Four years ago, Beasley Media Group demonstrated its fondness for eSports by acquiring a team of its own from Immortals Gaming Club. It has competed in the Overwatch League as the Houston Outlaws. In 2019, eSports was hot, and the Overwatch League professed to be the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America.
It is now known that the Overwatch League will shutter by the end of 2022. What does this mean for Beasley?
CEO Caroline Beasley confirmed the shutdown of the league by Activation Blizzard at year’s end, but did not elaborate on what this means for the company’s long-term revenue diversification plans. Speaking on the company’s Q3 2023 earnings call, she said Beasley would receive payment from Activation Blizzard as part of its shutdown.
However, this signals the company will retain a hyperfocus on achieving more digital revenue, with a stated goal of making digital comprise between 20%-30% of total revenue. At present, it stands at 18.6%.
The Outlaws purchase followed an April 2019 investment in Team Renegades, a Detroit-based esports organization consisting of five teams, and the October 2018 launch of CheckpointXP, a weekly syndicated esports lifestyle show acquired by Beasley.
However, the Overwatch League has, like many radio companies, faced severe financial headwinds since the COVID-19 pandemic’s March 2020 start in the U.S. Beasley’s net revenue from the Outlaws was -55% in 2021 and -48% in 2022.
According to eSports blogs, Beasley stands to receive a $6 million termination fee from Blizzard.
