Turner, WME-IMG Want You Competing in Their Newest Esports Event

(Bloomberg) -- ELeague, the competitive video-gaming brand launched last year by Turner Broadcasting and WME-IMG, is continuing its rapid expansion by broadening beyond professional gamers.

Insurance giant Geico is licensing the ELeague name to launch new amateur esports events, aimed at the billion-strong group of gamers who play seriously, but also have jobs, schoolwork or other interests. An ELeague partner since the Turner and WME-IMG joint venture launched last year, Geico wants to create a stepping stone between the casual gaming community and the pros.

“We've had this goal to launch an amateur series, and cultivate an amateur audience, for a while now, and Geico shared our vision,” said Seth Ladetsky, senior vice president of sales at Turner Sports.

In esports, professional video-game players compete live, often before crowds of spectators. Game publishers, who once saw the competitions as a way to showcase titles and connect with fans, are now also reaping financial gain from them. Esports is a roughly $900 million industry, according to research by sports investment bank Park Lane Capital. About 4 percent of that, or $40 million, is from amateur tournaments.

Professional players can make a living off games like League of Legends. Riot Inc.'s new franchised league, for instance, will pay players minimum salaries of $75,000. Amateur tournaments provide a way for enthusiasts to go after prize money in their spare time.

And the amateur events offer a way to expand the esports fan base. There are about 385.5 million global esports fans, but 2.2 billion gamers, according to market research firm Newzoo. A large percentage of those enthusiasts -- more than 50 percent, depending on the game -- identify themselves as “players only,” meaning they don't watch professional matches.

ELeague started in 2016, with its first two seasons focused solely on Valve Corp.'s popular shooting game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Since then, ELeague has expanded into more formats and different games, including Capcom Co.'s Street Fighter, Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Overwatch, and later this year, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Injustice 2. ELeague's first “major,” esports parlance for some of the industry's biggest tournaments, sold out the Fox Theatre in Atlanta and became the first esports event to ever pass 1 million concurrent viewers on Amazon's streaming service Twitch.

“Esports is fluid, and philosophically, we can't be a one-trick pony,” said Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer at Turner Sports. “We have to diversify and try as many things as possible.”

The first Geico ELeague Amateur Series event will be a Street Fighter tournament at the PAX West gaming festival in Seattle in September. Specifics on production, structure and prize money have yet to be announced.

“From day one, Geico has supported amateur gamers in taking their game to the next level,” said Vince Giampietro, senior marketing manager at the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit.

The amateur series is the first time ELeague has licensed its brand for any event. The tournaments will be operated and managed by Washington-based RedPeg Marketing, and ELeague will have a hands-on role in the digital broadcasts, which will stream on Twitch, Ladetsky said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum