Gm and welcome to the lobby.

The College Football Championship, CES 2024, a slew of esports partnership announcements, and another wave of gaming industry layoffs…

Last week was a lot to keep up with but we got you.
Grab your coffee, ready up, and let’s drop in 🪂
We have a massive slate for you today:

• Layoffs continue at Twitch, Discord, Unity, and more ☔

• OpTic goes big signing FanDuel as official sportsbook partner 💸

• 100T joins the Adidas family with 2024 jersey collaboration 👕 

• Riot Games continues reign with multiple partnerships 👑

• AT&T takes on College GameDay with TTT and Tyler1 🏈

• Co-streaming on fire in 2024 Trends report 🔥

• CES returns and doesn’t disappoint 💥

☔ Layoffs continue…

2024 started with more of the same for the gaming industry: layoffs.

Last week, platform giants Twitch and Discord both laid off large portions of their staff. Twitch announced it had laid off 500 employees, ~35% of its staff, and Discord announced it had laid off 170 employees, ~17% of its staff.

⛈️ Industry Weather Report

• Growing pains: This development stems from overexpansion during the esports venture capital-backed boom + the pandemic combined with slowed growth and lack of profits.

• Broader economic context: Economic uncertainty, inflation, and political turmoil with the election around the corner.

• Consolidation: Mergers & acquisitions are causing massive restructurings and layoffs around the industry with no end in sight.

👀 Our POV

What is a dark and difficult time for the gaming & esports industry can be an opportunity for brands with the ability to mobilize and support the community in a real and visible way right now.

By understanding the wider landscape and demonstrating genuine support, brands have an opportunity to build a level of loyalty and trust that is otherwise nearly impossible to develop.
 
- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

💸 OpTic goes big

This past week, OpTic announced their partnership with FanDuel as their official sportsbook partner paired with the launch of their official 2024 jersey. In collaboration with FanDuel, OpTic fans can receive the new OpTic jersey (Retailing for $90) & $150 in bonus bets just by placing a $20 bet on FanDuel.

👀 Our POV

With the sports betting industry growing by the minute, sportsbooks have been dipping their toe into the gaming industry water. FanDuel’s partnership with OpTic as their official sportsbook partner marks a massive move for the industry.

My take: OpTic & FanDuel nailed the launch of the new partnership. From a fan perspective - this is a no-brainer and I would absolutely take part in this promo (if sports betting was legal in Texas 😭). It’s a great way to reward the Green Wall with the latest jersey and introduce them to the sports betting world (and maybe some extra cash 💸) through their new partner FanDuel.

Also -- a huge congrats and quick shoutout to Shay Butler, Sarah Schneider, Max McCrady, Jack Sheehan, and the rest of our friends at OpTic! 💚

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

👕 100T joins the Adidas family

100 Thieves has announced a collaboration and partnership with Adidas Originals for their official 2024 jersey.

The gaming & esports industry has been waiting for Adidas and Nike to jump into the space for years -- will Adidas’ move act as a catalyst for Nike and other apparel brands to jump in?

⚡ Quick take

It’s a smart move from 100Thieves to appeal to a wider audience. 100T is more than an esports org – they are a lifestyle brand. Partnering with a giant such as Adidas can only be good for the Thieves and the industry as a whole.
 
- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

👑 Riot Games continues reign

Riot Games has led the way in esports in terms of brand deals over the past few years and they continue their reign in 2024, signing multi-year deals with KIA Motors and KitKat. Riot also renewed deals with HP and LG UltraGear.

Take a break: KitKat secured main partner status for the entire EMEA League of Legends esports ecosystem through 2026.

Going global: Kia strengthened its commitment to League esports with a new partnership with the LCS (the North American League of Legends Championship Series), coupled with it’s existing European LEC sponsorship.

👀 Our POV

Kia and KitKat are both incredible brands that League fans are super familiar with. However, I don’t think either are the top choices among League fans in their respective categories.

League partnerships like this make a ton of sense -- the media value of these deals has to be massive. Not to mention, these deals are easy to understand and execute for traditional media teams and that likely makes these partnerships much easier to pitch internally than more custom, creator content-focused gaming & esports partnerships.

Final point: From a brand perspective these partnerships are super interesting and I’m honestly just ecstatic for Riot and the esports industry as a whole. These deals should help keep League esports healthy and that’s great for everyone.
 
- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

🏈 AT&T takes on College GameDay

In 2021, AT&T partnered with popular streamer TimTheTatman to showcase the capabilities of its 5G network with a series of “pre-game” shows at major sporting events and tentpole moments.

AT&T brought their roadshow to Houston for the College Football Playoff National Championship -- the event felt a lot like College GameDay with fans hanging out behind the hosts. Along with predictions and trash talk, programming featured a Fortnite showdown between TimTheTatman and Tyler1.

👀 Our POV

Hats off to the team that came up with this. The AT&T 5G Roadshow IP is brilliant. It gives the brand a turnkey solution for engaging a large digitally native audience whenever and wherever they want.

The potential for the roadshow is limitless -- imagine they show up to the Oscars with Valkyrae, to the Champions League Final with IShowSpeed, and to the NBA Finals with Hecz and Scump (when Luka and the Mavs make a miracle run 😁).

What’s next? Watch parties. Pregame shows are great but the networks will eventually understand the full potential of these events. A large portion of these audiences simply won’t watch if they can’t watch it with their favorite creators.

These watch parties function the same way as the Manningcast. However, the Manningcast engages a similar audience as the primary NFL broadcast, while the AT&T Roadshow engages an audience with considerably less crossover.
 
- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

🔥 Co-streaming on fire

"1/3 of esports content watched in 2023 came from co-streaming"

A ton of great insights in StreamHatchet’s 2024 Live-Streaming, Esports, & Social Trends Report from my colleagues at GameSquare and StreamHatchet.

Download the report: HERE.
p.s. check out page 19 😁

👀 Our POV

Livestream events like Scump and Tarik’s Call of Duty and Valorant Watch Parties are massive and still largely untapped opportunities for brands. Hundreds of millions of impressions are being wasted with these events.

Esports co-streaming watch parties are the natural evolution of esports events. Esports fans have always been fans of the players and personalities more so than the leagues, and now a lot of the most popular players are retiring and transitioning to co-streaming.

This presents a massive opportunity for brands to sponsor these Manningcast-like esports events. A number of brands have activated in Scump’s Watch Party with OpTic, such as Oakley, Texas De Brazil and Wingstop, and these integrations proved to add value to the viewing experience rather than detracting in any way. This is the secret sauce and real opportunity with these events.
 
- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

💥 CES returns

We’ve covered a lot today but CES 2024 happened last week and it was a banger -- so here’s a couple links you should check out:

1. Lifehacker - CES 2024: All the Coolest (and Weirdest) Gaming Gear

2. GamesRadar - Best of CES 2024: this year's top gaming tech

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Disclaimer: our views are ours and in no way represent those of our employers.