Esports division at Activision Blizzard will aim to compete with NFL and NBA

As we’ve previously heard, Activision is about to launch a huge Esports network that aims to take down the likes of ESPN in that division, and it looks like the ambition is even bigger as CEO Bobby Kotick said that they will compete with NFL and NBA as well.

In a call with investors following the publication of the company’s full-year results, Bobby Kotick, the company’s CEO, first put it in terms of engagement: 14 billion games were played in Activision Blizzard’s games last year, with spectators watching 1.5 billion hours of video content as a result. The 2014/15 season of the NFL, on the other hand, led to about 7 billion spectator hours.

“Those televised games generated approximately $7 billion of broadcast rights fees for the NFL and another $4 billion in other revenues including sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales,” Kotick said. “When we think about our franchises, we view our responsibilities to our fans and the associated business opportunity through the lens of these leagues like the NFL, the Premier League, the NBA, Major League Baseball or NHL.”

“What we step back and look at is ESPN,” he said. “And when you look at ESPN with 80 million subscribers and you see the flight of some of the subscribers. The opportunities that we see there is roughly $5 billion of operating profit, $4 billion of league payments for the broadcast rights. We have 80 million of our own players.”