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The Convergence of Traditional Sports and Esports

The Convergence of Traditional Sports and Esports

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Traditional Sports Esports tournament Invest in esports tournament

Though there are plenty of people who believe sports belong on grass fields, hardcourts and definitely not games consoles, that hasn’t stopped eSports—video game sporting competitions—taking the world by storm. According to esportsearnings.com, the number of large-scale tournaments catapulted from 10 in 2000 to a huge 696 in 2012. In that time, the prize money also skyrocketed from roughly $350,000 to almost $10.3 million. Having gone from cult to commonplace so rapidly, the eSports market is now predicted to exceed $1.5 billion by 2023.

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There’s no denying that many hardcore sports fans would be reluctant to turn to eSports when they could be enjoying the thrills of a football or baseball game. However, real-life sports events are just one of the luxuries that are off the table due to the coronavirus pandemic. And now since sports aficionados can no longer bet on live games online or in casinos, and people cannot support their favorite teams from the bleachers, or even the bars, eSports suddenly look far more appealing. In fact, as all the world’s biggest sports leagues started to shut down, Twitch (the chief eSports streaming site) reported a 31% increase in viewers between February and March.

It may not be wholly surprising that self-isolation has caused eSports to surge, but judging by recent developments, traditional sports and escorts may be poised to a closer relationship even after the COVID-19 crisis is over.

Real-world sports players are going online

Many famous athletes are also becoming involved in the online gaming world, blurring the line between sports and eSports further. For instance, basketball fans were able to tune in to ESPN and bet on an eSports NBA tournament in the first half of April 2020, featuring 16 players including Devin Booker, DeAndre Ayton and Kevin Durant. Elsewhere, Spanish soccer player Borja Iglesias streamed a FIFA game to 60,000 people after the La Liga match he was scheduled to play in was canceled, while Fox Sports aired a virtual NFL tournament featuring Michael Vick, among other NFL stars.

Though this interest in gaming amongst sports stars may seem like a sudden reflex to the coronavirus crisis, many experts have noted that the trend started to emerge long before the pandemic took hold. Pittsburgh Steelers footballer JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell are just two athletes who have been streaming video games for some time, while The Verge even commented that eSports leagues and professional sports leagues were looking increasingly similar back in 2018.

Given the digital nature of the modern world, it’s clear to see why eSport is becoming an increasingly popular means of connecting players with their supporters, and an easy way to boost their brand too. Coronavirus has given more players an excuse to get into gaming, and it’s likely the phenomenon will continue to grow over time.

There is huge revenue to be gained from eSports

It’s not just the players and fans that stand to benefit from eSports. The industry is a lucrative gold mine of investment opportunity, and teams are likely to leverage this to their advantage. Sponsorships represent a key channel of revenue for the industry, generating more than $456 million in 2019. This figure was expected to top $700 million in 2020, even before the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe signaling an upturn in interest in eSports. Advertising revenues, largely generated from content presented to viewers of eSports events on streaming platforms, are another huge money-maker making up 60% of industry revenue.

Beyond brand partnership opportunities, merchandize sales are another key driver of revenue, just as they are in traditional sports. However, while traditional sports teams market themselves largely as a sports team, eSports organizations are taking a different approach. 100 Thieves, for example, describes itself as “a new lifestyle company and eSports organization built at the intersection of competitive gaming, entertainment, and apparel.” Furthermore, unlike traditional sports, merchandise can be both physical and digital in the form of in-game purchases.

Recognizing these new digital revenue channels, many well-established sports teams are now investing time and resources into eSports. The inaugural NBA 2K League, an eSports initiative for professional players of the basketball sim, saw 17 teams take part. The Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves have since taken that number to 21. Meanwhile, in Europe, Dutch football clubs Ajax and PSV Eindhoven have both signed an individual professional FIFA player and a full squad of FIFA eSports professionals.

eSports cater to current consumer preferences

Industries need to adapt to changing consumer behaviors in the digital world. Some of the world’s biggest companies have successfully bridged this gap. Netflix, for example, transformed the way we watch TV by catering to the instant gratification needs of society, while Uber simplified getting from A to B. The sports industry is waiting for its own eureka moment, and many believe eSports are fertile ground for this type of innovation.

