Elite Sports of India is bringing eSports to the world’s second most populous country this summer. The U.S.-based company has reached an agreement with the Association of Indian Universities to introduce competitive gaming at the university level. ESOI acquired the rights to organize and promote the first ever AIU-sanctioned Inter-Zonal eSports tournament this September. Lovely Professional University in India’s Punjab region agreed to host the inaugural tournament, with an exact date yet to be determined. It is not the first time ESOI has brought a new sport to the subcontinent. After launching a professional American football league, Elite Football League of India, the company introduced the sport to India’s universities. It also acquired the commercial rights for India’s university basketball tournament and founded the country’s first pro basketball league. ESOI Founder Richard Whelan described the new project as the “fastest and easiest” venture to launch after having laid the necessary groundwork at the university level through American football and basketball. “It’s also the most economical,” he added.
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ESOI’s new eSports arm, called Elite eSports of India, will now be tasked with getting universities to sign up, looking for a marketing company to get the word out and finding hardware manufacturers to establish the infrastructure. EESI is expected to announce the game it will use at the inaugural tournament within the next 90 days, Whelan said. “It will most likely be one of the top five games used in the industry,” he added. Those include titles such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike and Call of Duty.
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(L-R) Richard Whelan, Kurt Melcher, Janice Foreman, Dr. Svarnias
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ATTRACTING EYEBALLS: ESOI will also look for a broadcast and streaming partner to gain the highest possible viewership for the event. The company currently has a partnership with Ten Sports networks for its other sports properties. Whelan said that ESOI is talking to a number of broadcasters, but has not yet signed a deal as it considers the on-screen exposure germane to EESI’s success. “Viewership turns into money and money drives the size of the sport,” he said. “And if you look at the viewership numbers they are staggering.” Last year’s League of Legends World Championship drew more than 36 million viewers, which is more than the NBA Finals (avg. 19.94 million) or MLB World Series (avg. 14.7 million). ESOI’s move into eSports follows large investments by Turner Broadcasting and Alibaba in the industry. It also added Kurt Melcher in an advisory role to expedite and enhance the development of eSports programs at Indian universities. Melcher, the associate athletic director at Robert Morris University in Chicago, is a pioneer in the industry after creating the first eSports scholarship in the U.S. “Kurt’s connections within the industry along with his name recognition provides us with instant credibility,” Whelan said. “It is hard to predict what eSports will look like in five years,” Melcher said. “But more attention and more corporate involvement can only help the ecosystem to evolve.” Current eSports sponsors include companies such as Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Samsung and Nissan. ESOI also has plans for an IPO in the near term, but did not reveal any further details.