SKT enters global esports market
SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho, left, shakes hands with Tucker Roberts, who supervises Comcast's esports business, after signing a strategic partnership for global esports collaboration at the Renaissance Hotel in Barcelona, Sunday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom
By Jun Ji-hye
SK Telecom has joined hands with global media and entertainment company Comcast to enter the global esports market that is projected to be worth $2.9 billion by 2022, SK said Monday.
The nation's top mobile carrier signed a strategic partnership with Comcast Spectacor to establish a joint venture that will oversee joint businesses in esports and games, in Barcelona, Sunday, a day before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 kicked off there.
The MWC is the world's largest mobile show that runs until Thursday.
Comcast is the world's second-largest cable television and broadcasting company. Comcast Spectacor is responsible for Comcast's sports and entertainment business.
Under the partnership, SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor will set up the joint venture, T1 Entertainment and Sports.
The parent of the joint venture is T1, an esports team founded by SK Telecom in 2004. SK will be the largest shareholder of the joint venture.
SK Telecom said T1, which has secured global popularity, has attracted interest from various firms and investors. The team has won the World Championship for “League of Legends” three times.
The telecom firm sees the esports business as one of its future growth engines, considering the global market is cited as a blue ocean.
According to Goldman Sachs, the scale of the global esports market is expected to reach $2.9 billion in 2022 from $869 million last year.
SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor plan to jointly operate the teams and create content for about 200 million esports fans worldwide.
“We have secured a partner that will jointly expand into the esports and media business,” said SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho. “We will take this as an opportunity to enhance our global media and content business.”
Tucker Roberts who supervises Comcast's esports business also vowed to push for a variety of new projects with SK Telecom.
Roberts is the president of the Comcast-owned Philadelphia Fusion, an esports team competing in the Overwatch League, and the son of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.