The Mavericks will be one of the first teams to be a part of the NBA's 2K eLeague, which will officially launch in '18, according to Melissa Repko of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban in an email wrote that the NBA "picked" his team as "one of the first to be represented" by an e-sports club. He noted the NBA's new eLeague "has a chance to be a very competitive league." Cuban: "There is significant upside for fans and 2k players." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, "The large part of my mission is to grow the game of basketball. There's going to be an opportunity for this first of a kind league to attract a group of gamers who might be playing some other game." Repko notes NBA 2K eLeague will "start with about half of the NBA's teams." Silver did "not name the other teams, but noted that eventually all 30 NBA teams will be represented." Each NBA owner is being "given the opportunity to build teams at their own pace" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/10).
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK: VARIETY's Todd Spangler wrote the NBA is "laying the groundwork" in e-sports "not only because it sees a bona fide revenue stream, but because video games might become the No. 1 way fans interact with the game in the future." The NBA is the latest media entity looking to "exploit the popularity" of e-sports, which has been "slowly finding a perch on TV and spreading across Facebook." MLB has "some skin" in e-sports, but "not as a league operator." BAM Tech "entered into a multiyear deal with Riot Games to produce and deliver 'League of Legends'" e-sports programming globally." Meanwhile, Turner and WME-IMG "teamed up to form ELeague," while Activision Blizzard "bought Major League Gaming a year ago" (VARIETY.com, 2/9). Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard Dir, President & CEO Bobby Kotick recently "shared his thoughts" on Riot Games and MLBAM's broadcast partnership, a deal that is worth $50M on average and will run through to the '23 season. Kotick, during Activision Blizzard’s Q4 earnings call, said, "It was a very important milestone for esports. It’s a large-scale broadcast commitment and I think it really demonstrates how valuable our content can be as spectator content" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/9).