In an interview with CNBC, gaming analyst Scott Steinberg explained: “We are reaching a point where the average person probably grew up with gaming in their household. All eyes are on online gaming, and they now have a chance to shine.”

Networks like ESPN and Fox Sports have turned attention to eSports to fill gaps during the coronavirus crisis. However, Laurel Walzak, a professor who specializes in eSports at Ryerson University, argues that the motivation for watching a live sports event is different to that of streaming an eSports game, claiming: “An ESPN broadcast features different camera angles, audio, music, and on-air talent. When it’s sports video games on Twitch, the visuals of the games, players and their hands and eyes matter most.”

Nonetheless, Walzak is optimistic about the future of eSports gaming and its ability to lure new audiences while converting those accustomed to traditional sports. The new generation of sports fans are those that have grown up playing games on Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles, and these fans consider the likes of Fortnite streamer Ninja to be just as heroic as LeBron James, Lionel Messi and other sports superstars. If Fortnite and FIFA can be spoken about in the same way as basketball and baseball, what’s to say professional sports and competitive gamers won’t be?

The post The Convergence of Traditional Sports and Esports appeared first on ValueWalk.

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Aging at AACR Annual Meeting 2024

BUFFALO, NY- March 11, 2024 – Impact Journals publishes scholarly journals in the biomedical sciences with a focus on all areas of cancer and aging…

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BUFFALO, NY- March 11, 2024 – Impact Journals publishes scholarly journals in the biomedical sciences with a focus on all areas of cancer and aging research. Aging is one of the most prominent journals published by Impact Journals

Credit: Impact Journals

BUFFALO, NY- March 11, 2024 – Impact Journals publishes scholarly journals in the biomedical sciences with a focus on all areas of cancer and aging research. Aging is one of the most prominent journals published by Impact Journals

Impact Journals will be participating as an exhibitor at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 from April 5-10 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. This year, the AACR meeting theme is “Inspiring Science • Fueling Progress • Revolutionizing Care.”

Visit booth #4159 at the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 to connect with members of the Aging team.

About Aging-US:

Aging publishes research papers in all fields of aging research including but not limited, aging from yeast to mammals, cellular senescence, age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s diseases and their prevention and treatment, anti-aging strategies and drug development and especially the role of signal transduction pathways such as mTOR in aging and potential approaches to modulate these signaling pathways to extend lifespan. The journal aims to promote treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.

Aging is indexed and archived by PubMed/Medline (abbreviated as “Aging (Albany NY)”), PubMed CentralWeb of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded (abbreviated as “Aging‐US” and listed in the Cell Biology and Geriatrics & Gerontology categories), Scopus (abbreviated as “Aging” and listed in the Cell Biology and Aging categories), Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science).

Please visit our website at www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us:

  • Aging X
  • Aging Facebook
  • Aging Instagram
  • Aging YouTube
  • Aging LinkedIn
  • Aging SoundCloud
  • Aging Pinterest
  • Aging Reddit

Click here to subscribe to Aging publication updates.

For media inquiries, please contact media@impactjournals.com.


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NY Fed Finds Medium, Long-Term Inflation Expectations Jump Amid Surge In Stock Market Optimism

NY Fed Finds Medium, Long-Term Inflation Expectations Jump Amid Surge In Stock Market Optimism

One month after the inflation outlook tracked…

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NY Fed Finds Medium, Long-Term Inflation Expectations Jump Amid Surge In Stock Market Optimism

One month after the inflation outlook tracked by the NY Fed Consumer Survey extended their late 2023 slide, with 3Y inflation expectations in January sliding to a record low 2.4% (from 2.6% in December), even as 1 and 5Y inflation forecasts remained flat, moments ago the NY Fed reported that in February there was a sharp rebound in longer-term inflation expectations, rising to 2.7% from 2.4% at the three-year ahead horizon, and jumping to 2.9% from 2.5% at the five-year ahead horizon, while the 1Y inflation outlook was flat for the 3rd month in a row, stuck at 3.0%. 

