Univision website will cover e-sports

Univision’s Fusion Media Group introduced a website dedicated to covering esports, its first new media property since buying bankrupt Gawker Media last year.

Editors of the sports website Deadspin and gamingthemed Kotaku will run the new publication, called Compete, starting with two fulltime writers who will cover the news and culture of competitive video gaming.

Gillette, the razor maker owned by Procter & Gamble Co., will be the sole advertiser for the first six months.

Univision Holdings, owner of Fusion Media Group, will attempt to make money from branded content, or advertising that resembles articles, and live events, including possibly hosting its own video-game tournament.

Univision’s new website marks the latest attempt by media companies and sports leagues to capitalize on the growing popularity of esports, where video-game experts compete in tournaments for thousands of dollars in prize money.

Market research firm Newzoo estimates that competitive video gaming will be a $1 billion industry by 2019.

ESPN launched a website last year to cover e-sports. The NBA is creating a new division for players who excel at video-game basketball. Turner Broadcasting and WME IMG, the talent agency and media company, created a competitive video-gaming league last year to attract new viewers — mostly young men — who have become elusive for networks and advertisers because they don’t watch traditional TV.

Deadspin editor-in-chief Tim Marchman said he envisions Compete covering both lighter fare, like whether video gamers sweat a lot while playing, and more serious topics, like “the corrupting power of television money.”

Early articles on Compete include recaps of video-game tournaments and feature stories, including a profile of a gamer who confronts a hacker who impersonated him, and an interview with one of the world’s top players of Street Fighter.

“I’d like it to appeal to people who are watching Twitch streams for five hours a day and to people who don’t really get what this is about but see big TV networks airing this as a spectator sport and want to find out why it might be worth their time,” Marchman said.

The fact that Gillette, which has a long history in sports marketing, is sponsoring an e-sports website is another sign that competitive video gaming has gone mainstream, said Mia Libby, senior vice president of advertising sales at Fusion Media Group.

Gillette also sponsors an e-sports player, Enrique Cedeno, and a major video game tournament in Poland.