Sports

The romantic's guide to esports in 2025

Published

4 months ago

January 9, 2025

Emboldened by the success of new major esports events such as the Esports World Cup — and by an influx of investment by the Saudi Arabian government — esports industry leaders are projecting confidence going into 2025. Here’s a look into the best-case scenario for competitive gaming in the new year.To experienced esports executives, the introduction of an official IOC-sanctioned esports event — in addition to the Esports World Cup held in Riyadh this past summer — reflects the broader cultural acceptance of esports. They believe the presence of these events could help esports companies once again sell their broadcast rights, a previous major revenue source for esports leagues that has fallen away in recent years.

“You have IOC-sanctioned events; the Esports World Cup is doing their events, as are ‘League of Legends.’ As the product is growing, mobile games are coming into play at a significantly larger level,” said Hicham Chahine, CEO of the esports team Ninjas in Pyjamas. “You have traditional broadcasts, other streaming platforms and one-off events being bought for streaming services. It’s inevitable that this is coming back. But, for now, we have co-streaming, because we have had a tough 2023 and a tough 2024 for those models.”

Saudi support

When asked about areas of interest for 2025, the 12 esports industry leaders whom Digiday contacted for this story universally voiced their excitement for the Olympics Esports Games announced by the International Olympic Committee earlier this year. The first iteration of the event will be hosted next year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with plans to host further editions “regularly” for the next 12 years.

“We’re precious about our broadcast, but we also want our players to enjoy esports the way that they want to enjoy them — and if that’s watching their favorite streamer or their favorite influencer, we’re thrilled by that,” said Riot Games president of publishing and esports John Needham. “So, co-streaming actually generates close to 50 percent of our revenue in both esports [‘League of Legends’ and ‘Valorant’].”

Esports publishers and league operators have gradually warmed up to co-streaming in recent years — but in 2024, it became the norm. Over the past year, events such as the “Rainbow Six” Invitational and PGL’s “Counter-Strike” majors used co-streaming to achieve record-breaking viewership numbers, reflecting the growing prominence of individual influencers within the online gaming space.

Co-streaming is the future

After spending much of 2024 recovering from a down period, esports industry executives are stepping on the gas in anticipation of a growth year in 2025.

As Chahine pointed out above, another growing trend that will influence the esports industry in the coming year is the rise of influencer co-streaming, the practice of officially allowing popular livestreamers to host their own broadcasts of esports tournaments and events, boosting the total viewership of the event as a result.

In 2023, advertisers and investors alike jumped ship from competitive gaming, leading to the so-called esports winter, a period in which esports organizations consolidated or pivoted to new business models in order to stay afloat. Over the past 12 months, however, the industry has recovered, in part thanks to brands coming back into the space, as well as the updated revenue share programs created by the publishers of popular esports games.

“In the foreseeable future, there will be less and less of the tier-two companies, when it comes to the orgs and the games. The orgs that can thrive are the top orgs, the multi-gaming orgs that are supported by strong investment: G2, Liquid, Na’Vi, Vitality,” said Team Vitality CEO Nicolas Maurer. “So, those kinds of teams, they have a future. We all have our own challenges, but there’s a clear path to monetization.”

More consolidation to come

The fact that 2024 was a relatively good year for the esports industry does not mean that every company in the space benefited from the positive trend. Like 2023, 2024 was a year of consolidation for the esports industry, with smaller companies merging or getting snapped up by larger esports companies in order to survive and scale up.

“Co-streaming is a positive and a negative. It’s awesome from the idea of diversification of the fan base, getting big viewership numbers and opening up esports to different viewpoints and different audiences that maybe aren’t tuning in normally,” said Chris DeAppolonio, CEO of the esports team Evil Geniuses. “But, at the end of the day, the tournament organizers or broadcasters don’t really own the eyeballs, right? And so they can’t truly understand the demographics of the viewers and fully monetize them, whether through media rights or paid viewership partnerships.”

In 2025, the consolidation of esports is likely to continue. The esports organizations that will thrive are the so-called “tier one” orgs — those with large valuations, major brand deals and a presence across multiple games or communities. Some smaller orgs may also manage to continue growing by focusing their branding and identity on one game — as with Sentinels and “Valorant” — or one geographic market. But the mid-sized esports orgs between these two poles will continue to feel pressure, whether or not the esports winter has thawed.

