Crossover
Over the past few years, the ‘stigma’ of video games has been essentially completely removed with the advent of video game streaming, Youtube and the growth of eSports across various titles such as FIFA, Counterstrike, League of Legends, Dota and more. The evidence is clear, as over the past weekend, Valorant’s Grand Final between Sentinels and Fnatic had over a million live viewers, which is fantastic for the industry as a whole. Of course, in any business, with exponential growth comes great investment and eSports is not an outlier in that sense at all. As a matter of fact, many celebrities and sports icons have decided that eSports is a solid investment and have shown their interest. Recently, Mason Mount, who won the Uefa Champions League with Chelsea F.C. only one week ago, has officially been announced as the ambassador for Combat Gaming, an eSports company.
Jonathan Kark, CEO of 38 Entertainment Group, welcomed Mount to the family stating, “We are delighted to welcome Mason to the Combat Family. Mason is one of the most exciting football personalities on and off the pitch in the world today. His passion for gaming made this natural fit and we are excited to have him representing our brand.” Combat Gaming is a gaming entertainment brand and members club that aims to unite talent across the sports industry as well as celebrities from the world of music and entertainment alike. Mason Mount is set to host the upcoming flagship gaming series held by Combat Gaming in summer on Sky UK Broadband.
With endorsements from superstars like Kevin Durant, Tony Hawk, Micheal Jordan and other footballers like Zlatan Ibrahimović, the future of the industry looks bright as it can only continuously grow from here and be recognized alongside the biggest sports in the world.
What do you think about outside investment into the eSports industry? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter and Facebook.