The increases in both the three-year ahead and five-year ahead measures were most pronounced for respondents with at most high school degrees (in other words, the "really smart folks" are expecting deflation soon). The survey’s measure of disagreement across respondents (the difference between the 75th and 25th percentile of inflation expectations) decreased at all horizons, while the median inflation uncertainty—or the uncertainty expressed regarding future inflation outcomes—declined at the one- and three-year ahead horizons and remained unchanged at the five-year ahead horizon.

Going down the survey, we find that the median year-ahead expected price changes increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.3% for gas; decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 6.8% for the cost of medical care (its lowest reading since September 2020); decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.8% for the cost of a college education; and surprisingly decreased by 0.3 percentage point for rent to 6.1% (its lowest reading since December 2020), and remained flat for food at 4.9%.

We find the rent expectations surprising because it is happening just asking rents are rising across the country.

At the same time as consumers erroneously saw sharply lower rents, median home price growth expectations remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive month at 3.0%.

Turning to the labor market, the survey found that the average perceived likelihood of voluntary and involuntary job separations increased, while the perceived likelihood of finding a job (in the event of a job loss) declined. "The mean probability of leaving one’s job voluntarily in the next 12 months also increased, by 1.8 percentage points to 19.5%."

Mean unemployment expectations - or the mean probability that the U.S. unemployment rate will be higher one year from now - decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 36.1%, the lowest reading since February 2022. Additionally, the median one-year-ahead expected earnings growth was unchanged at 2.8%, remaining slightly below its 12-month trailing average of 2.9%.

Turning to household finance, we find the following:

  • The median expected growth in household income remained unchanged at 3.1%. The series has been moving within a narrow range of 2.9% to 3.3% since January 2023, and remains above the February 2020 pre-pandemic level of 2.7%.
  • Median household spending growth expectations increased by 0.2 percentage point to 5.2%. The increase was driven by respondents with a high school degree or less.
  • Median year-ahead expected growth in government debt increased to 9.3% from 8.9%.
  • The mean perceived probability that the average interest rate on saving accounts will be higher in 12 months increased by 0.6 percentage point to 26.1%, remaining below its 12-month trailing average of 30%.
  • Perceptions about households’ current financial situations deteriorated somewhat with fewer respondents reporting being better off than a year ago. Year-ahead expectations also deteriorated marginally with a smaller share of respondents expecting to be better off and a slightly larger share of respondents expecting to be worse off a year from now.
  • The mean perceived probability that U.S. stock prices will be higher 12 months from now increased by 1.4 percentage point to 38.9%.
  • At the same time, perceptions and expectations about credit access turned less optimistic: "Perceptions of credit access compared to a year ago deteriorated with a larger share of respondents reporting tighter conditions and a smaller share reporting looser conditions compared to a year ago."

Also, a smaller percentage of consumers, 11.45% vs 12.14% in prior month, expect to not be able to make minimum debt payment over the next three months

Last, and perhaps most humorous, is the now traditional cognitive dissonance one observes with these polls, because at a time when long-term inflation expectations jumped, which clearly suggests that financial conditions will need to be tightened, the number of respondents expecting higher stock prices one year from today jumped to the highest since November 2021... which incidentally is just when the market topped out during the last cycle before suffering a painful bear market.

Tyler Durden Mon, 03/11/2024 - 12:40

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Homes listed for sale in early June sell for $7,700 more

New Zillow research suggests the spring home shopping season may see a second wave this summer if mortgage rates fall
The post Homes listed for sale in…

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  • A Zillow analysis of 2023 home sales finds homes listed in the first two weeks of June sold for 2.3% more. 
  • The best time to list a home for sale is a month later than it was in 2019, likely driven by mortgage rates.
  • The best time to list can be as early as the second half of February in San Francisco, and as late as the first half of July in New York and Philadelphia. 

Spring home sellers looking to maximize their sale price may want to wait it out and list their home for sale in the first half of June. A new Zillow® analysis of 2023 sales found that homes listed in the first two weeks of June sold for 2.3% more, a $7,700 boost on a typical U.S. home.  

