Unleashing the Power of MENA eSports: Navigating Uncharted Challenges | SiGMA Eurasia 2024

Summary

In a panel discussion titled 'Unleashing the Power of Mina Esports: Navigating Uncharted Challenges,' industry experts explore the unique opportunities and challenges of the Mina region's Esports growth. They discuss the impact of government investment, cultural perceptions, and the importance of analytics in measuring sponsorship success. Panelists emphasize the need for a diverse and inclusive Esports community and the potential of cloud gaming to democratize access to the industry.

Takeaways

• 🎮 The panel discussion, moderated by Aravind 'ex Ari' Farat, revolves around the potential and challenges of Esports in the Mina region.
• 🌐 Benedict, from Shenzo Analytics, describes his company as the 'Google Analytics of Esports,' focusing on brand exposure detection across various media.
• 🎉 Aravind, co-founder of CIX, highlights the company's role in organizing Esports tournaments and content creation, emphasizing the partnership with Shenzo Analytics.
• 💡 Paul, from Hollow Deck Ventures, discusses his belief in gaming as the future of entertainment and his involvement in the industry, including hosting a show on CNBC Arabia.
• 🔑 The panelists identify unique opportunities in the Mina region, such as the influx of investment and the potential to attract a Gen Z audience, which is difficult for traditional brands to reach.
• 📉 Paul expresses skepticism about the sustainability of Esports without substantial financial backing, suggesting that the industry's profitability is often overlooked.
• 👀 Aravind points out the low viewership of Esports events in the audience, indicating a need for greater awareness and interest in Esports among the public.
• 🚧 The panel discusses the challenges faced by the Esports industry in the Mina region, including cultural perceptions, societal norms, and the need for education about Esports.
• 🤝 Aravind shares his personal experience of transitioning from Dentistry to Esports, facing initial resistance and highlighting the struggle for acceptance in the field.
• 💰 Aravan from CIX talks about the difficulty of securing sponsors due to a lack of understanding of Esports, emphasizing the need for industry education among brands.
• 🏆 The panel acknowledges the importance of government involvement in Esports, with examples like the Dubai Police Esports tournament, and the potential impact on legitimizing gaming and fostering investment.

Q & A

What is the panel discussion titled and what is its main focus?

The panel discussion is titled 'Unleashing the Power of Mina Esports: Navigating Uncharted Challenges' and focuses on discussing the unique opportunities and challenges that the Mina region presents for the growth and development of Esports.

What is the role of Aravind in the panel discussion?

Aravind is one of the co-founders of CIX, an esports and gaming company based in the UAE, and he is discussing the opportunities and challenges of the esports industry in the Mina region from his perspective as an industry insider.

What does Shenzo Analytics do according to Benedict's introduction?

Shenzo Analytics serves as a form of Google Analytics for the esports industry, detecting and capturing brand exposure in pictures, videos, streams, and social media, and sharing this information with their clients.

What is Paul's view on the importance of the Mina region for the future of professional esports?

Paul believes that the Mina region is the last bastion of hope for professional esports, highlighting the significant investments being made in the region as a key factor for its potential growth.

What is the main challenge Aravind faced when starting out in the esports industry?

Aravind faced the challenge of educating sponsors about what esports is, as many brands did not understand the concept or the value of esports when he started out.

What does Paul think about the sustainability of esports in the Mina region without government investment?

Paul is skeptical about the long-term sustainability of esports in the Mina region without continued government investment, suggesting that the industry might disappear if the financial support is withdrawn.

What is the role of cultural perception in the acceptance and participation of esports in the Mina region?

Cultural perception and societal norms have hindered the full acceptance and participation of esports in the Mina region, as noted from personal experiences shared during the panel discussion.

How does the government's involvement in esports legitimize the industry in the public eye?

Government involvement in esports, such as hosting tournaments and investing in the industry, helps legitimize gaming and esports as a recognized and respectable industry in the public eye.

What is the significance of the Esports World Cup in Saudi and Gamers 8 in terms of marketing and perception change?

The Esports World Cup in Saudi and Gamers 8 are significant as they serve as marketing exercises to change global perceptions about the region, attracting international attention and showcasing the region's commitment to esports.

What are the key metrics to measure sponsorship success in esports according to Benedict?

