eNBA and eNHL leagues coming in a format familiar to fans

Recent comments from two powerful figures in the professional sports world give us a glimpse into what the relationship between traditional sports and eSports which reflect those games will look like in the future. To sum it up, the two are going to look very similar.

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman and the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck recently gave interviews that clue fans into what’s down the road for sports-based eSports. Both men’s comments point to the same thing: robust, league-promoted, team-sponsored, eSports leagues that are the electronic equivalents of the physical sports that the teams are involved in. Put more simply, the matter of eNBA and eNHL leagues coming is no longer a question of if, but rather when.

That time is much further away in the NHL. Currently, it’s only a vision in the minds of Bettman and perhaps a few other individuals in the sport. One of the first things that needs to happen for that vision to be realized is that the actual game that would be played needs to be developed. The wheels are turning on that front, according to Bettman.

"“Going back at least a year ago, we’ve been talking to EA [Electronic Arts, one of the world’s premier video game developers and the company which currently owns the license to produce the NHL video game franchise] about having a game that can replicate hockey in terms of having six players that are playing together against other teams, doing this more in terms of building a community and having awareness for the game and doing it in conjunction with our teams,” Bettman said. “And if EA can continue to get some traction in developing a game that would work like that, we’ll be in that business. Not the same way that the single-player, shoot-em-up games, that’s not what we envision.”"

If the game gets developed, Bettman alluded to the structure of what the eNHL league could look like as well.

"“We envision something that would augment a fan’s affinity to his team because ultimately I could envision a league-wide competition where each club runs a competition to see who will be represented in the equivalent of our championship but for our eSport game,” Bettman stated."

That format is extremely similar to something the National Football League has done on a smaller basis this year, as eight NFL teams participated in the Madden Club Series. The individual franchises held their own local tournaments in a pool of qualified Madden players. The teams then sent their individual champions representing those teams to participate in a bracket against each other.

The big difference between this and what Bettman suggests is that the Madden Club Series pitted individual players against each other, while Bettman’s vision includes teams of six players. Bettman’s vision also resembles what we know so far about something that is much more imminent; the NBA 2k eLeague.

The NBA 2k eLeague is set to debut next summer, and Grousbeck gave fans some idea of what it will look like on a Forbes SportsMoney podcast.

"We think the economics are real. The teams will each opt-in. The Celtics will be opting in. There will be an eCeltics. We will find players, we will compensate these players. We’ll house them in Boston. They’ll be a team. They will train. There’s training for this. And then we’ll go compete against the other NBA teams in 2K…We will stream these matches."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that the NBA 2k eLeague’s initial season will feature eight to 12 teams, and some of those have already been identified as the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors.

Putting these comments together like pieces of a puzzle, the image is starting to take shape. It looks a lot like the current structure of physical sports.

What the eNBA and eNHL could look like in the future

At some point, all 30 NBA and 31 NHL franchises (assuming no further expansion in either league by then) will have a roster of players under contract and earning an annual salary. The players will be clad in uniforms featuring team logos. The teams will practice and play a full season’s worth of games against each other. There will be a regular season leading up to a postseason and a championship. There’ll be trades and free agency.

In exchange for that investment, the teams will look to profit off these competitions in similar ways. Broadcast and streaming rights for the competitions will be sold. The sponsorship of in-game activations in the arenas will be sold. Tickets will be sold, along with merchandise. The names and faces of successful players will be pushed on advertising and social media channels to the point where they are widely recognized.

Going with this format makes sense because it’s what both fans and teams are familiar with. The teams have running their business this way down to a science, and fans are accustomed to the format. There are advantages to eSports over physical sports. Players don’t command as salaries that are as high as their physical sports counterparts do (yet) and there are no unions for eSports players (again, as of right now). For fans, an example of one big advantage is that the electronic Golden State Warriors won’t feel a need to rest the electronic versions of Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Top-level competition on a nightly basis in both leagues will be more of a sure thing.

If a parent, teacher or any other adult ever told you when you were growing up that no one will ever make a living playing basketball or hockey video games, remember; they also used to say that you won’t always have a calculator in your pocket. There will be an eNBA and an eNHL, it’s just a matter of how soon.