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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NBA bets big on esports, but will fans play along?

The NBA’s new 2K eLeague will satisfy teams clamoring to jump into the alluring world of esports, but with the vast potential comes questions about the viability of sports simulations as major spectator properties.

The 2K eLeague, announced last week, will start with numerous advantages and opportunities when it launches in early 2018 with at least half of the NBA’s 30 teams expected to field teams. The new league undoubtedly will benefit from the NBA’s marketing muscle and branding meant to replicate real-life basketball loyalties.

But the “NBA 2K” series, while a long-standing NBA partner that’s sold 68 million copies worldwide, is a niche player when it comes to video games with a dedicated base of spectators and elite talents.

The afternoon of the day the league was announced, the top three feeds for “NBA 2K17” on gaming site Twitch totaled 579 viewers. At the same moment, “League of Legends” had 114,810 viewers on its top three feeds, and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” had 55,690. Those two titles have drawn most of the headlines for selling out major arenas and drawing investors.

Traditional sports fans and esports fans are complementary, but not overlapping, audiences, experts believe, and some worry that 2K is aimed at the gap between them.

“While I am tentatively excited by NBA teams entering the space, done incorrectly this move has the potential to alienate both traditional sports and esports fans,” said Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, founder of the Renegades esports franchise and a widely followed esports broadcaster. “The upshot can be further engagement from a wider fan base, but time will tell whether these actions uphold the authenticity and integrity of the esports world that I cherish.”

The league believes the 2K league will attract fans because of the video game’s strong sales record and the NBA’s global popularity. The most recent release, “NBA 2K17,” has sold 7 million units and is the highest-rated annual sports game in the current console generation. Those sales metrics speak to the growth possibilities of the new league. But as gaming industry veterans know, sales to casual players do not necessarily translate into esports success.

The NBA and “2K” publisher Take-Two Interactive created the venture in response to strong demand from teams wanting to get into esports, following a presentation by NBA Chief Financial Officer Jason Cahilly and Commissioner Adam Silver early last year.

Since then, owners of the Sixers, Heat, Bucks, Grizzlies, Wizards and Warriors have made plays of one variety or another, but there’s a shortage of viable acquisition targets in esports. Creating a league from scratch emerged as a new option.

Compared to buying a stake in an established esports franchise, some of which have been valued at more than $30 million, the risk to joining the 2K league is modest. Membership will require a six-figure buy-in fee, which will offset player salaries and other operational costs.

“It’s great to expand in different ways and it gives people the comfort to enter esports,” said Chris Heck, chief revenue officer of the Philadelphia 76ers, which last year bought and merged two esports franchises. “It is really a safe and easy way for traditional sports teams to get an understanding of esports. It seems like a no-brainer that we would follow that path.”

The Sacramento Kings will be among the initial participants, said team President Chris Granger. “When you look at the growth of the participation and when you think about the dramatic increases in viewership, all of those things lead us to believe that we need to have a place in a game that is authentic to our league,” he said. “The opportunity to tap into a younger, tech-savvy, highly engaged audience is something we find great potential in.”

The Dallas Mavericks also are expected to join the league. “I think it can be a significant business for us,” said owner Mark Cuban.

Venues and the franchises that own them also believe the eLeague can open the door to new arena bookings. Matt Holt, NBA vice president of global partnerships, said they will run regular-season contests in smaller studios and consider primary basketball venues as locations for marquee postseason tournaments or possibly an all-star game.

“Esports deserves our focus in the live event space — the bigger venues, I’m not talking about small theaters,” said John Wentzell, president of Spectra’s facility management and food service groups.

Avi Bhuiyan, executive vice president of esports at Catalyst Sports & Media, believes 2K has an uphill battle for eyeballs compared with more established esports. But because it’s a simulation of one of the world’s most popular real sports, it could quickly lure newcomers.

“‘NBA 2K’ doesn’t have the viewership or player base of a lot of the larger esports,” Bhuiyan said. “That being said, I think from an accessibility perspective you literally couldn’t do any better. It’s literally the digital equivalent of the on-court NBA product, so it makes perfect sense for this to be an entry point for owners who are interested in the space but aren’t sure how to navigate it.”

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