Tom Rogers: Well, in delivering an end-to-end solution, I outlined a number of those elements in my remarks. But the combined company’s ability to be able to offer brands a strategic evaluation, content development and production, live experiences that are another way of bringing about connectivity to youth audiences, creator activations, amplification of that through a very broad influencer and advertising set of networks, combine that with the technology platforms that we provide in terms of analytics and optimization tools, and you really have the ability to bring a brand or sponsor from strategic development all the way through to activations within the very scaled reach that GameSquare already has and through our technology platforms, be able to navigate through other distribution paths to further enhance the connection to youth audiences at scale.
So, that’s one major way to look at how unique that is. Then you look at the areas where the combined company would touch on gaming, sports, music, various forms, other forms of media and youth culture and you get a wide range of content areas that youth audiences can be connected through. And then think further in terms of authenticity, which is obviously critical in terms of the value of the engagements that you’re getting from those audience and just think about the headquarters of the combined company being embedded with the Dallas Cowboys’ players facilities, which is also the home of the Complicity esports team owned by the combined company. And you get that sports/eSports authenticity, I think, coming through by virtue of the company cultures.
And the two companies, as indicated before, are already working with a wide range of premium advertising brands, across many categories, across gaming, across consumer packaged goods, across the media world, the food and beverage sector, the apparel sector, the hardware sector, and other industries, in connecting younger audiences at scale. So there’s already deep experience across a broad range of sponsors, with the kind of needs that they have in being able to bring their messaging to a youth audience. So, you put all that together and we just don’t see another peer company with a group that you and other analysts often point to when comparing companies that come close to being able to offer what we see the combined company being able to offer.
Michael Kupinski: You mentioned are creating a scale play to reach the and engage these young audiences. And I was wondering if you can just talk a little bit more about how you look at the eSports in terms of its scaled reach. And as you mentioned, traditional media outlets are challenged in delivering the millennials and Gen Z audiences. What are you seeing in terms of eSports that make it a valuable substitute?
Tom Rogers: Well, I’m glad you touched on that because some think, to some extent, at least, that the bloom has come off the rose with respect to certain elements of the eSports world. And I think, in really assessing the value of eSports to the combined company, you need to define how you’re looking to monetize eSports. Very important to point out, this isn’t about consumer facing eSports tournaments and contests where the goal is to drive revenue through some kind of consumer fee payment. That isn’t what the goals of this merger is about. We spent a lot of time measuring eSports. Obviously, GameSquare has an esports team that’s highly noteworthy. This is about using the extensive reach of eSports as a vehicle for marketers to connect to younger audience.
In the context of a marketing and advertising reach orientation, where as you say, it can easily be looked at as a substitute for what legacy media can no longer deliver in the way that it used to. And in that sense, eSports is also a way to attract more creator content and look at as a basis for catalyzing even more influencer connectivity, where the influencers of those world have terrific ability to connect and drive the consumption patterns of younger audiences. In that sense, it’s a very important component of a youth marketing vehicle. It is one, though, I should say, of many other components of the entire combined merger enterprise that will be at work here. And just to give you some sense of the growth of eSports. Stream Hatchet, obviously, chronicles this all the time.
And for the third quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2021 €“ the third quarter of 2022 being the latest report that Stream Hatchet put out, there was a growth from 480 million hours watched globally of eSports across various platforms. And that grew in the third quarter of 2022 to 673 million hours watched, a 40% increase in eSports hours watched globally. That just gives you some sense of what the magnitude is of the potential for using eSports as a vehicle, part of the overall assets that we have to connect youth audiences.
