This week in Esports: more investment, scope of skin betting industry unveiled and BeSA reveals plans

07 October 2016

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It’s been nothing short of another frantic week in the burgeoning world of esports. There has been more significant investment from non-endemic esports brands and figures: Steve Aoki and Paris Saint-Germain. The sheer scope of skin betting on CS:GO Lounge was also revealed and the British eSports Association’s plans complete this week’s roundup.

Steve Aoki becomes owner of Rogue

Credit: Robin Laananen

Steve Aoki, traditionally known for his EDM production and DJ skills swapped Tomorrowland for #TwitchCon as he announced he had taken his passion for video games to the next level.

“I can finally take my love of gaming to the next level as an owner of Rogue.”

He announced during his set at #TwitchCon that he had become an owner of Rogue. Rogue’s CEO Franklin Villarreal stated: “Our organisation was expanding to the point where we wanted to bring on another partner. We couldn’t be happier that we met Steve when we did. His genuine passion for the eSports scene was exactly what we were looking for.” Rogue currently house rosters in CS:GO and Overwatch so it will be interesting to see where the team goes with extra investment.

Paris Saint-Germain end month of speculation with Webedia partnership

We’ve been hearing murmurs of PSG entering the esports scene for well over a month now and this week the plans finally materialised. With announcement of a partnership with Webedia they signalled some serious intent. The media group houses some of the best known brands in French esports including team Millenium and events organiser Oxent.

Another interesting facet of the press release was the news that the partnership also included an investment in Bang Bang Management. Bang Bang are an esports talent and marketing agency who manage some of the biggest players in the industry and have strong ties with esports juggernaut Fnatic.

Skin betting was serious business – CS:GO Lounge report.

A new report by Narus Advisors this week revealed that in 2016 prior to shutting down CSGO Lounge took in a total of $1 billion (£784.3m) worth of skins on 2,300 professional CS:GO matches.

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Seven months of betting saw 103 million skins in bets with ESL One Cologne attracting the most of any tournament with 177,969 skins per match on average or $1,735,193 (£1.33m) betting handle per match.

The match between Team Liquid and SK Gaming alone saw 321,000 skins wagered on it. Along with ESL One Cologne, ELEAGUE, Intel Katowice and the MLG tournament in Columbus, these four tournaments accounted for 18% of the total items wagered. The report, which can be accessed in full here, also analyses more individual matches in addition to the details of Valve’s crackdown on skins betting, the scandals and a timeline of events.

It’s an intriguing read that really sheds light on the shady skin gambling industry which went unnoticed for so long.

British eSports Association sets out action plan

The press release, which was released early on the 5th October, listed five key points that the British eSports Association are set to focus on. Its objectives are as follows:

  1. To fund and support grassroots Esports
  2. To establish best practice
  3. To deliver courses and qualifications
  4. To increase awareness of Esports
  5. To provide expertise and advice

It comes as awareness starts of esports starts to grow substantially in the UK. A key message is the support of grassroots in esports and the association have teased a potential “British Championships” to be run later in the year. When their new website launches in December we can expect to see more information. The full press release and further detail on the five actions can be found here.

Esports insider: Another crazy week in esports. There’s barely a day now where big news of investment doesn’t break in the industry. We’re keeping close tabs on La Liga next where several teams have already teased potential investment in esports. It surely can’t be long before every football team has a Fifa player – can it?