Key metrics to measure sponsorship success in esports include viewership numbers, brand visibility during streams, audience demographics, brand sentiment in chat, and changes in brand perception and sales traffic on websites.

What is the future outlook for Mina esports in the next 10 years according to the panelists?

The panelists have mixed views; Paul is skeptical but sees potential in the 'future of fun' beyond esports, Aravind foresees major esports events being hosted in the Mina region, and Benedict highlights the potential of cloud gaming to increase accessibility and interest in esports.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Introduction to the Esports Panel

The script begins with an introduction to a panel discussion on 'Unleashing the Power of Mina Esports' with a focus on navigating uncharted challenges. The panel is moderated by ex Ari farat, an Esports host and community manager, and features guests such as Benedict from shenzo analytics, Arvin from cix, and Paul from Hollow deck Ventures. Each panelist provides a brief overview of their roles in the Esports industry, highlighting their expertise and contributions. The conversation aims to be entertaining despite the early timing, and the panelists are introduced to the audience with enthusiasm.

05:00

🌟 Unique Opportunities in the Mina Region for Esports Growth

The panelists discuss the unique opportunities that the Mina region presents for the growth and development of Esports. Paul, from Hollow deck Ventures, humorously suggests that the region is the 'last bastion of hope' for professional Esports due to its financial support, which deviates from the traditional money-losing model of Esports. Arvin highlights the influx of capital into Esports in the Middle East, which presents a significant opportunity for organizers and content creators. The panel also touches on the low viewership of Esports events and the personal preferences that influence whether people engage with Esports as players or spectators.

10:02

🤔 Challenges and Personal Experiences in Esports Development

The conversation shifts to the challenges faced by the Esports industry in the Mina region. Cultural perception and societal norms are identified as barriers to full acceptance and participation in Esports. Aravan shares his personal experience of transitioning from a career in Dentistry to pursuing his passion for gaming, facing skepticism and lack of support from his family. The panel also discusses the difficulty of educating brands about Esports and the struggle to bridge the gap between brands and the Gen Z audience, which Esports aims to reach.

15:04

🏛 Government Involvement in Esports: Boon or Bane?

The panel delves into the role of government involvement in the Esports industry. It is highlighted that government recognition and investment can create an environment for investment and legitimize gaming in the public eye. However, there are concerns about the sustainability of Esports without government support. Paul expresses skepticism about the financial viability of government investments in Esports, suggesting that it might be an artificial prop-up of the industry. Arvin counters by discussing the grassroots efforts and the broader ecosystem support provided by governments, particularly in Saudi Arabia.

20:06

📊 The Importance of Analytics in Esports

Benedict discusses the pivotal role of analytics in Esports, emphasizing the importance of data in making strategic decisions and optimizing player and team performance. He highlights the need for brands to look beyond viewership numbers and consider metrics such as audience demographics, brand visibility, and sentiment analysis when measuring sponsorship success. The conversation suggests that data-informed decisions are crucial for brands considering investment in Esports.

🔮 Future Outlook for Mina Esports

In the final segment, the panelists share their views on the future of Esports in the Mina region over the next 10 years. Paul expresses skepticism but hints at discussing the future of fun in a later talk. Aravin is optimistic about the region hosting major Esports events and becoming a leader in the industry. Benedict suggests that cloud gaming could be a game-changer for the region, allowing more people to engage with gaming and Esports. The panel concludes with a call for more diversity, inclusivity, and excellence in the Esports community.

Keywords

💡Esports

Esports refers to the world of competitive video gaming. It is the central theme of the video, where panelists discuss the growth, challenges, and opportunities in the Esports industry within the Mina region. The script mentions various aspects of Esports, such as tournaments, broadcasts, and content creation.

💡Mina Region

The Mina region is a geographical area that includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. In the context of the video, it is highlighted as a significant area for the development of Esports, with discussions on how it presents unique opportunities and challenges for the industry.

💡Brand Exposure

Brand exposure is the extent to which a brand is seen or recognized by the public. In the script, it is mentioned as a key service provided by Shenzo Analytics, which tracks and shares brand visibility in various media, including Esports events, to help clients understand their market impact.

💡Cultural Perception

Cultural perception refers to how a particular culture views and understands certain phenomena or activities. The video discusses how societal norms and cultural perceptions in the Mina region can hinder the acceptance and participation in Esports, affecting its growth and development.