Over the past year, roughly 20 percent of gaming transactions have been esports-focused, according to Drake Star’s Q3 2024 Global Gaming Report, including recent deals such as Guild Esports’ sale to DCB Sports and M80’s acquisition of the esports team Beastcoast.

Related Topics:big Brands business company deals esports event global media new Olympics sports team winter

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Track & Field Fares Well at Larry Ellis Invite

Story Links PRINCETON, N.J. — The Columbia track & field team competed in the Larry Ellis Invite this weekend hosted by Princeton at Weaver Stadium. The Lions did fantastic at this meet, collecting a myriad of top finishes, specifically in the field and distance running events. Obiora Okeke continued his strong […]

Published

13 minutes ago

May 4, 2025

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PRINCETON, N.J. — The Columbia track & field team competed in the Larry Ellis Invite this weekend hosted by Princeton at Weaver Stadium.

The Lions did fantastic at this meet, collecting a myriad of top finishes, specifically in the field and distance running events.

Obiora Okeke continued his strong outdoor season, placing third in discuss with a mark of 54.34m. In long jump, Joshua Adamns placed fourth with a mark of 7.49m. Parker Kim kept up his momentum by finishing fifth in hammer throw with a mark of 62.49m.

Gavin White was the men’s top finisher in a distance event, placing second in the 1500m with a time of 3:53.14.

The women’s team also had a few placements in the top five of distance events.

In the 1500m, three lions placed in the top five: Brigid McCabe, Scarlett Martin, and Olivia Martin. McCabe placed third with a time of 4:38.86. Scarlett came in second with a time of 4:38.65 and Olivia was right behind in fourth with a time of 4:38.92.

Lucy Henkel raced the 800m, finishing fourth with a time of 2:04.45. Jada Mia Puryear had yet another top finish, placing fifth in discus with a mark of 47.2m.

Full results from the Larry Ellis Invite, including all of Columbia’s other top finishers, can be found HERE.

ON DECK:

On May 10th, the Lions are back in action, competing in the Ivy League Outdoor Heps in New Haven. The Outdoor Heps will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will continue on Sunday.

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

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Long Beach Poly Beach Volleyball Wins CIF-SS Championship in Comeback Fashion Against Canyon – The562.org

The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2025 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers. The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial. The Long Beach Poly beach volleyball team may find itself down — but never out. It wasn’t the first time the Jackrabbits had trailed during their playoff […]

Published

38 minutes ago

May 4, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The562’s coverage of high school volleyball in 2025 is brought to you by the MLP’s Bay Area Breakers.

The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.

The Long Beach Poly beach volleyball team may find itself down — but never out.

It wasn’t the first time the Jackrabbits had trailed during their playoff run, and Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 3 championship at Long Beach City College was no different. Poly fell behind 2-1 against Canyon and even faced set point in the decisive match — with the entire season on the line.

The Jackrabbits eventually battled back to win it 3-2, claiming the program’s first-ever beach volleyball championship.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. 3-2. Just tight and neck-to-neck like that,” said Poly Court 1 starter Aleeya Salima. “That’s just Poly.”

“It was a battle from beginning to end,” head coach Litara Keil said. “I don’t think there was ever a break for relief and I think this whole playoff series it’s been like that where we’re down and we have to come back and the girls have come back on top every single time.”

It all came down to Poly’s Simone Millsap and Alyssa Luna on Court 4, playing in the final match still underway with the overall score tied 2-2. The pair were locked in a tight third set against Canyon’s Hannah Hoang and Erin Ly, even trailing 14-15 while facing match point.The Jackrabbits fought back to earn a match point of their own, and sealed the championship with a Millsap ace.

Remarkably, it was the second time in as many matches that Millsap and Luna had been the last team standing. Just days earlier in the semifinals, they found themselves in the same high-pressure situation — delivering the deciding point to send them to Saturday’s championship.

“It feels amazing,” said Millsap. “The last few points in the semifinals and this game I was just visualizing my teammates running in and how amazing it would feel to win. So I felt that if I could channel that energy into my serve, we were gonna win.”

