Several esports investors said they are gauging success in the long term rather than worrying about a quick rate of return. Infinite Esports & Entertainment Founder Chris Chaney said taking a long-term view is “fundamental to anyone getting into the space.” Chaney: “We’re so focused on the growth of the space today and the big numbers that we see and get thrown around, but we really are still at the earlier stages within the industry.” BITKRAFT Esports Ventures Founding Partner Jens Hilgers said the esports industry and the media have created an “expectation about this phenomenon, about this paradigm change ... that is a bit too high potentially.” Hilgers said he is “investing on the assumption that this is going to grow, this is going to explode” and be there in the next 10-20 years, rather than immediate ROI in two or three. Echo Fox co-Owner Khalid Jones agreed, saying esports really is only in its infancy. “If people are looking at esports as the gold rush, we’re still in 1850 right now. … I’m really not thinking about next year, I’m really not thinking about two years from now in terms of long-term investment outlook.”
MAKING THE COMP: Panelists were asked to compare recent Forbes valuations of MLS teams to those of esports organizations. aXiomatic Gaming co-Founder & CEO Bruce Stein said it is hard to compare traditional sports teams with esports organizations due to the different revenue streams available to both. “In traditional sports … you have TV deals, gate, sponsorship and merchandise,” Stein said. “That order is somewhat flipped for us. We don’t have the same gate participation, and I think geocentric gaming is still something that has to prove itself.” He added, “We’re still so early in this (esports) process. Some people call it the wild, wild west. I think it’s just chaos. But we’re defining it and shaping it by where we place capital.” Jones called it an “apples to kumquats” comparison, noting esports teams at this point may even be undervalued. “Esports are born globally and the organizations are trying to get local,” he said. “Traditional sports are born locally and have to get global. We can legitimately think about how we service our fans in Korea, how we service our fans in Australia. … Those are not legitimate questions right now, for example, with any given MLS team.”