💡Government Involvement

Government involvement in the Esports industry is highlighted as a crucial factor for its growth. The script mentions how investments from governments, particularly in Saudi Arabia, can facilitate or hinder the development of Esports by legitimizing the industry and providing an environment for investment.

💡Monetization

Monetization in the context of Esports refers to the process of generating revenue from Esports activities. The panelists discuss the challenges of monetizing views and revenue distribution, which are critical for the sustainability of the Esports industry.

💡Publishers

Publishers in the Esports context are the companies that own and control the rights to video games. The script discusses the power dynamics between Esports event organizers and publishers, emphasizing the challenges faced due to the control exerted by publishers over game content and events.

💡Analytics

Analytics in the video pertains to the use of data to make informed decisions and optimize performance in Esports. Shenzo Analytics is introduced as a company that provides data on brand exposure, helping clients measure the success of their sponsorships and strategies in Esports.

💡Grassroots

Grassroots refers to the basic, fundamental level of something, often used to describe the foundation of a movement or industry. In the script, the term is used to discuss the importance of building a strong local Esports ecosystem from the ground up, as opposed to focusing solely on large-scale events.

💡Sponsorship Success

Sponsorship success is measured by the effectiveness and impact of a brand's involvement in Esports events. The script discusses the importance of using analytics to evaluate sponsorship success, including factors like brand visibility, audience reach, and sentiment.

💡Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming is a technology that allows video games to be played on remote servers rather than local hardware. In the video, it is mentioned as a potential game-changer for the Mina region, enabling more people to engage with gaming and Esports by reducing the need for expensive gaming hardware.

Highlights

Introduction of the panel 'Unleashing the Power of Mina Esports: Navigating Uncharted Challenges' with moderator Aravind and panelists from various Esports backgrounds.

Benedict from Shenzo Analytics describes their service as 'Google Analytics for Esports', focusing on brand exposure in various media.

Aravind, co-founder of CIX, discusses the company's operations in running Esports tournaments and content creation in the Mina region.

Paul from Hollow Deck Ventures emphasizes the potential of gaming as the future of fun and his involvement in the industry.

The panelists share their personal experiences and the challenges of cultural perception and societal norms in the Mina region's Esports acceptance.

Aravind's anecdote about the difficulty of gaining sponsorship due to a lack of understanding of Esports by brands.

Discussion on the low viewership of Esports events and the preference of playing games over watching them.

The importance of government involvement in Esports for investment and legitimizing gaming in the public eye.

Paul's skepticism about the financial sustainability of government investment in Esports in the Mina region.

Aravind's perspective on the positive impact of government-facilitated events on the Esports ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.

The challenge of defining the target audience for Esports events and the fragmentation of the Esports market.

The control exerted by game developers and publishers over Esports events and the limitations it imposes.

Benedict's optimism for the Mina region to potentially lead in creating a new playbook for Esports 2.0 or 3.0.

The role of analytics in strategic decisions, player optimization, and gaining insights into Esports trends.

Key metrics for measuring sponsorship success beyond viewership, including brand visibility and audience engagement.

Paul's skepticism about the future of Esports in the Mina region compared to the global scale.

Aravind's vision for the Mina region hosting major Esports events and becoming a leader in the industry.

Benedict's closing thoughts on the potential of cloud gaming to increase accessibility and participation in Esports.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

unleashing the power of mina Esports

navigating Uncharted

[Music]