“When you have your people cheering you on it is easy to feel motivated and secure,” added Luna.

Luna was moved up from junior varsity this season and has made her impact felt during Poly’s championship run. She’s had the luxury of placing alongside one of the Jackrabbits’ senior captains in Millsap.

“They’re the most sane team out of all five courts,” said Keil of the duo. “Their energy is sane and calm the whole time. That just shows a lot from Simone and her maturity, and Alyssa being a JV puller that got pulled up is insane. She’s just so calm and her demeanor in those pressure moments helped both of them pull through at the end.”

The only other match to go to three sets was on Court 1, where Aleeya Salima and Londyn Foster came back to reverse sweep Canyon’s Ellie Nguyen and Jordyn Roberts.

“I had no doubt,” said Salima. “We just had to trust each other and understand that we have each other’s back in situations like these. What’s done in the dark comes to light and I’m so glad. Win or lose we told each other to play with our hearts and that’s what we did.”

The CIF-SS championship is the 132nd in school history, more than any other school, and the first since the girls’ indoor volleyball championship. Salima played a big role in both of those wins and reflected on adding another championship to her resume.

“It feels awesome, honestly,” she said. “All glory to God. He’s the one behind this and I can’t thank Him enough.”

The Jackrabbits first win of the day came on Court 3 when Lauren Foster and Taimane Poe defeated Remington Glenn and Kedzie Kranz. The pair contributed to what was the quickest match of the day with a dominant sweep.

Canyon found a win on Court 2 from Rylie White and Kendall Vanderplow who took down Giselle Millsap and Dayna Lagafuaina. London Kenyon and Emma Vesa also won for Canyon on Court 5 against Finley Stuart and Vivienne Irwin.

In just the fourth year of the sport, a CIF-SS championship marks a major milestone for Keil and her program. She hopes the beach volleyball culture at Poly will continue to grow.

“It took a while to change the environment and culture of the program,” said Keil. “We were very serious when we stepped in to take over and it wasn’t reciprocated. So I hope winning CIF changes that and makes a statement that we’re serious and we’re here to work and make a change.”

Full Match Results:

Court 1: Aleeya Salima/Londyn Foster (Poly) def. Ellie Nguyen/Jordyn Roberts (Canyon) 13-21, 21-17, 15-11

Court 2: Rylie White/Kendall Vanderplow (Canyon) def. Giselle Millsap/Dayna Lagafuaina (Poly) 21-11, 21-13

Court 3: Lauren Foster/Taimane Poe (Poly) def. Remington Glenn/Kedzie Kranz (Canyon) 21-12, 21-11

Court 4: Simone Millsap/Alyssa Luna (Poly) def. Hannah Hoang/Erin Ly (Canyon) 23-21, 16-21, 17-15

Court 5: London Kenyon/Emma Vesa (Canyon) def. Finley Stuart/Vivienne Irwin (Poly) 21-17, 21-18

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Track and Field Records Eight Top Five Finishes at Vanderbilt

Story Links The Lindenwood track and field team concluded its outdoor regular season this weekend at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. The Lions earned 11 top-eight finishes at the two-day event, had five top 10 Lindenwood all-time marks and had one school record. The lone Lion to record a first-place […]

Published

53 minutes ago

May 4, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Lindenwood track and field team concluded its outdoor regular season this weekend at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. The Lions earned 11 top-eight finishes at the two-day event, had five top 10 Lindenwood all-time marks and had one school record.

The lone Lion to record a first-place finish was Kendall Klewer who earned the top spot in the javelin throw at 43.45 meters, which was the best mark out of 20 student-athletes.

Sa’Nijah Houston continues her impressive season, setting a new school record in the 400 meter with a time of 53.71. That mark beat her previous best of 53.79 and it currently leads the Ohio Valley Conference. She also earned fifth-place in the 200 with a time of 23.99.

