(Courtesy of ELEAGUE)
BOSTON — With all of the traditional sports investments in eSports over the past 18 months, whether it’s been from current or former players, teams or new ownership groups, some eSports players are asking for arguably smarter investments.
From the eSports Emergence panel at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this past weekend, Christina Alejandre, General Manager and Vice President for Turner’s ELEAGUE, suggested that everyone needs to pump the brakes and be more mindful of the decisions they’re currently making around the new phenomenon.
“There’s a lot of FOMO right now in eSports,” Alejandre said in response to what kind of advice she and other panelists would give to VC firms looking to invest in eSports.
“Look at the data, look at who they are as a VC and what they want to accomplish,” Alejandre continued. “Really be thoughtful with how they invest their money. I think there’s a lot of people who are investing money, and they have no idea what they’re actually doing with whatever they’ve invested in. It’s kind of like, ‘Get over the FOMO, do your research and then make the strategic investments.’”
Alejandre — who sat down with SportTechie to discuss the emerging eSports property last Fall — didn’t cite specifically who she thought had a case of “FOMO” but at the present time, there’s currently a handful of U.S. sports teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and TD Garden/Boston Bruins that have made strategic investments in eSports over the past six months.
Nathan Lindberg, Twitch’s Director of eSports, added that currently “there’s a lot of opportunities with eSports teams.”
“Imagine someone like (NFL owner) Jerry Jones and buying low then having a high valuation for the Dallas Cowboys 10, 20 years later. There’s not a lot of franchising out there, so you’re taking a little bit of a risk there. That seems to be the logical place right now,” he added. “I really like opportunities around events, and the legal side of eSports is going to take shape over the next three to 10 years. It’s going to be a really interesting place to be, so representation, contract negotiations and arbitration.”
Additionally, Neil Duffy, who is the Vice President of the Collegiate StarLeague, cited the decision by owners Ted Leonsis, Magic Johnson and Peter Guber to acquire the eSports franchise Team Liquid last September as a “great investment.”
When asked about the dos and don’ts of traditional sports teams entering eSports, Duffy explained that there are “not enough case studies around their successes and failings” yet to comment. Still, he said that all of the professional sports teams currently entering the space have the built-in elements from a business standpoint, including sales and sponsorship, advertising, venue operation and “know-how.”
“All of that together could lead to great success, but it’s still too early to say,” he added.
