French media firm Vivendi and its Canal Group announced their foray into esports last week in a partnership with ESL France to establish French esports leagues. The competitions will be shown on Canal Group channels, and will plant Vivendi at the forefront of esports media distribution in France. “They changed the way football and rugby was shown on TV and this is why they have such a core audience on their sports channel. This strategic partnership will definitely bring more notoriety to esports in France,” ESL France Managing Dir Samy Ouerfelli told SBD Global. The two-year deal is set to begin in ’17. “We started to talk a year ago with Vivendi. They were the first to gather a team that would focus on the esports topic, even though most of the networks in France started to contact us after MTG announced that they acquired ESL. But only Vivendi went deep into their strategy.” As an emerging competition, which some hesitate to call a sport, esports’ growth has baffled sports enthusiasts and execs alike in the U.S. When asked about Europe’s view, Ouerfelli said, “Lately the trend is pretty positive for esports in France and Europe. With Twitch viewership records broken almost every month and massive events such as IEM Katowice 2013, then ESL One as the first stadium event in Europe, the media has started to realize how big the potential of this ecosystem is.” A report from the research firm Newzoo released last week revealed that male millennials (ages 21-35) now watch esports as often as MLB or NHL games, with 22% watching frequently. “Today there are only a few countries in Europe where the government is not involved in esports, every big city wants to have their own esports event and the media companies are craving this content to reach millennials, a target that most of them struggle to attract,” according to Ouerfelli.
EXPANDING THE REACH: ESL France’s deal with Vivendi will include expanding esports’ exposure to an audience that is unfamiliar with the competitions. Ouerfelli believes that esports can only benefit from the Vivendi partnership, saying that the increased exposure in the press and on TV could lead to more sponsorship opportunities for teams and competitions. Esports has become an undeniable force in sports and media. Professional teams like the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and Paris St. Germain jumped on board by purchasing and creating their own esports franchises, and media deals like the one between ESL France and Vivendi should follow. Ouerfelli: "Vivendi's example will most likely inspire other major players in Europe. I’m thinking about Sky in the U.K. or Pro Sieben in Germany who has already shown interest for esports and covered events such as IEM Katowice. That would help create solid roots in these respective countries and we could imagine a strong European competition close to what we have with the Champions League of the European Cup."