Two other Lions earned top-three finishes as Kimberly Lugg took third in discuss with a throw of 46.11m and Drew Billups earned third in hammer at 43.10m. Lugg also grabbed fourth in the shot put, recording one at 12.81m

The team of Kristen Hendricks, Houston, Jyrah Powell, and Chanell Honeywell all set a PR and entered the LU top 10 list with a time of 46.81 in the 4X100

PRs

Kinsey Dueker Javelin 36.98m

Kinsey Dueker LJ 5.40m

Kendall Klewer Javelin 43.45m

Chanel Honeywell 200 24.18

Jyrah Powell 200 25.61

Abby Anderson 5000 19:33.51

Jenna Ramadan 5000 19:55.79

Women’s 4×100 Hendricks, Houston, Powell, Honeywell 46.41

Sa’Nijah Houston 400 53.71

Drew Billups Hammer 43.10m

Angel Evangelista 400h 1:09.68

Nyah Hope 800 2:25.35

Season Bests:

Ashantae Brown 400h 1:06.70

Kim Lugg Shotput 12.81m

LU Top 10s : (5)

1st Sa’Nijah Houston 400 53.71

3rd Kendall Klewer Javelin 43.45m

4th 4×100 Hendricks, Houston, Powell, Honeywell 46.41

6th Chanel Honeywell 200 24.18

9th Kinsey Dueker Javelin 36.98m

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Colorado College Wins Second Straight Women's Lacrosse Tournament Title

Story Links **Colorado College Sports Information contributed to this recap EAU CLAIRE, Wis. –Colorado College won its second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Lacrosse Tournament (presented by Culver’s) with a 21-9 victory over UW-Eau Claire at the Sonnentag Fieldhouse. The Tigers (18-3 overall) tied the program record for wins in a season and extended […]

Published

1 hour ago

May 4, 2025

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Colorado College Wins Second Straight Women's Lacrosse Tournament Title

**Colorado College Sports Information contributed to this recap

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.

–Colorado College won its second straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Lacrosse Tournament (presented by Culver’s) with a 21-9 victory over UW-Eau Claire at the Sonnentag Fieldhouse.

The Tigers (18-3 overall) tied the program record for wins in a season and extended their WIAC winning streak to 19 straight games. Colorado College won 18 games for the first time in program history in 2019, finishing 18-2 with a program winning percentage of 90 percent.

Against UW-Eau Claire (11-7), sophomore Sofia Mancino scored a career-high five goals on only five shots on goal. Charlotte Iler and Peyton Murphy each scored four goals. It’s Iler’s sixth and Muphy’s third four-goal game this season.

Grace Bean racked up her fourth hat trick of the season and finished with an assist, a ground ball, and five shots on goal.

Eight Tigers scored in total, including Oliv Janerico, who finished with two, and Ella Roe, Meilani Molina, and Tobin Lonergan, who scored once.

Iler scored first 37 seconds after the initial draw control to give Colorado College an early lead. However, UW-Eau Claire responded two minutes later to tie it up at 1-1.

The Tigers countered with a five-goal run, including four unassisted goals, to go up 6-1 with 3:47 remaining. The Blugolds ended the run to cut the lead down to 6-2, but Janerico and Bean found the back of the net a minute apart to close out the first, and CC led 8-2 by the start of the second quarter.

UW-Eau Claire scored first out of the half; consequently, Iler scored consecutive goals, bumping the lead back up to 10-3 with 7:58 remaining.

Colorado College scored twice more to take a 12-4 lead into the halftime break. The Tigers outshot the Blugolds 28-13 in the first half.

The third quarter consisted of back-and-forth scoring. Colorado College outscored UW-Eau Claire 5-4 and kept the lead at 10 after goals from Iler, Murphy, Bean, Janerico, and Mancino.

Murphy earned her hat trick in the fourth quarter, scoring two more goals, as Colorado College added four more to cruise to the eventual 21-9 victory.

Samantha Burns, Alexie Romanelli and Ellie Fisher each had two goals for UW-Eau Claire.

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Women’s Track and Field Top 20 at New England DIII Championships

Story Links NEW LONDON, CT. – Competing with a field of 50 collegiate track and field teams, the Wesleyan women’s track and field team placed 17th overall at the New England Division III Outdoor Championships on Friday and Saturday, earning seven Top 10 placements as they were led by Alexandra Simon ’27 […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 4, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NEW LONDON, CT. – Competing with a field of 50 collegiate track and field teams, the Wesleyan women’s track and field team placed 17^th overall at the New England Division III Outdoor Championships on Friday and Saturday, earning seven Top 10 placements as they were led by Alexandra Simon ’27 at the United State Coast Guard Academy.

