Big Business of E-Sports GDK 032621

Lyssa High talks with Naz Aletaha, Head of Global Esports Partnerships and Business Development at Riot Games.

Temperature to three greece c1 3 years, becoming a viable professional pursuit and is the third most watched sport in the us, behind only the nfl and the nba.

Who knew?

So joining us today to discuss what's next in e- sports is naz aletaha, she is the head of global e- sports partnerships and business development at riot games, the company behind e-sports, like league of legends.

Thank you so much for being here today.

Naz aletaha , h...: thanks so much for having me.

Lyssa-host: how did the industry respond to challenges posed from the pandemic?

Naz aletaha , h...: well, you know, i think no industry went unscathed from the pandemic, but we were able to, fortunately, lean really heavily into our digital roots as a sport.

You know, we're a sport that is powered by technology and that is played online and so we, back in february, march of 2020, were able to pivot and transition to virtual online play.

So, our pro athletes, as an example, were able to compete online from the safety of their homes.

We set up virtual control rooms all around the world so that our broadcast teams could continue to produce our shows week in and week out remotely and we actually ended our season last year in october with a world championship that ended up being our most watched world championship in our history.

So, we were just essly transition and continue to de.

Lyssa-host: now, riot gau mentioned it eponsorship deal mr the futyou see incredible brande v hoptament to what the sport is today, rele both in league of legends and ithe growth trajectory will continue to go up and to the right and our brand partners are there to help us to continue to elevate the sport, help elevate the experience that our fans have with it, and to continue to grow that audience.

Lyssa-host: and real quick, where do people go for more information?

Naz aletaha , h...: sure, you can head to lolesports.com for all the information on what's going on in riot e-sports.

Lyssa-host: wonderful.

Thank you so much for being with us, naz, we really appreciate it.

Naz aletaha , h...: thanks so much for