05 EVO will be bigger and more fighting eSports content.
As I've continually said, eSports doesn't need TV, TV needs eSports. So why more programming?
Because TV is a $70+ Billion industry in the US.