If you're looking for a sport to hook the audiences of the future, esports may be the best game in town, according to Peter Guber, co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles FC.
"I think it has all the tools to really go the distance and become something powerful," Guber, who is CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, told CNBC.
Esports' audience plays the games, making them not only participants but "passengers," Guber explained. It makes it easier to fill up stadiums in just 20 minutes for championships, and venues have been excited about hosting the events, he said. Guber is also co-owner of professional eSports organization Team Liquid.
"Here is an audience that's so effervescent, this whole young audience that's embraced the whole e-technology, the whole e-gaming and have for the last 12 years," Guber said.
"And it has had a straight-up trajectory," he said. "Esports and
In addition, the sport is extremely popular in Korea,
"You'll see that it's everywhere, and it isn't bound by geography," he said. "You don't use a stick or a bat to play, and you can play alone or with a whole group of people, play against the best."
Correction: Guber is the owner of the Golden State Warriors, not the California State Warriors as originally stated.