HOW TO CREATE VALUE OUT OF ESPORTS DATA The Bayes Esports data report 2020 in cooperation withTable of Contents The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Table of Contents How data is the secret to the future of esports 1 2 3 3 Top 10 challenges facing the industry 5 Defining the difference of esports and traditional sports9 4 Who needs accurate esports data? 4.1 A data right holder view from ESL: Interview with Bernhard Mogk 4.2 A service provider view from Shadows Managing Director Benjamin Riewe 4.3 A data consumer view with focus on betting, from Pinnacle: Interview with Marco Blume 4.4 A data consumer view with focus on media, from TOKIGAMES: Interview with Matthews Chang 16 21 23 27 13 5 Variance in global markets32 6 Excursus: 3 data trends 34 7 3 Tips for Data Providers on maximising esports data value363 The first thing to consider when discussing how data is revolutionizing the future of esports is that data itself doesn’t just involve statistics and scores. Data is a collection of purely raw and unorganized facts, which can be purified and structured into information. Not just how a game turned out, but also who participated in it, who hosted it, the hidden data that isn’t seen on public streams and every key data point that creates the threshold of skills within the game itself. There’s a distinction in the data we sell. There’s the video stream, a vital tool in raising consumer involvement, a platform to run advertisements and a measure of how big the audience is. There’s the information itself, which comes from the providers and is relevant for every third party that makes up the various groups of data consumers. Defining data itself is important to anyone who works in the esports industry. Data is the foundation of products built to enhance the engagement of users, as well as any forms of monetization for organizers, rights’ holders and consumers such as betting companies. Data is the basis of creating value in esports. Currently, the situation is only half-realized. Esports organizations are giving away data for free by offering data and streaming to the community at large without cost. This circumstance itself creates a large public platform, which is certainly positive for the community. The key focus here is to engage an audience that is as broad as possible, gaining high numbers of viewership. There are now a few cases where a different practice is put into place, and that is the limitation of data. This means that the access to the medium on which the data is available is only available to exclusive contracts. For example, the streaming platform is decided by the highest bidder. This means that the stream is only available on the platform of the buyer’s choosing, such as Facebook or Youtube, instead of being generally available for streaming on whatever platform out there. This practice is much more in line with the traditional sports model; by demanding specific exclusivity in order to produce profit. This brings home what we believe should happen. How data is the secret to the future of esports 1 The Bayes esports data report 2020 I How data is the secret to the future of esports 4 Use of data needs to be understood, and correctly sold at value. Not just in terms of profit for the data consumers, but also in order for the value to flow back into the industry itself. Understanding that data also includes sponsorships and marketing is key here. We need to learn from the model of traditional sports and retain control of the value that data brings. As a data company, Bayes provides and assists with whatever we can improve in the industry. This means understanding the market needs and regional differences and finding avenues in which data can help create a stable and fair ecosystem, by, for example, using data to prevent fraud and match fixing. The Bayes esports data report 2020 I How data is the secret to the future of esports Having control over data and choosing the right partners to distribute or enhance your product is the best way to head towards profitability. DISTRIBUTION PROFIT DATA Best wishes, Mark Balch Mark Balch Head of Product & Partnerships Bayes Esports Solutions Bayes Esports Solutions was established as a joint venture between Sportradar and Bayes Holding, former DOJO Madness to combine strong media rights acquisition and sports data expertise from Sportradar and sophisticated technical expertise in the world of esports from DOJO Madness. Bayes Esports Solutions holds the exclusive worldwide data distribution rights of League of Legends esports competitions operated by Riot Games.5 Currently, data is only available partially for and from tournaments and games. The distribution is a matter of exclusive details and third-party products. Several data sources have to be integrated from several people and systems and formats. This not only costs time and effort, but it takes away convenience for the clients and time for product innovation. Top 10 challenges facing the industry 2 The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Top 10 challenges facing the industry What does the industry need? The simple answer is easy and complete access to data. But in order to understand why this is the fundamental need for the industry, the current situation has to be examined. The current situation involves several problem areas. Challenge 1: Uneven Ground Challenge 2: Integrations Bringing data into a unified format is a challenge for anyone curating esports data.6 The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Top 10 challenges facing the industry It is impossible to represent global statistics, as there is no central source for trustworthy, reliable and quality data. A