Simon, who has been the lone competitor for the Cardinals in the 3000m steeplechase, led the team with a runner-up finish in the event, crossing the finish line with a final time of 11:21.43.

Running the 5000m distance race, Alexandra Weingard ’28 ran a final 17:49.12, earning a fifth-place finish for the team. Placing seventh n the 800m, Jordan Walter ’25 closed her weekend with a 2:16.56. Another seventh-place final went to Margaret Stevens ’27 in the 1500m. Stevens ran a 4:46.29 while teammate Virginia Lessner ’28 finished just two spots behind in ninth at 4:52.70. Rose Halford ’27 was the Cardinals’ long-distance contender, running the 10,000m in 38:53.21 for ninth place.

Walter, Elanora Smith ’27, Stella Loezos ’27, and Genevieve Minard ’28 combined for a 9:33.94 final time in the 4x800m relay, placing fifth.

The Cardinals look ahead to the Open New England Championships on Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10.

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Arquette, No. 7 Oregon State take series opener from Hawaii

HONOLULU — As the baseball gods willed, the local player of Oregon State present led off Friday night’s contest at Les Murakami Stadium by smacking a ball right at the local player of Oregon State past. Aiva Arquette’s leadoff effort for No. 7 OSU got through Hawaii shortstop (and former Beaver) Jordan Donahue, setting the […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 4, 2025

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Aiva Arquette’s leadoff effort for No. 7 OSU got through Hawaii shortstop (and former Beaver) Jordan Donahue, setting the tone for an 11-4 Beavers runaway over the Rainbow Warriors in the opener of a four-game nonconference series.

Arquette, a 2022 Saint Louis School graduate from Kailua who played his first two collegiate seasons at Washington, appeared at ease playing the first lifetime game at the Les. In his senior season as a Crusader, the HHSAA tournament was played at Iron Maehara Stadium on Maui. His sophomore and junior prep seasons were wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I loved it, you know?” the 6-foot-5 shortstop and elite MLB Draft prospect said. “I mean, the team loves it. We enjoyed coming back to Hawaii and just competing.”

Arquette, whose younger sister Adrianna plays for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, had this series circled from the moment he heard about it during his official visit to Corvallis.

So, apparently, did many others for OSU (33-11). Beaver gear was prominent among patrons at the sold-out Les.

“There’s a lot,” Arquette said of his supporters. “I’m just grateful to have him on my side and just … gladly put on a show for them.”

The HHSAA Hall of Honor inductee went 2-for-5 with a walk, a double and three runs scored.

Before he chose to go to college, he was an 18^th-round pick by Arizona. A monster sophomore season at UW boosted his stock considerably.

Arquette projected as a top-five pick in the draft before this season and his 2025 campaign — .363 hitting, .481 on-base percentage, .726 slugging, 16 home runs — has done nothing to change that.

UH tried out a four-man outfield against him. That was another first.

“It shocked me,” he said.

The venue and the star treatment weren’t the only new experiences. Friday was also his first time this season batting leadoff; Arquette spent the first 43 games of the season batting second.

Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette, left, shadowed Hawaii’s Ben Zeigler-Namoa as Zeigler-Namoa took a lead at second base in the eighth inning Friday. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

With the help of Arquette reaching on an error to begin the game, OSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead through two innings on Itsuki Takemoto (2-5). The two-way player from Japan lasted four with nine runs charged (eight earned). Max Jones was the bright spot out of the bullpen for UH (28-15) with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless work.

Catcher Wilson Weber blew it open for the Beavers with a bases-clearing double in the fourth.

Eric Segura (7-1) got the win for the Beavers in working five innings.

UH did not record an extra-base hit. Takemoto, who remained in the game as the designated hitter once his start was done, was the only ‘Bow to register a multi-hit game.

Sebastian Gonzalez is set to take the mound for UH in Game 2 of the series at 6:35 p.m. Saturday.

“That’s the best word in baseball. Tomorrow,” UH coach Rich Hill told the Spectrum Sports postgame crew.

Saturday and Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. contest are sold out; there are limited seats left for Monday’s series finale.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.

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