Commentary
E-sports: A global investment
The world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups are investing to enter the e-sports and immersive entertainment space.
May 9, 2022 by Kevin Williams
There is no getting away from the importance of e-sports as the global entertainment industry emerges from the global health crisis, a movement leveraging digital payments and cryptocurrency.
The world's largest sports betting and gaming groups are investing to enter the e-sports and immersive entertainment space.
Looking first at the Middle East, the Saudi Arabian government, through its Public Investment Fund through Savvy Gaming Group, a game industry investment corporation, recently made one of the largest acquisitions in the e-sport space by acquiring ESL and FACEIT groups for $1.5 billion. The groups run tournament competitions, as well as running apps for players to organize independent tournaments.
In the U.S., Monumental Sports & Entertainment, based in Washington, D.C., partnered with Ticketmaster and management firm Oxford Properties Group to open an entertainment space including an e-sports arena, live-event space and gaming center by year's end. Under the "District E" brand, the first 14,000-square-foot facility will open in Washington D.C., within the Gallery Place mall.
In Japan, several amusement factories have created their own sponsored e-sports teams, and it is expected that e-sports will be injected into the focus of most of these corporations' growth strategies.
'E-sports x music'
Konami Amusement announced plans to partner with Genda GiGo Entertainment and Taito in support of the "Bemani Ppo League — Season 2," a professional competitive tournament based across the Bemani series of music games including "Dance Dance Revolution," "Sound Voltex" and "BeatMania" with players competing towards winning the games to become a professional. Described by Konami as "e-sports x music." this is the latest established amusement e-sports competition.
Other venue chains have been added to the list of facility supporters, including Round1 and Game Panic. The competition is planning to eventually comprise 32 players who will then battle it out to become sponsored professional players.
Parent company Konami Holdings reported a 12% increase in sales and profits across all the divisions, including the digital entertainment business and the amusement business where revenue was up by 21.7%. This was seen as a return to expectant business conditions, even after the hard COVID lockdown conditions in Japan.
The corporation has positioned itself into new fields, including e-sports and more innovation from its popular IP, and it is also one of those corporations looking at new business sectors.
Blockchain enters the mix
The investment in sports betting and e-sports wagering has brought blockchain technology into the discussion — with the possibilities of winnings being made and paid out in cryptocurrency. As was seen last year, several game developers incorporated the blockchain based Lighting Networks as a payment protocol into their prize payment infrastructure.
Companies including Zebedee have been working on platforms such as the "Infuse" platform, that should allow the company's plug-in to be added to numerous competition games, allowing for a blockchain payment and prize solution.
This is the latest attempt to create a "play-for-pay" (or "play-to-earn") infrastructure, offering a play-to-earn element that could revolutionize tournaments as well as casual gaming.
Some developers are looking at rewarding players in non-fungible tokens, such as through the Axie Infinity platform.
The Brits go for blockchain
Entain, a London based sports betting, gaming and interactive entertainment group previously known as GVC Holdings, revealed plans to invest some £100 million ($130 million) into a new business approach — planning to open a flagship facility later this year called "Ennovate Experience Zone," which will include VR arcade gaming and immersive experiences, along with retail elements.
This marks a major departure for Entain, better known for online and retail brands Ladbrokes, Coral, BetMGM, bwin, Sportingbet, Eurobet, partypoker, partycasino, Gala and Foxy Bingo. This is part of a greater investment in interactive entertainment, and the company has already invested in an NFT platform through its partypoker operation and Theta Labs.
Speaking of blockchain adopters, the location-based entertainment space has started the long process of recognizing cryptocurrency as a possible payment medium.
It was revealed that the social entertainment golf simulation venue chain, Five Iron Golf, was offering special access to its venues to LinksDAO members. LinksDAO is a unique membership community for golf enthusiasts, offering special events, discounted prices and perks to their community. The membership to the group includes the members' own unique NFT that is used as their personal "members card" for access to these benefits.
Five Iron Golf is now offering LinksDAO NFTs access to unique benefits across its chain of 10 venues — the golf experience company has received investment from Callaway Golf, which also owns Topgolf.
End goal: frictionless payment
In an example of the move towards frictionless e-payment platforms for amusement, Aeon, a Japanese retail giant, announced that its new iAeon app will now support the Aeon Pay service, allowing the payment of services across the operation's venues. This is a platform supported by Aeon Financial and its credit card service, Aeon Card, allowing the app to operate like an electronic money platform with a redeemable points element.
The payment app is expected to be used across the Aeon 300 amusement shops and 83 cinema operations.
Other venues are looking at implementing their own cashless e-payment systems, and a number have offered incentives to players only using their payment means.
(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by Spider Entertainment and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)
About Kevin Williams
Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.
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