1. eSPORTS

2. What is esports?
Organized video game competitions between professional gamers
Two major titles are League of Legends and StarCraft 2

3. E-sports goes online in the 1990s
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

4. 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 Riot
Spent more on swag for attendees than received in ticket sales
Platform games (Call of Duty Ghost)

5. 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, YouTube
GomTV, Azubu

6. Based in South Korea, Global Starcraft League (GSL) attracts more than 50 million viewers globally
Starcraft match televised on MBCGame in South Korea

9. Commentators are a recent development
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
Offered insight to gameplay

10. esports Announcer Clip

11. NFL
NFL
LCS

13. APM
Actions per minute
Most professional Starcraft 2 players can get up to apm

14. Professional gamer Lifestyle
eSports is a lifestyle that often requires sacrifice
Many drop out or skip college to become pro gamers
Most teams usually live in a single gaming house
More of a time commitment than full time job

15. Darshan Upadhyaya aka ZionSpartan

16. Professional gamer salary
Livestream - problems with adblock
Sponsors
Boosting/selling accounts
Coaching
Tournament prizes
Games pay professional players

17. 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

18. 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)

20. Viewers
Most popular streamers can get 20, ,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
Over 100 million people watched the season worldwide
Mostly foreign viewers

21. Tournaments 44 premier event League of Legends tournaments in 2013
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

25. Global Competition Korea and China Europe growing
United States slowly getting there
Professionals moving to Korea to train
US Market still the most profitable

26. All Stars in Shanghai

28. 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

29. LoL 3rd World Championship Prize Pool
1st - $1,000,000
2nd - $250,000
3rd-4th - $150,000
5th-8th - $75,000
9th-10th - $45,000
11th-12th - $30,000
13th-14th - $25,000

30. Starcraft WCS 2013 Global Finals
2nd - $45,000
3rd-4th - $17,500
5th-8th - $7,500
9th-16th - $5,000

31. Lack of education and “real world” experience
After eSports
Face many of the same problems professional athletes do after sports careers
Lack of education and “real world” experience

32. Total Market
Guide sites: Solomid, LoLKing, LoLNexus
Each website is worth millions
Youtube Channels: Top5plays, trends
Interviews
Public appearances

33. The Differences
Rules of video games constantly changing
New seasons = new rules
Constantly new strategies with older/slower players falling behind as younger ranks rise above them
Video game fads are always changing
Traditional sports are constant

34. American trained in Korea Very successful Poor player etiquette
Meet a Pro
Greg “Idra” Fields
24 years old
American trained in Korea
Very successful
Poor player etiquette

36. Jing Jun Wu Must be 100% Quit Dignitas Family pressure
Meet a Pro
Jing Jun Wu
Must be 100%
Quit Dignitas
Family pressure
College > Gaming
Made $15K in high school