Being an avid fan of competitive gaming ever since I was a child, seeing the amount of investments being poured into eSports recently really stirs up my excitement for 2018 and the years to come. Looking at recent events in eSports only further elevates the hype: League of Legends getting the NALCS franchised, the Overwatch League finally kicking off after almost a year of anticipation, and the first championship for a North American team at the Boston ELEAGUE CS:GO Major. Let's take a closer look at the implications of each of these major events and how they potentially will become the stepping stone for even further expansion of the eSports economy.
NALCS
First, the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NALCS) getting franchised in 2018 was definitely among the most highly anticipated event in 2017. We have heard of the $10 million buy-in floor that applicants had to pay to even be considered as a partner for the league, and thus everyone had quite high expectations. Despite interviews from players and the production of the broadcasts indicating that not much has changed, there is definitely a lot more to be seen behind-the-scenes. With such a large amount of capital coming in from all kinds of sources (sponsors, VCs, new traditional sport teams buying slots such as the Cleveland Cavs or the Golden State Warriors), the NALCS is definitely attracting the interest of much bigger parties in the economy. Hopefully we can see this new flow of capital translate to higher production value broadcasts, or heavy marketing for the league to be pushed to even further heights.
OWL
Similar to our first story, the Overwatch League (OWL) also made its debut recently and was deemed by many to be a successful endeavor for Blizzard. The buy-in for OWL spots are $20 million each, with each team representing a city in the world (e.g. Dallas Fuel, Shanghai Dragons), so anyone looking at the league knows Blizzard is completely serious about their immense dedication to produce a top-tier eSports league. Currently all the teams are in Los Angeles, playing in the Blizzard Arena. However, the long-term plan is to eventually have each team participate in a global home-away system with each team being in their hometown with a dedicated stadium. When the intercontinental OWL finally kicks off, we can only imagine the undeniable impact it will have on the entire eSports ecosystem. However, for the time being, let us observe the beginnings of the OWL with hopeful eyes as it is undoubtedly one with tremendous potential.
ELEAGUE Boston Major
The last story we will discuss is Cloud9 CS:GO's victory at the ELEAGUE Boston Major. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been a mainstay of competitive gaming ever since the success of the first Major in 2013. However, after the hit to many skins betting and gambling sites in 2016, the hype for the game started declining due to many negative connotations associated with underage gambling being presented by the media. Especially in the U.S., where CS:GO has many big competitors in terms of shooter games, the viewership of CS:GO was surely, albeit slowly, declining. All of this might change, however, with the final match between FaZe Clan and Cloud9 breaking viewership records on Twitch at over 1 million concurrent viewers. The record-breaking stream will undoubtedly attract many North American investors and advertisers to at least do some research on eSports, especially since it made headlines on countless online news sources everywhere since Cloud9 is the only North American team to have won a massive title in recent times. I expect that the Cloud9 victory will rekindle the interest in CS:GO for the U.S. player base, and will potentially further expand the horizons for CS:GO as an eSports in North America.
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