While traditional sports leagues continue to dominate the U.S. market, esports is rapidly gaining steam. Mario Ho, Co-CEO, Ninjas in Pyjamas, joined TheStreet to discuss the future of esports and the potential for global growth.
Transcript:
CONWAY GITTENS: So one stage that is big, of course, is the United States. Absolutely you guys have a bigger presence in South America, in Asia and in Europe. So what is it going to take for you to get a bigger stake of what’s happening in the United States. What is it going to take?
MARIO HO: Now the U.S. esports market or gaming market is huge, especially with how well the traditional sports market has done here in the United States. I mean, you look at NBA, you look at NFL, the monetization of and the valuations of those teams highest in the world. So of course, we want to get in on this market and we already have plans for that.
CONWAY GITTENS: So what does the future of esports look like, not just in the United States, but let’s start globally.
MARIO HO: OK I think the future of esports, I think esports will cement its position as sorry, our generations recognized our generation sports. So for those who are born after 1985 to well, all the kids nowadays, I think esports will become the main sports from a viewership standpoint. You’ll see that the numbers already prove that, for example. The league final of the CCFPL league in China, which is one of, if not actually, I think it is the largest, most watched mobile esports league in the world. I think it had five times more viewership than the NBA Finals.
So that tells you the potential already today. Now in the future, I think monetization of esports is going to catch up, catch up to the NBA teams, the NFL teams, and so will valuations you’ll start to see every single week. There are home court games that fill 10,000 arenas, 20,000 arenas, and you’ll have away games that do the same. So the entire sports model will be fully translated into the e-sports world. Now, I very much hope that the Saudi Arabia esports Olympics will do very, very well. We don’t know the format yet, but we’ll see. I think that will also have a very big impact on where esports lands in the future.
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