challenges okay so I want to introduce

our amazing moderator ex Ari farat the

Esports host streamer and content and

Community manager of 404 Esports a big

round of applause everyone for our

amazing moderator we have aravind the

co-founder and business development

director of cix the Benedict the

marketing director of shenzo analytics

and Paul yes Round of Applause everyone

for anyone that's coming on stage we

need a round of applause and Paul from

Hollow deck Ventures so everyone enjoy

this amazing panel come and sit down

join us thank you so much exari thank

you so much for that lovely introduction

I know it's early and but bear with me

we'll try to me as entertaining as

possible so as she said yes my name is

Asia farad also known as ex Ari and

today I will be moderating our panel

called unleashing The Power of mina

Esports navigating Uncharted challenges

with our very talented an panelists who

will be discussing on the topic so if

you would be so kind to give us a brief

introduction about yourself and what you

do so let's start with Benedict hi

everyone my name is Benedict and I'm

marketing director at shikano analytics

so what is shikano analytics doing is um

we are so to say the Google analytics in

Esports but instead of traffic on

websites we detect brand exposure yeah

so whether it's in picture video stream

social media um we detect it we capture

it and we share it with our clients this

information uh hey I'm Arvin I'm one of

the co-founders of CX uh we are an orts

and gaming company based uh out of the

UAE uh we operate across the Mina uh we

specialize in running Esports

tournaments uh broadcasts production as

well as gaming content creation uh yeah

and we're actually partners with uh

Benedict there so

they gave me a mic that's turned

off I'm super loud anyways um I'm Paul

dalii more people know me as the prophet

um I spent the last 25 years of my

career on one side of the Venture table

or another so I've been either investing

in startups or building startups um

about eight years ago I pivoted

everything I was doing to gaming I

believe it's the future of fun I host a

show on CNBC Arabia called Game Changers

so I spend a lot of time talking about

uh the gaming industry thanks so much

for your introductions there I mean

there's a lot to learn about them so be

sure to go and check out their socials

go and check out Paul's show and uh you

guys will definitely not regret it but

let's jump into a little positivity for

this panel first so I'm going to be

asking you what the unique opportunities

that the Mina region presents for the

growth and development for Esports let's

let's keep it a little lighthearted

something short uh Paul let's start with

you because I know you love to keep

things light-hearted and positive yeah

that's totally my brand

um what does it represent for orts

fundamentally I think um the Mina region

is the last Bastion of Hope for

professional Esports that's not positive

but I I that's the best I can do um and

it's because for the most part for the

longest time Esports has been a money

loser it's been a marketing activity in

other words game Publishers do Esports

so that more people play their game more

people buy in-game Cosmetics more people

are exposed to their game and so they're

willing to lose money on paying

professionals on a stage with an

audience in a stadium to bring more

attention to their game I think the

beauty of the Middle East today

when you have the Saudis pouring

billions of dollars when you have Abu

Dhabi pouring a bunch of money into

Esports when you have a lot of regional

players all putting money into the

system is the profitability equation

goes a little bit out the

window uh I think I just adding to that

that's perfectly well said uh the

opportunities is that the region right

now realizes how big Esports and gaming

is uh especially from whatever we've

seen through Saudi um and there's a lot

of money being pushed in right so

there's obviously opportunity uh it's

it's you just have to jump and grab it

it's anything from uh Esports organizers

like myself uh content creators out

there who either you know with a team

without a team uh pretty much all sorts

of opportunities are kind of present

here uh without pinpointing into one I'm

just curious can I ask a question can

you guys raise your hand if you've

watched an Esports

event okay so almost no one like two

people like what about even online on

Twitch

YouTube okay one more hand okay that's

interesting okay good statistics to

start off with we're feeling good about

this they care about us let's go on but

it's interesting because is it Skeptics

is it you guys aren't the target

audience like what is it that makes you

not watch or not tune in or not be

interested like I would love to know

that or I don't know if you guys have

thoughts I mean uh so I was a player

once and I I became an Esports organizer

uh essentially what is the Divide is

that I'd rather play the game than watch

a bunch of kids play it that's that's

pretty much it it's it's literally

that's the division I rather play League

of Legends than watch you know liquid

make it up there the problem is that

argument doesn't hold water I mean Arie

has hundreds of people watching her play

games they they'd rather watch her than

play games but Esports out of the entire

gaming uh population is still about 2 to

3% it's not even that big so what what

essentially they're doing is yes they

started a good sector for uh teams to

make money for players to make money and

to nurture talent but however uh the

viewing or the viewership of all these

games is still comparatively very

low so uh I definitely think it comes

down to in a personal preference in the

