IBC2019 will explore the technical and commercial opportunities and challenges of the rapidly growing world of Esports, with its first ever Esports Showcase on Tuesday 17 September.
The IBC Esports showcase powered by ESL, EVS and Lagardère will feature a live esports tournament in the RAI Auditorium taking advantage of a unique combination of world-class tech placing spectators at the heart of the action.
ESL’s National Championship teams from Germany and Spain will go head-to head in a live Counter-Strike tournament on the big cinema screen in Dolby stereo.
Before the tournament, as part of the IBC Esports Showcase, IBC will bring together some of the most influential people in the world of esports, to explore the latest trends and development, considering the business case for esports from stretch targets, challenges and opportunities for esports players and the technical delivery of esports programmes.
Speakers include Chester King, CEO – British Esports Association, Michiel Bakker, CEO – GINX Esports TV Canada, Jonas Gundersen, CCO – North A/S, Henrik Nyhuis, Head of Ran Esports – ProSiebenSat.1 Sports GmbH, Jens Fischer – EVS, Simon Eicher, Executive Producer, Director of Broadcast, eSports Services – ESL, Ryan Chaply, Senior Esports Program Manager – Twitch, Peter Emminger, VP Global Broadcast – Blizzard.
Globally, esports delivers younger audiences on digital channels unheard of in traditional sports broadcasting making this a brand-new revenue opportunity for players in the media ecosystem. Revenues are set to exceed $1billion in 2019, representing a year-on-year growth of +26.7%, and are forecast to reach $3billion by 2022. While sponsorship is currently the highest source of revenue, the fastest growing source of revenue is now media rights – estimated to reach 40% of total revenues by 2022.
“The esports focused events and activities that we presented at last year’s show were incredibly popular, underlining the unprecedented opportunities that the esports market represents,” said Steve Connolly, Business Development Director, IBC.
“This year we have created a dedicated showcase with leading industry experts who will examine the state of the industry, separate the hype from the real value, highlight the production challenges and much more. It will be an unmissable day for anyone with an interest in esports.”
