Major League Gaming takes eSports seriously. It thinks that it will be comparable to the NFL in the near future, and it thinks that its recently launched streaming service, MLG.TV, is what professional players should use. But why should popular teams use MLG.TV when they can use Twitch, Ustream, or YouTube Live? More money, to start with, MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni said in a recent interview with onGamers.
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.
This week we had a chance to chat with Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of MLG, on the past, present, and future of eSports. Read on to learn who he likes to watch, what he sees as being the biggest games for eSports in 2013, and where eSports could go in the next five years.
For the first time, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Saturday played host to a panel on eSports to discuss what they are, why they are enjoying such a tremendous period of growth, and what the future holds for them. Developer, team owner, caster, and league manager were represented by Blizzard's Mike Morhaime, Evil Geniuses' Alex Garfield, Sean "Day[9]" Plott, and the MLG's Sundance DiGiovanni, respectively. As Plott put it, "The numbers are becoming astoundingly big," and the proliferation of streaming technology alongside the rise of StarCraft 2 promises to change eSports indelibly.
"[The MLG is] ten years old," DiGiovanni said. "The people who know our organization, they have a strong attachment to a number of titles that we've run in the past. But we've never been in a position where we had the right title, the right technology, and a global audience base at the same time. Now we do."