end your form of entertainment some

people like watching movies some people

like watching games some like playing

the game some like watching other people

playing the games so I think it just

comes down to personal preference and

perhaps right here is not the target

audience that we have but we have this

panel to let them know that we exist we

are here uh and that also reflects

Esports in the Mina region not many

people know on what big of a scale it

exists here so that's what we're doing

we're still in the phase of growing we

we can't say that we're comparable on a

global scale at all at the moment but

you know we're working on it and uh

Benedict is there anything you want to

add to that I mean like the the big

opportunity in orts for Brands is

actually to to reach gen Z audience yeah

if I look here in the in the audience

today probably there is like just a

little match when it comes to that and

genzies if you do surveys or you ask

them okay where do you spend your time

is it like still watching TV or

listening to radio so Brands struggle to

reach them through conventional channels

and this is where Esports um is coming

in and gives great opportunities 100%

And I think this is a good segue to move

on to our main topic for the panel which

is the challenges so I think Paul is is

very concerned about the challenges as

well and what he mentioned definitely

falls under the category um there are a

lot of distinct challenges to the Mina

region particularly that hinder the full

potential of Esports uh for example on

my personal experience I've noticed that

cultural perception in particular or

societal Norms have uh hindered the full

acceptance and participation of Esports

for the people here and uh that's

something that you know we definitely

need to work on from my personal

experience I actually studied Dentistry

so I did seven long years of Dentistry

got my dental degree and then I said

nope this is not for me I want to go and

pursue my passion for gaming so I became

an Esports host and so heavily involved

in gaming and of course my parents were

perplexed what's going on and support

really wasn't one of the things that I

receive from them so uh my question is

going to be for aravan for now until

someone else wants to add to it what are

the key challenges specific to our

region and how are they overcome or

rather if you went through a personal

experience how did you overcome that I

think uh one of the biggest challenges I

faced was so just for reference when we

started we started as a um small gaming

Club in University we used to run gaming

tournaments in University and and it was

easy getting sponsors because you know

you have the entire University foot

forall you have people coming from

outside and it's already the base is

already laid right essentially we're

selling like a convention we're not

selling a singular Esports event uh so

so once we kind of started calix and and

went outside to actually sell what we're

running uh that's when I think me

personally I was hit with the truth that

sponsors don't actually know what gaming

is uh you know just for reference no one

knows what Esports is and at least when

we started literally not a single brand

knew it

uh and I think that's where the major

challenge was uh is that making them

understand the education part of it the

the bridge uh to bridge the gap that was

between the brands that wanted to get

you know get these gen Z crowd at the

same time the people who are already

close to them just you couldn't bridge

the gap and I think that was pretty much

one of the biggest challenges uh that we

still face actually because uh you know

not all brands understanded right now

all the brands are like Esports is a

good keyword to use uh you know it's

it's it's a tick mark in their in their

check box but uh I think very few Brands

actually understand what they're getting

into and what they're trying to achieve

out of it

so yeah I mean I talked about before the

sort of the long-term sustainability and

I think that's probably one of the

biggest challenges if you take away the

Saudi dollars from the equation you know

Esports and Mina's probably mostly dead

probably relegated to being a a

secondary or tertiary Market I think

there are other structural issues or or

more core issues though which are

related to who's the actual audience

what like what are we putting Esports on

a stage four or who are we putting orts

on a stage four is it for the young demo

and the genz the that live in the region

and we want them to come and spend their

money and be entertained is it we want

to attract tourism to the region and

this is one way I think that's the

saudi's Hope um and so the question is

who's the audience and in some ways

Esports still doesn't know itself in

this region the there's part of the

crowd that wants this to bring tourism

and part of the crowd that wants to

address the local population and I think

that makes it fragmented in a way that

we don't know how to how to put on a

show that's meaningful for any specific

audience I think also with Esports one

of the big challenges is the the

Publishers still control just about

everything right the Publishers or the

the developers the game developers have

all the control over the game unlike

traditional Sports and so you're still

at their mercy no matter what dollars

you throw at it no matter what you can

put forward as an event at the end of

the day you still need the blessing of

the developer you still need the

blessing of the people who made the game

and that's always going to limit what

you can do at a Grassroots level because

the Activision blizzards of the world

the Riots of the world would rather take

millions of dollars to put on a big

