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Beasley Media Group's Investments in eSports

Delivered February 4, 2020. Contributor: Funmi A.

Goals

To provide information about Beasley Media Group's investments in the eSports category, notably, their investment in Checkpoint XP. To determine their unique approach to eSports and whether they have competitors in this space. Additionally, to provide any publicly available data that might provide insight on the revenue impact of their eSports investment. To determine whether there are sponsorship on CheckPoint XP and how they are generating revenue with this brand, additionally whether they are aiming to sell subscriptions to any of its content.

Early Findings

Beasley Media Group's Investments in eSports

  • In November 2019, Beasley Media acquired the Overwatch League’s Houston Outlaws eSports team. "The Overwatch League is the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America."
  • Beasley Media's other eSports investments include Team Renegades, which was acquired in April 2019. This is an esports organization consisting of five teams, based in Detroit, Michigan.
  • Beasley Media acquired Checkpoint XP in the Fall of 2018. Checpoint XP is a weekly syndicated esports lifestyle show whose programming was featured on approximately 70 radio stations across the United States as at 2019.
  • Beasley Media's executive vice president of strategy and innovation, Buzz Knight, said "the company’s expansion into eSports is part of the company’s larger push to further terrestrial radio’s relevance and viability despite an onslaught of competitors, such as streaming platforms."

Revenue Impact of eSports Investment

  • According to an industry analyst, expansion into eSports could have big payoffs for traditional media companies.
  • Beasley Media's CEO, Caroline Beasley said that it's expansion into eSPorts could generate a number of potential revenue streams.
  • CheckPoint XP generated $138 million in revenue in 2018.

Sponsorships on CheckPoint XP

  • CheckpointXP features sponsorable streaming video and social media content. Interviews, event opportunities, live reads and endorsements are also available.
  • Checkpoint also features short-form eSports minute updates, which are available for sponsorship.
  • Beasley Media has experience in organizing events in its local markets through its dozens of radio stations, so it has plenty of experience and knowledge when it comes to the marketing, advertising, sponsorships and sales of events, which it can apply to the eSports side of its business.

Proposed next steps:

You need to be the project owner to select a next step.
Our initial one-hour of research has provided an overview of Beasley Media's expansion into eSports and highlighted other key investments that the company has made in this sector. Additionally, we were able to find the 2018 revenue for Checkpoint XP, which shows the impact of the acquisition on the group. We also found evidence of the sponsorship of content and events on Checkpoint XP. We propose additional research to provide a competitive landscape for Beasley Media in three separate requests. The first request will provide the names of 2 competitors to Beasley Media who have also made investments in eSports within the past two years and include justifications for why they were selected. The second and third requests will each focus on the two competitors provided in the first request. In each of these requests, we will provide 1. a general overview of the companies found and their investments in eSports, 2. where available, any publicly available information about the revenue they have made specific to eSports, 3. their target market specific to eSports (the main demographic or sector to whom it is selling its services), and 4. their competitive advantage specific to eSports, which is what makes them stand out from their competitors.
Alternatively, we can provide 2 to 3 current trends in the eSports sector in one research request. For each trend, we will provide a detailed overview of what the trend is, including hard data, where possible or appropriate. Additionally, for each trend, we will include at least two companies that are currently applying it.