Technology, Media and Telecom Canadian Equity Research 12 February 2019 Industry Update Canaccord Genuity Corp. (Canada) Robert Young, MBA | Analyst - Esports: Investment landscape in 2019 1.416.869.7341
[email protected] Esports audiences are larger than most people think; they are global and they are Doug Taylor, CFA | Analyst - 1.416.867.6101 growing, driving interest from mainstream brands looking for ways to engage a younger
[email protected] crowd. We acknowledge that esports is still progressing through the hype stage, but the raw figures are compelling. Much of the pure play opportunity has been limited to the Christian Sgro, CFA | Associate - 1.416.869.7364 private domain where sports team owners, professional athletes and other celebrities -
[email protected] or in other words, those with experience building an audience - have been active. As the Brendan Chong | Associate - 1.416.869.7375 theme of esports matures and as investment opportunities spread beyond large video
[email protected] game studios, GPU vendors, and a handful of pure play publicly traded securities, we believe investors should pay attention. The esports sector is characterized by global reach and impressive CAGRs (viewership +14.4%, revenues +27.4% through to 2021 per Newzoo). We expect media interest and sponsorship deals will drive continued growth. If you haven’t dug into this emerging segment before, and you haven’t already read our previous research, skip to the back and read Appendix 2 to get a foundation. This report analyzes opportunities for investment, esports team economics, and other angles to play the growth. In search of the pure play: Esports teams evolving under the league franchise model In the North American private sector, esports teams have attracted significant interest from corporate and strategic investors.