event than to allow you know school

teams to put on Regional events or

community events there's this Grassroots

problem that I think is core to to those

Esports

challenges yeah I think um the the

biggest challenge we are facing in

Esports is actually what you just said

already it's um so in in the press and

media it's referred to the Esports

winter yeah there are many challenges

Esports is facing like monetizing view

then um Revenue distribution the power

of Publishers and so on

but um so I hope now for for the Mina

region yeah as Mina like of course has

its own agenda but it seems to do this

um like with open doors yeah so we now

see a lot of experts being invited and

huge projects announced which is really

excited so I hope for the Mina region

instead of just playing the game it's

writing the new playbook of an Esports

2.0 or 3.0 however we want to call it

definitely have to agree age with you

guys there it is quite difficult to you

know promote the community and whatnot

when you have to go through the

developers and the Publishers but what's

great is that a lot of the Publishers

and developers are starting to have

offices locally which allow us you know

to be in touch with them more it might

not be easy as we thought but it's

definitely more accessible and I think

that's the step in the right direction

uh speaking of the Saudi dollars that

Paul loves to bring up uh let's talk

about the government involvement in the

Esports industry so we know involvement

of their government is quite crucial and

it can represent as a as a very um

significant Catalyst for the growth and

development of Esports in our region and

uh just because they recognize Esports

as an industry it doesn't just allow an

environment for investment but it also

legitimizes gaming in the public eye and

I think that's very crucial when when it

comes to overcoming challenges in our

region uh for example we know that Saudi

has invested billions of dollars but

also the UAE they host the Dubai Police

Esports tournament uh which organized by

404 Esports and they have one of the

biggest prize pools in our region and it

just provides a healthy outlet for

gaming enthusiasts and it also you know

just lets people know that gaming is

okay and this is the step in the right

direction and we should be investing in

it so we you know we really admire the

UAE for having that involvement but

other Mina countries are you know they

see gaming in a negative manner so my

question to you guys is how can the

government involvement either hinder or

facilitate the development of Esports in

the Mina

region I mean I spend a lot of my time

with governments that's uh most of what

I do during the day these days so uh

I've consulted with Saudi government

with the abudabi government I'm the on

the working Committee in Dubai for their

gaming and orts program um I can tell

you from a dollar perspective nothing's

even close to Saudi Arabia right like

we're talking about multiple multiple

orders of magnitude difference in terms

of investment um I believe government

investment again props up the industry

artificially if it disappears Esports in

the region disappears it's not something

that's going to survive without those

government

dollars um the question becomes will

they see a return on those Investments

that um

convinces them to continue to keep

investing and I think today the jury's

out on that I think you you've seen Abu

Dhabi pulled back quite a bit this year

just at the beginning of this year so

they're they have question marks around

what they're doing around Esports I

think Saudi has so much more money that

we will continue to see them invest um

but at some point I think they will have

the same come to Jesus moment where they

need to decide if this is really what

they want to be doing I personally think

from a pure Financial investment

perspective it's a mistake there's a lot

of other ways to win in gaming in in the

region um and I I wish governments were

more focused on Grassroots building of

an ecosystem you know having a thousand

or 2,000 gaming startups rather than

putting on one huge event that will

never be as big as you know League of

Legends World Championships in Asia

anyways so why why do we want to be an

also

ran I feel like um I agree partially

with that

uh the part that I don't agree with is

um I sort of understand why they're

doing the whole uh Saudi push right um

essentially it's it's U perception

change right uh it's it's to kind of

change the idea of what the place is uh

essentially for the next generation and

again I don't from a business

perspective uh only they have the

numbers to tell you whether it's worth

it whether it's not but from what you've

seen or what I've seen from a ground

level uh in terms of the events that are

run there uh from from the things that

happened during uh you know during

Gamers 8 or ewc uh during Riad season

Etc um it is a really great approach and

it's it's fun to see or or or

interesting to see the kind of approach

that they're taking you know with the

whole um bringing everyone from outside

to Saudi to kind of uh facilitate these

tournaments inside Saudi and so on um

but what people people don't understand

is that's not the only thing they're

doing they actually uh in fact we've

been working with uh the Esports

Federation for about 3 and a half years

now where they not only facilitate uh

the global tournaments that they run but

also the local uh uh Grassroots ones uh

and a lot of them in fact um not just

myself but there are a few more partners

that we work with who are all um you

know in Saudi during July August and

September just because they facilitate

all of this within that beautiful Arena

