MLG CEO on definition of a "sport," rising popularity of competitive gaming

We recently had the chance to interview MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni about his hopes and dreams for the eSports world, which his organization is currently leading the charge on in the West. The mainstream seems to be taking note of the efforts of MLG and others; The Economist recently tracked him down for a chat about what constitutes a "sport," MLG's profitability, and where to go from here.

Among the most visible criticisms of eSports is that some feel they aren't, well, actual sports. "I'm not here to argue about the true definition of sport," DiGiovanni told The Economist. "My argument is: is it entertaining, when presented as sport, and do enough people recognize it as one? You can argue that golf isn't a sport, or that chess is. That's not for me to say. My question is, is what I'm producing capable of drawing an audience? And all the numbers seem to point to yes, so I guess we're doing something right."

On the subject of those numbers, last year's MLG Anaheim drew in about 4.7 million unique viewers across the entire event. DiGiovanni attributes this, at least in part, in the ability to stream content all over the world with modern web infrastructure.

"Those 4.7 [million] unique visitors that we got in Anaheim were spread over 175 countries, some with only a few dozen people watching," he said. "But we can do that, and it's worth our while to do it, and that's what's changed." He even suggested that other leagues should be looking to mimic MLG's broadcasting format. "I think a lot of more traditional sports could benefit from looking at this sort of model, particularly the ones that struggle to get TV airtime."

Another fact that might surprise you, DiGiovanni revealed, is that a good portion of MLG's viewers are actually fairly affluent. "Over 40% of our viewers have a household income over $100,000, so technically we're a luxury brand!"

In closing, the eSports honcho expressed what he sees as the importance in not growing complacent about growing the hobby.

"To an extent we're beginning to rival some traditional sports in some of our viewer numbers," he said. "But I think competitive gaming could be much larger—just think of the installed base of games consoles and PCs, which is in the hundreds of millions. The last thing I want anyone to do is look at where we are today and say, 'We've done it, we've arrived.'"

via The Economist

Contributor

Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.

Latest in Gaming Industry
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
Latest in News
Two brightly colored stormtroopers dressed like Run-DMC stand in front of PAX Australia's WELCOME HOME banner.
Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again