The NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) are launching the NBA 2K League in 2018; 17 NBA teams have committed to participating for a period of 3 years. Each franchise will have the opportunity to select 5 gamers at the March ’18 draft (tryouts begin in January), with the 15-week season (followed by 2 week post-season) set to begin in May. TTWO sold 43 million copies of “2K18” within the U.S. and China, so the NBA is convinced the league will be a success; but as it currently stands, there’s work to do. The NBA 2K League remains without a broadcast partner, a central gaming location (for competition) and has yet decide if competition will be held on Xbox or Playstation systems.
Howie Long-Short: The NBA isn’t the only business convinced esports is going to provide a significant return on investment; through 2016, 50 non-endemic brands had invested within esports and that number has more than doubled over the first 9 months of 2017. Non-Endemic? The term describes a second class of sponsorship; brands not traditionally tied to the business being advertised or product being sold (i.e. NBA – sneakers, balls etc.). Need an example of a non-endemic brand that earned endemic status? PepsiCo (PEP); NFL fans didn’t associate the brand with the sport until the company invested in the Super Bowl halftime show.
Fan Marino: Caps & Wizards owner Ted Leonsis believes “very quickly, esports will be the largest participatory sport with the most active participants”; further projecting the league will generate revenues that “dwarfs the NFL”. Leonsis is bullish because esports is a “global phenomenon”, but so is the EPL (players from 113 different nations have played) and that league generates less than half the revenue ($6 billion) of the NFL ($14 billion). I tend to believe what former AFL Commissioner David Baker recently told us; “it takes 60 years to grow a major league” and to while you can “flash”, to sustain success “it’s got to be multi-generational”.
‘It will dwarf the NFL’: The NBA’s going all-in on esports with the NBA 2K League
For the balance of today’s newsletter, sign-up here!
