This article was produced in association with Genius Sports.
Moritz Maurer, head of esports at Genius Sports, believes data and integrity will be at the heart of esports’ irresistible rise.
When it comes to the global sports industry, esports is now most definitely a major player.
The exponential growth of its audience and commercial potential has made the esports sector an unavoidable topic in the sporting world and beyond in the past two years. Previously seen as a marginal sector with little crossover with traditional sports, recent investments by major sporting organisations such as the NBA into esports leagues and teams, demonstrates that esports is here to stay.
Headline-grabbing figures such as the estimated 36 million who watched the League of Legends Finals contributing towards a US$1bn industry have attracted the attention of mainstream media.
However, if last year represented the esports gold rush, 2017 is the year the serious players are beginning to emerge.
Genius Sports and esports
At Genius Sports, we specialise in forming long-term technology and data partnerships with sports, helping them to drive their commercial returns, increase fan engagement and enhance operational efficiency.
And with its highly engaged, digital audience and cutting-edge use of technology, esports is a natural fit for our core ethos.
Our relationship with esports started almost two years ago. Betgenius, the Genius Sports division which services legal, regulated sportsbook operators, was the provider of the industry’s first comprehensive pre-match and in-play solution. This gives us access to huge amounts of esports competition data, which can be put to use not only in improving fan experiences but also underpinning our sports integrity product.
This is designed to combat the threats of match-fixing and betting-related corruption by comparing liquidity streams with real-time performance assessments of teams and players.
Protecting esports’ integrity
Having developed this specialised monitoring system, in March 2017 Genius Sports was selected by leading competitive esports platform FACEIT as part of a landmark technology partnership for the esports industry.
As the creators of the Esports Championship Series (ECS), FACEIT is a huge player in the esports space with more than six million users each month.
To protect the integrity of its competitions, our monitoring system will analyse market liquidities from regulated and unregulated betting markets to track significant odds movements, while we will also run educational workshops to relevant stakeholders.
Just like in our partnerships with traditional sports, these workshops will educate players and officials on the typical approaches taken by fixers, the potential consequences for those involved as well as the importance of fair, transparent competition.
By giving stakeholders a true understanding of both the threat posed and the measures being taken to protect the integrity of esports, education has the unique ability to afford long-term protection against the threat of match-fixing.
Huge potential in esports data
The commercialisation of data assets is heavily underdeveloped in esports at this stage. Despite its digital nature various game publishers and league bodies have yet to embrace the potential of data assets under their control.
Key to the maturing of the esports industry will be the role of official data. When combined with the right technology, official data can transform sports’ commercial returns, fan engagement levels and day-to-day efficiency. In recent years, leagues and federations across all levels of sport have woken up to the underlying value held in their official data and are investing in technology partnerships to unlock its full value.
We have seen an accelerated version of this happening in esports. Our FACEIT partnership also saw the ECS become the first esports league to be fully integrated with our CS:GO analytics platform. Developed to drive fan engagement, this platform will provide data-driven predictions as well as engaging performance metrics for both teams and players.
A model partnership
We expect our FACEIT deal to be a model partnership for the esports industry, both in terms of integrity and fan engagement. While promising steps have been taken in highlighting the betting-related integrity challenges esports faces, further progress requires other forward-thinking leagues to invest in technology partnerships.
Access to an esports-specific bet monitoring system is essential in this regard while educational workshops look set to shine a further light on this increasingly pressing issue.
From a fan engagement perspective, official data partnerships will continue to fuel the growth of the esports industry.
And as non-endemic sponsorship opportunities grow, the esports sector is beginning to truly understand the value of long-term, sustainable funding models and technology partnerships. We are excited to be at the forefront of this exciting evolution.
Genius Sports is a global leader in sports data technology, distribution and commercialisation services. (Main image – Genius Sports)