The following interview is part of our ongoing Expert Series that asks C-level professionals, team presidents, league executives, athletic directors and other sports influencers about their latest thoughts and insights on new technologies impacting the sports industry.
Name: Pete Vlastelica
Company: Major League Gaming
Position: President/Chief Executive Officer
Pete Vlastelica is President and CEO of Major League Gaming (MLG), a division of Activision Blizzard devoted to creating the best eSports experiences for fans across games, platforms and geographies.
Prior to MLG, Vlastelica was the Executive Vice President of Digital at FOX Sports, where he focused on content and product development, social media, technology, and creation of multi-platform content properties, including the Emmy-award winning “Garbage Time with Katie Nolan.” He directed the growth of FOXSports.com and the mobile app FOX Sports Go, where he oversaw the streaming of thousands of live sporting events, including Super Bowl XLVIII, which set a new internet record for streaming viewers for a sporting event.
Recognized for his influence in the sports media industry, Vlastelica is a member of Sports Business Journal’s prestigious “Forty Under 40” Class of 2014. Vlastelica earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Stanford.
1) What is the current state of online eSports competition, and how does Major League Gaming fit into that online and social ecosystem?
The space is very fragmented, with more games, leagues and events than most people could possibly keep track of. Even though people in the industry call it all “eSports,” each game is really its own sport, and at this point, people who enjoy watching any given game tend to be players of that game. In other words, they’re not identifying as “eSports fans” — they’re identifying as Hearthstone fans, or Overwatch fans or Call of Duty fans, and they enjoy watching those games being played at the highest levels. And yet this phenomenon of watching video games online is relatively new, and the people who are into it, regardless of which games they’re watching, do have a lot in common with each other. At MLG, we’re building a network that celebrates the culture of watching video games in the same way that MTV created a network dedicated to the culture of watching music.
2) If you had to invest in one technology that would change the eSports landscape, what would it be and why?
It’s not just one technology, but as a game publisher, we think there is a massive opportunity to integrate competitive gaming features like prize play and streaming video (to broadcast our eSports content) directly into our games. This is the best way to facilitate and celebrate competition at every level — from amateur to professional — and to get our content in front of the people who are most likely to love it.
3) As a sports fan, what sports-related service, app, product, etc., could you not live without and why?
The FOX Sports mobile app is my go-to sports app. I may be a little biased, but it’s definitely the cleanest, easiest to use scoreboard app out there. Everyone should download it.
4) Over the past 18 months, there have been NBA and NFL players — current and former — getting involved in gaming. Sports team owners like Ted Leonsis, Magic Johnson and Peter Guber have also entered the space. Whats your take on all of the heightened interest around eSports? What’s the value proposition with getting involved now?
The value proposition is the opportunity to get in early on what is destined to become the biggest category of sports in the world. It makes sense that traditional sports team owners would be interested, since they have already made investments in much of the infrastructure needed to operate, promote, and monetize professional teams, and they’re finding it harder and harder to reach young audiences. It’s still very, very early in the evolution of this space. It’s not even the first inning — it’s batting practice. And yet the audiences are already massive. As monetization starts to catch up to the audience, the business of eSports is starting to look very attractive to a lot of smart people.
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5) If you had to project 20 years into the future, how will most gamers compete around their favorite titles?
In 20 years we’ll all be competing against every other human being on earth at every aspect of the virtual world we live in. Everyone will be climbing some leaderboard somewhere. Yes, I stole that from the plot of “Ready Player One.” But I’m serious.
6) Give us your bold prediction about a form of technology that will be integral to eSports over the next 12 months and why?
Prize play platforms — like MLG’s GameBattles product — will start to democratize eSports and give everyone a shot at being on the main stage against the best pro teams in the world.