The NBA will launch the NBA 2K eLeague in early '18, becoming the first U.S. pro sports league to establish a virtual gaming offshoot. The new entity is structured as a joint venture with longtime NBA licensee Take-Two Interactive, and will include an undetermined number of league franchises operating teams of five gamers each. NBA VP/Global Partnerships Matt Holt said about half the league's 30 franchises are expected to participate at launch. Team execs see the deal as a way to enter the growing e-sports market at a time when there is a shortage of viable e-sports franchises for sale. The NBA 2K eLeague also is a new marketing vehicle and possible arena booking opportunity, particularly for marquee championship rounds. However, most regular-season matches will be played in studios with limited seating. Owners of the 76ers, Heat, Grizzlies, Bucks, Wizards and Warriors have all made investments in e-sports franchises in recent months, independently of the league, acquiring stakes in teams that compete in titles like "League of Legends" and "Counter Strike: Global Offensive." Holt: "With interest soaring, the league felt it best to commit its energy to basketball simulations. We’ve had obviously a lot of activity in the space with our ownership groups, we've talked to a lot of different players in the gaming world about ways we could potentially participate in the e-sports world, and it really just came down to us that this is the place where it makes sense."
PROVEN COMMODITY WITH NBA: For Take-Two, it is a chance to build a new property around a proven game title with a built-in fan base. The teams will be composed of e-sports competitors who play as user-created avatars, not as simulations of real basketball players. 2K Senior VP/Operations Jason Argent said, "The idea of partnering with the NBA and the benefit of having all the local teams, and their fan bases and their marketing power, is a huge appeal to us." The virtual teams will be branded as derivatives of their NBA identities, similar to how WNBA and D-League teams are today. Holt said sponsorships will be sold at both the team and league level, and ticketing revenue would also be part of the pie. Talks with media partners are ongoing. Players could come from anywhere in the world, officials said. The league will help identify the best "NBA 2K" players via a combine and expert analysis, and then run a draft. So far, the teams that have acquired e-sports franchises have learned that basketball fans and video game fans are complimentary groups, but not necessarily overlapping. NBA and Take-Two think the NBA 2K eLeague can bridge the gap. Holt: "This is an opportunity for us to expose the game of basketball to a broader audience, and this does start to cross over into the e-sports world and might not be as familiar with basketball, and could attract a new audience."
NEW FRONTIER: Sandy Sandoval, former longtime EA Sports exec who is now an industry consultant, praised the deal. Sandoval: "This is the new genre. The NBA sees where e-sports is going to be in the next five years and they understand the fan base that is being created. The NBA has always thought outside the box. You have already seen e-sports sold out at the Staples Center and more and more kids are getting involved in e-sports. NBA teams will grow it slowly and they will be run like NBA teams. It will be more successful to the new generation that is more in tune with video games that they are with sports on TV."
THIS & THAT: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said every NBA team is "ultimately going to be represented" in the new eLeague. Take-Tow CEO Strauss Zelnick said the league "will be" a full-time job for the gamers. Zelnick: "There are professional video game players now and our expectation is that we and our partners, our league partners, are going to search for the most phenomenal players and this will become their job in what will probably be, at least initially, about a five month season” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 2/9).