The best time to list consistently had been early May in the years leading up to the pandemic. The shift to June suggests mortgage rates are strongly influencing demand on top of the usual seasonality that brings buyers to the market in the spring. This home-shopping season is poised to follow a similar pattern as that in 2023, with the potential for a second wave if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates midyear or later. 

The 2.3% sale price premium registered last June followed the first spring in more than 15 years with mortgage rates over 6% on a 30-year fixed-rate loan. The high rates put home buyers on the back foot, and as rates continued upward through May, they were still reassessing and less likely to bid boldly. In June, however, rates pulled back a little from 6.79% to 6.67%, which likely presented an opportunity for determined buyers heading into summer. More buyers understood their market position and could afford to transact, boosting competition and sale prices.

The old logic was that sellers could earn a premium by listing in late spring, when search activity hit its peak. Now, with persistently low inventory, mortgage rate fluctuations make their own seasonality. First-time home buyers who are on the edge of qualifying for a home loan may dip in and out of the market, depending on what’s happening with rates. It is almost certain the Federal Reserve will push back any interest-rate cuts to mid-2024 at the earliest. If mortgage rates follow, that could bring another surge of buyers later this year.

Mortgage rates have been impacting affordability and sale prices since they began rising rapidly two years ago. In 2022, sellers nationwide saw the highest sale premium when they listed their home in late March, right before rates barreled past 5% and continued climbing. 

Zillow’s research finds the best time to list can vary widely by metropolitan area. In 2023, it was as early as the second half of February in San Francisco, and as late as the first half of July in New York. Thirty of the top 35 largest metro areas saw for-sale listings command the highest sale prices between May and early July last year. 

Zillow also found a wide range in the sale price premiums associated with homes listed during those peak periods. At the hottest time of the year in San Jose, homes sold for 5.5% more, a $88,000 boost on a typical home. Meanwhile, homes in San Antonio sold for 1.9% more during that same time period.  

 

Metropolitan Area Best Time to List Price Premium Dollar Boost
United States First half of June 2.3% $7,700
New York, NY First half of July 2.4% $15,500
Los Angeles, CA First half of May 4.1% $39,300
Chicago, IL First half of June 2.8% $8,800
Dallas, TX First half of June 2.5% $9,200
Houston, TX Second half of April 2.0% $6,200
Washington, DC Second half of June 2.2% $12,700
Philadelphia, PA First half of July 2.4% $8,200
Miami, FL First half of June 2.3% $12,900
Atlanta, GA Second half of June 2.3% $8,700
Boston, MA Second half of May 3.5% $23,600
Phoenix, AZ First half of June 3.2% $14,700
San Francisco, CA Second half of February 4.2% $50,300
Riverside, CA First half of May 2.7% $15,600
Detroit, MI First half of July 3.3% $7,900
Seattle, WA First half of June 4.3% $31,500
Minneapolis, MN Second half of May 3.7% $13,400
San Diego, CA Second half of April 3.1% $29,600
Tampa, FL Second half of June 2.1% $8,000
Denver, CO Second half of May 2.9% $16,900
Baltimore, MD First half of July 2.2% $8,200
St. Louis, MO First half of June 2.9% $7,000
Orlando, FL First half of June 2.2% $8,700
Charlotte, NC Second half of May 3.0% $11,000
San Antonio, TX First half of June 1.9% $5,400
Portland, OR Second half of April 2.6% $14,300
Sacramento, CA First half of June 3.2% $17,900
Pittsburgh, PA Second half of June 2.3% $4,700
Cincinnati, OH Second half of April 2.7% $7,500
Austin, TX Second half of May 2.8% $12,600
Las Vegas, NV First half of June 3.4% $14,600
Kansas City, MO Second half of May 2.5% $7,300
Columbus, OH Second half of June 3.3% $10,400
Indianapolis, IN First half of July 3.0% $8,100
Cleveland, OH First half of July  3.4% $7,400
San Jose, CA First half of June 5.5% $88,400

 

The post Homes listed for sale in early June sell for $7,700 more appeared first on Zillow Research.

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