The potential for eSports to deliver a young, male demo has become so alluring that two of sports media’s biggest companies are partnering to create a new competitive gaming league. Turner Sports and WME-IMG this morning announced the partnership, a move that provides the clearest sign that the sport is poised to enter the mainstream. Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels said, "I don’t look at this as a TV property. We’re taking another platform that has a massive amount of viewership in TBS and we’re bringing it to a sport that needs it." The companies would not release details of the deal or say how much they are investing. They described the deal simply as a long-term one that took about a year to negotiate. The yet-to-be-named league kicks off next year with two 10-week seasons that will be produced from Turner’s Atlanta studios and carried exclusively on TBS on Friday nights. WME-IMG Chief Content Officer Mark Shapiro said, "I don’t think any property has a better hold on that young male audience than eSports. While it has been consoles and online and in-arena up until now, adding that last component of such a powerful medium as television to the equation will ultimately take this to another level." Daniels said the plan is to produce the league from Atlanta, a city that Turner expects to become e-sports’ East Coast capital. The regular season will be shot with a live, studio audience on a TBS set; the playoffs and championship game could move to a local arena. Shapiro: "We’ve already had inquiries from several arenas that are interested in potentially being the home."
INCREASING ESPORTS PRESENCE: WME-IMG, which has experience in producing 800 events a year, from PBR to golf and tennis events, will produce the live events. Turner will take the lead on ad sales and sponsorships around the new league, with WME-IMG assisting. WME-IMG has made moves in eSports already and represents most of the top teams, players and commentators. Earlier this year, it bought an eSports talent agency called Global eSports Management. The companies cited stats that showed more than 205 million people watch eSports worldwide, including 32 million in the U.S.
HOOK 'EM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG: For Turner, the deal fits with the company’s decision to rebrand TBS to attract a younger audience. At the net’s upfront event this spring, it announced plans to push edgier programming and marketing to better attract that younger demo. Shapiro said, "It’s a changing landscape out there -- both technology and media consumption. This partnership is going to have all kinds of legs that maximize and leverage the IMG and Turner portfolio of brands and assets. That’s what this deal is about. It’s about reach. It’s about depth. It’s about scope. And it’s about storytelling and bringing this competition to life. It’s really one of the last frontiers that has been untouched from a traditional sense.” Valve Corp.’s “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” will be the featured game during the league’s first season.
