SEAT Global Magazine - Exclusive Interviews of Global Sport Executive Issue 02 February 2017 | Page 37

eSports and Looking to the Future

We can expect:

~The integration with virtual reality to grow

~More traditional sports clubs to enter the eSports space

Greater diversity of revenue models (e.g. data exploitation, in-game revenue, online subscription etc)

David Fowler

David is a Chartered Marketer with more than 15 years’ experience in international sports marketing roles.

You can follow David on twitter (@davidgfowler) or connect on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/davidgfowler).

Geoff Wilson

Geoff runs his own Sports Consultancy, working with clients such as FIFA, UEFA and FIBA across the world.

He is also on the board of Tourism Northern Ireland.

You can follow Geoff on twitter @geoffwnjwilson or connect on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/geoffwnjwilson

About the Authors

~A proliferation of slick, professional eSports events

Greater attempts to regulate competition and greater scrutiny of non-licensed competitions by the platforms, game publishers and related rights holders

~New titles to emerge

~Increasing competition amongst gamers and rising standards as prize pots increase

~More eSports tournaments connected with traditional tournaments

As the eSports space evolves at lightning speed, it is impossible to predict what will happen beyond 2017. For example, who today would bet against eSports making an appearance at the 2024 Olympic Games?

2017 promises to be an interesting year. A year when the eSports industry will further mature.