The Xfinity brand in the broadcasting and cable TV corporate Comcast stable is the latest media company to partner up with eSports teams, signing sponsorship deals with Electronic Sports League (for the Halo Championship and Storm Live Finals series just completed) and the eSports team Evil Geniuses.
The Evil Geniuses will benefit from enhanced training facilities through the Xfinity sponsorship, and the Comcast subsidiary will score in terms of shirt branding, overall publicity and social media exposure.
In related news the 64-college PAC12 college athletic sports network is to broadcast eSports events next autumn in order to cover eSports college teams within the network, who are competing in tournaments and events, including heads up competitions and a branded PAC12 championship contest..
PAC12 chief Larry Scott said this week that eSports is a “natural fit” with the networks sports coverage.
The latest estimate on eSports potential continue to underline the phenomenal growth of the vertical, with Betradar claiming there are currently more than 250 million fans, generating a potential betting market that could reach $23 billion in wagers by 2020.