Unlike traditional sports, the esports landscape is continuing to evolve rapidly. No longer a niche passion, esports has been adopted by some of sport’s biggest properties, while media and commercial organisations grapple to maximise the opportunity at hand.
Against the backdrop of an ever-changing outlook, it is therefore only inevitable that the fan experience will evolve accordingly. However, according to Hannigan, that is a challenge that the likes of Allied Esports have to be ready to embrace. “Esports has the benefit of operating in a world driven by endless creativity,” he says.
“Games continue to evolve in ever-engaging ways and new games continue to come to market at a rapid pace. The key with esports, though, is because the games are always changing, we believe the experience should always be adapting as well.
“The biggest evolution will come from technology and how that fan experience is executed. We are already seeing the ability for fans to attend events via virtual reality. This puts more creative demand on event organisers to deliver even more dynamic experiences over new mediums.”