simple, representative example would be establishing a CS: GO world player ranking. Right now, a simple thing like that is nearly impossible to do, as most sources only offer a partial amount of data, or incomplete data. A central source does not exist yet. By not being centrally available or complete, data doesn’t allow for the building of good user experience products that depend on data surrounding the esports industry. The media industry desperately requires a solution to this problem. This topic is one that touches every aspect of esports. In comparison with traditional sports, the landscape of esports is chaotic at best, fractured at worst. There is no central organization for tournaments, no central structure for data. Regional and national structures do not exist or represent only a fraction and that contributes to the problem. The multitude of tournament organizers come with a multitude of their own scheduling, data and tournament formats. With so many methods and structures, there is a huge margin for error and misunderstandings. It makes it difficult for everyone, even for the biggest names in the scene, to keep an overview and it makes it next to impossible to organize in the long term. But it isn’t just an issue for the organizers and participants. For start-up companies, the navigation of a multitude of structures, data formats and integrations is further complicated by individual contracts. Apps developed for and around esports can only use a fracture of data, if they’re using official data in the first place. Many applications use unofficial sources for data, and those pose a huge risk because they are firmly unreliable. Even if there is a degree of accuracy, there is no guarantee for the sustained availability of data. Challenge 3: Central Sourcing Challenge 4: Accessibility Challenge 5: Lack of Organization7 So far, live data comes from only two sources; streams and the scraping of websites. Streams can provide delayed, inaccurate or incomplete data, at varying speeds. Not to mention that the acquisition of data in these two methods is expensive and unreliable. The information given by a public stream is limited. Not only by the usual one-player-view, but information is also hidden by commercial breaks and commentators as well as analyst desks. These events aim to improve the experience of the fans, but they also complicate the acquisition of data through the stream. Undocumented APIs are available, and unfortunately, also in use. The matter of legality aside, these sources can simply disappear or change - posing an entirely malicious risk to any business using them. A return of investments or profit are difficult to manage under such circumstances. The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Top 10 challenges facing the industry Challenge 6: Live Data Challenge 7: Limited Data Challenge 8: Unofficial Data DELAYED DATA Games are shown with a minimum of 15 seconds delay, with a usual average of around 40 seconds. UNRELIABLE & NO CONSISTENT DATA PIPELINE Feed pauses when there is a replay or game actions cuts to commentators or crowd. INACCURATE DATA Ads that are placed into a broadcast hinder the accuracy and delay OCR output even more. VERY LIMITED DATA POINTS Only what is seen on the screen can be collected. LIMITED COVERAGE Implementation of other parties / APIs needed. HIGH FINANCIAL RISK when working with delayed and unreliable data. HIGH LEGAL RISK Data is not officially licensed and feed can stop from one day to another. HIGH INTEGRATION EFFORT A lot of time is spent on integration instead of developing own products. HIGH COSTS Because of many API integrations The problem of non official data sources: Data often collected through OCR/Computer Vision from public stream8 Further problems arise with the multitude of data rights contracts. Such contracts are only given for a limited time span, usually one year, and given exclusively. This means potential clients have only a limited selection and may not even be aware of all sources. The situation of exclusive and not public data carries the problem of suboptimal monetization of data. Short timings for schedule and a varying parade of formats for tournaments, simultaneous events, time zones, and unauthorized data usage form an insurmountable chaos. The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Top 10 challenges facing the industry Challenge 9: Exclusivity Challenge 10: Monetization This chaotic situation makes long term planning difficult from every angle, and for everyone involved. Tournament organizers, data users, media and betting companies struggle for comprehensive scheduling and data sources. Fans and teams have to adjust to an unpredictable event calendar, that cannot be guaranteed to be very fan-friendly and engaging.9 Defining the difference of esports and traditional sports 3 The Bayes esports data report 2020 I Defining the difference of esports and traditional sports Esports are, in comparison to traditional sports, simply not as well organized. In terms of scheduling, there is a large issue that makes esports less accessible than traditional sports. Scheduling conflicts due to the many organizers mean that sponsors and investors have to divide the profits, which leads to cannibalization within the industry. The community around esports also suffers, as fan engagement is limited by the organizational problems in general. A fan of a certain team, for example, cannot be sure of when and where said team is competing, simply because a long-term schedule that allows for personal adjustments such as booking travel and accommodation does not and cannot exist under current circumstances. Esports community needs a long-term scheduleNext >