Competitive gaming and esports are taking the country by storm, and corporate America is paying attention. One of the two teams that will compete this weekend in the Overwatch Grand Finals at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is largely owned by the media giant Comcast.
And the reason is pretty simple, says Joe Marsh, CFO of the Philadelphia Fusion. “It’s about reaching the demographic that’s unreachable,” he said in an interview with Cheddar on Thursday. “A lot of the demo has ad blockers up and you’re not able to reach them.
“To be able to actively invest in something they’re actually seeking out and watching on Twitch and other streaming services and now to be transitioning that to linear TV with the ESPN deal, they just realize it’s a good area to target a new demographic of consumers that they’re going to guide through the next 50 years.”
The Philadelphia Fusion is something of a Cinderella team in the Overwatch League postseason. They entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed but upset No. 3 seed Boston in the quarterfinals and then the No. 1 seed New York Excelsior in the semis.
Tucker Roberts, president of the Fusion, said it was “unbelievable that our team got this far, given that a lot of analysts pegged us to finish eighth and not even make the playoffs.”
The Overwatch League is only in its first year; yet the enormous popularity of the game is bringing 20,000 spectators to the Barclays Center on Friday and Saturday. With that exploding popularity, Roberts sees a strong future for eSports.
“It’s a global sport,” he said. “It’s not like it’s a regional thing. It’s 40 million players from every single country you can think of.”
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjEyMTg=).
The battle royale, "last man standing" phenomenon has all but engulfed the video game industry. Though whether you prefer realistic bullet drop, zombies, or even trampolines, the premise still involves cutting down your competition with conventional weaponry like swords and firearms. Spell Break IS one of these games, but what if you'd prefer to incinerate your enemies with a fireball? Or choke them to death with a cloud of poison?
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Feb, 6, 2019.
Respawn Launches Free to Play Battle Royale Game
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019.
Chris 'Hellpockets" Fields reflects on the Red Bull Final Summoning. Hellpockets also weighs on the character changes in Dragon Ball Fighterz.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman might be the MVP of the Super Bowl, but the #MVP award for Super Bowl brands goes to Planters' Mr. Peanut. Mr. Peanut won Twitter's #BrandBowl contest for generating the most brand-related tweets during the Big Game. "They ran a really smart sweepstakes on Twitter and were giving things away during the game," Ryan Oliver, Twitter head of brand strategy, told Cheddar on Monday.
Bud Light topped Salesforce's list of most buzzed-about brands during the Super Bowl, followed closely by Pepsi, Budweiser, Doritos, and Avocados from Mexico. Rob Begg, Salesforce's vice president of product marketing, said what set those brands apart was their active engagement on social media. "One of the things we did see with brands over the Super Bowl were the ones who had the highest mentions and the biggest buzz were the ones that sort of carried the advertising conversation online,” he told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Feb. 4, 2019.
While the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams face off for the Super Bowl title, advertisers will be waging their own battles during Twitter's Brand Bowl 53. Ryan Oliver, senior director of brand strategy for the U.S. and Canada at Twitter ($TWTR), said the Brand Bowl is a celebration of the advertisers that are being talked about on Twitter.
Wine manufacturer Yellow Tail can’t buy a national ad during the Super Bowl ー but that won't stop the company from getting its “Tastes like Happy” campaign out to the public in spectacular fashion. To skirt the category exclusivity hold that Anheuser-Busch InBev ($BUD) has on the Big Game, Yellow Tail bought 81 local ads ー which cover about 90 percent of the nation.
