Franchise valuations and creating sustainable business models were among the chief topics for discussion during the Lagardère Sports Esports Rising conference Nov. 14 and 15 in California.
Photos by Tony Florez
Reality and expectations
Ben Fischer, SBJ staff writer and panel moderator; Tucker Roberts, president, Philadelphia Fusion and Spectacor Gaming; Steve Arhancet, co-owner of Team Liquid; Jason Lake, founder and CEO of Complexity Gaming; and Whalen Rozelle, director of esports and research and development at Riot Games, discuss the challenges of building sustainable revenue models.
Driving growth
Bobby Sharma, special adviser to the sports and entertainment group at Foley & Lardner, said in-game purchases have moved past media rights as the second-largest expected revenue source, according to the 2019 Esports Survey.
The best use of data
Amir Zonozi of Zoomph, Amine Issa of Mobalytics and Pete Emminger of Blizzard Entertainment detailed how data can be used to attract sponsors and partners, track player performance and make the games more accessible.
Revenue opportunities
Matt Archambault, head of esports partnerships at Riot Games, discussed the company’s recent deal with Louis Vuitton around its League of Legends’ championship in Paris.
Pegging the value
OverActive Media’s Chris Overholt and New Meta Entertainment’s David Abrams participated in lively discussion of franchise valuations and the lack of transparency around them.
Creating Super Bowl of esports
Kristin Connelly, senior director of marketing at Overwatch League, described how the league ramped up its big-event atmosphere for the second OWL Grand Finals.
It’s a Riot
The conference concluded with a tour of Riot Games’ headquarters in West Los Angeles. Among the “League of Legends” characters greeting guests were Annie and Tibbers.
