Move over, soccer. To many in the industry, eSports is poised to become the world’s next big thing in athletics.
The revolution is well underway, with Daniel Cherry, CMO of Activision Blizzard, telling the audience at The Grill in Beverly Hills on Tuesday that eSports is “growing like wildfire.” A former chief marketing officer of the New Jersey Devils, Cherry said competitive gaming now resembles professional sports, with franchises, dedicated players, major advertisers and big money on the line.
Getting paid is definitely a big part of it. Competitive gaming has been around in some form since the 1970s, Damon Lau, head of eSports at UTA, told the audience at SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.