and within that uh space uh I feel like

there are question marks when it comes

to business just like you said but uh

from a from a larger perspective it

really does support the overall

ecosystem um and I feel like at some

point I wouldn't say it's going to stop

I don't think the tap is going to stop

but I feel like they're going to look

for uh the bucket whether it's filled or

not that that's pretty much it yeah I'm

curious It's a small sample but like

raise your hand if you heard of the

Esports World Cup in Saudi or Gamers 8

if you just heard of it you saw it

somewhere like two hands if the goal is

winning hearts and Minds if the goal is

a marketing exercise to the world to

me again relatively small sample size I

don't know if n is great enough to be

statistically significant here but this

is a this is I would call a

failure but I let me just chime in on

this yeah so um for the Esports World

Cup yes it's Ann now and will take place

in summer and RI now what's different to

any other events before is like already

now we see five games confirmed now

surprisingly two out of the five games

are mobile games yeah and we know that

Mina and Asian regions are very he heavy

on mobile games so there are some

changes already where I think we have to

wait and see how these things play out

also in terms of expertise yeah like now

the CEO CEO of the World Cup is R rad

he's um former ESL CEO that's one of the

biggest Esports Productions that exist

and so I think that's I mean like we

still have to wait and see how it plays

out but I think they they are really

ambitious about this to get this thing

going and then the question is okay will

the first event going to be a big

success yeah also you refer to the

League of Legends World it took them

decades to get there I mean like last

year we had viewership records yeah that

was a major event in South Korea I also

wonder if we would ask that question

like in the beginning okay who's into

orts who knows what orts is probably

that would be like um different voting

from an audience in South Korea yeah so

there's nuances to different markets but

there's changes um happening right now

yeah and um also like I'm really excited

about the changes in the Mina region

like the upcoming World Cup now that I

have you Benedict I think we're going to

go straight into the topic of uh

analytics which is H your expertise so

analytics as we know it plays a pivotal

role when it comes to strategic

decisions when optimizing players

performance as well as team performance

and you can get valuable insights into

uh many aspects of Esports including

Trends and and whatnot so tell me as a

professional in analytics what are the

trends currently and what are the key

metrics to to measure sponsorship

success yeah so if you follow Esports

news yeah and you would maybe like put

aside um 10 event articles that report

about events you're going to find one

common thing um and that's viewership

yeah and also Paul pointed this out

rightfully like in the beginning is

actually like we have to ask us the

question now is viewership justifying

like millions of dollars when it comes

to sponsorships yeah so I emphasize on

data and so Brands actually want to look

Beyond viewership now the interesting

thing is like so let's say you have

100,000 viewers the first thing you want

to check is are you are you reaching the

Right audience yeah whether it's geog

ially or demographics then is it also

like the question okay how visible was

your brand how many times did it appear

on stream now let's say I would

introduce a new Monster Energy flavor do

the people talk about it in the chat

function was there a positive or

negative sentiment to it yeah and then

basically this is top funel analysis you

would also like um look further down the

funel and check for like brand

perception has maybe changed and uplift

in S Sales traffic on website and so on

so um so the the message I would say

here is like so if you're thinking about

investing into orts make sure at the

exploration and budgeting phase you

would also already consider data and

then um make data informed decisions

moving into orts and then optimizing

along the way thank you so much for your

valuable Insight we are running out of

time so with the last question just

stick to one sentence if you can so

where do you see Mina Esports in the

next 10 years in comparison to the

global scale Paul let's start with you

one sentence can you do it

um I'm

skeptical um but if you come back at

4:30 I'm going to talk about the future

of fun which I think is not esport so

all right

arabin uh I feel essentially uh some of

the biggest IPS to be hosted in the Mina

uh that includes worlds like he said uh

Call of Duty uh Championship all of them

pretty much just moving to the Mina

because uh just it's it's going to be

the leader I feel Benedict any closing

statements so one technology thing that

I'm currently observing or like that I'm

excited about and I think that could

benefit the the region here in Mina is

basically like I think people still to

some extent struggle to have access to

devices like gaming Hardwares and stuff

like this I think a game changer to some

extent could be uh cloud gaming yeah

where you basically just need um like a

screen and then it would also allow I

think many more people in Mina to first

fall in love with the game and then fall

in love with with eorts all right thank

you so much to our panelists I know

there's so much more we want to add on

but we are running out of time uh thank

you so much for Sigma here for hosting

this panel and moving forward I hope

that you know we can provide more

diversity inclusivity and overall

excellence in the community and orts so

thank you so much everybody