During 2016’s BlizzCon, Activision Blizzard Inc.’s annual event to promote its biggest video games, Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick held private gatherings for a handful of sports-business billionaires and people involved in the business of competitive video games, or e-sports. He pitched attendees —including his friend Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke—on his plans to start a league where teams would compete in his company’s hit game Overwatch.
The e-sports league would resemble traditional sports, with fans visiting arenas in major cities to watch live competition, while teams would make money by selling tickets, T-shirts, and hot dogs, and sharing in profits from sponsorship and broadcast deals. Activision Blizzard Esports later detailed what those guests had to do to get in on the ground floor: write a $20 million check for the rights to become one of the original franchises. Kraft was the first to agree. Kroenke soon followed, as did the Wilpon family, then owners of the New York Mets. (One prominent Overwatch fan who attended the meeting, Elon Musk, didn’t bite.)
For Kotick, who’d been leading Activision Blizzard for more than two decades, e-sports was one prong of a plan to transform his company into something even bigger than a game developer and publisher. It would become a media giant, savvily leveraging its beloved games into movie deals, spinoff games, and, now, a sports league. Within a year, team owners had promised $240 million in franchise fees, and the league had lined up tens of millions in sponsorships from companies such as T-Mobile and Intel, as well as a $90 million deal with Twitch to stream the first two seasons.
Bu hikaye Bloomberg Businessweek dergisinin June 13, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Bloomberg Businessweek dergisinin June 13, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Instagram's Founders Say It's Time for a New Social App
The rise of AI and the fall of Twitter could create opportunities for upstarts
Running in Circles
A subscription running shoe program aims to fight footwear waste
What I Learned Working at a Hawaiien Mega-Resort
Nine wild secrets from the staff at Turtle Bay, who have to manage everyone from haughty honeymooners to go-go-dancing golfers.
How Noma Will Blossom In Kyoto
The best restaurant in the world just began its second pop-up in Japan. Here's what's cooking
The Last-Mover Problem
A startup called Sennder is trying to bring an extremely tech-resistant industry into the age of apps
Tick Tock, TikTok
The US thinks the Chinese-owned social media app is a major national security risk. TikTok is running out of ways to avoid a ban
Cleaner Clothing Dye, Made From Bacteria
A UK company produces colors with less water than conventional methods and no toxic chemicals
Pumping Heat in Hamburg
The German port city plans to store hot water underground and bring it up to heat homes in the winter
Sustainability: Calamari's Climate Edge
Squid's ability to flourish in warmer waters makes it fitting for a diet for the changing environment
New Money, New Problems
In Naples, an influx of wealthy is displacing out-of-towners lower-income workers