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For CEO Tom Hearne and his team, online esports gaming and betting has the potential to transform how the (younger) world consumes popular culture
Tiidal Gaming Group Corp (CSE:TIDL) CEO Tom Hearne is betting on the promise of esports. And the odds look really good.
For Hearne and his team, online esports gaming and betting have the potential to transform how the (younger) world consumes popular culture.
It also has the potential to enrich companies like Tiidal Gaming and its shareholders should they play the right hands in this burgeoning, multi-billion-dollar industry.
According to research reports, the esports industry is expected to generate nearly $5 billion of revenues by 2030 – a compound annual growth rate of 18%.
“There is a generational opportunity at the intersection of the major secular trends of gaming, media, and betting to build engaging experiences for the next generation of fan and consumer,” said Hearne.
Tiidal Gaming stands at the forefront of the esports industry. It is the holding company for Lazarus Esports, a Canadian professional esports organization that currently fields teams in Apex Legends, PUBG Mobile, Gran Turismo, Crossfire, Super Smash Bros, Ultimate, and a number of other titles with more than 50 digital athletes in 10 countries.
The company is also the owner of Sportsflare, its esports-focused betting and sportsbook platform powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI). The New Zealand-based wholly owned subsidiary that has some 20 software developers on staff is being positioned to be the heart and soul of the company – and its revenue driver.
Hearne sees a future world where esports betting will match or displace traditional sports betting. Gamers can bet on games like CS:GO, LoL, or Dota2 or play head to head in games of Fortnite, Call of Duty, and many new games to come against millions of other like-minded gamers around the world. Add to that tournaments and events.
“We have created the data for providers of gaming environments for people to come and play and create a lot of tournament structures, etc., and maybe some league structures,” the Tiidal Gaming CEO said. “That helps with engagement, and it helps with all aspects of them being able to create that.”
But what is a real game-changer is that the adult gamers can bet on themselves during one-on-one matches with Tiidal Gaming’s Bet on Yourself platform, raising the whole concept of esports to a new level that could eventually rival today’s massive traditional sportsbook industry (run by the big casinos). They can also bet on other gamers.
“If I want to bet you head to head, then I put $10 and you put in $10, the winner will get $19, and the gamer community will keep the $1. It’s not dissimilar to a sportsbook and it allows a little margin for the house, which is putting together the whole system and allowing it to be managed,” he explained.
To help spread the commercialization of its Sportsflare platform, Tiidal Gaming recently teamed up with Skrmiish Limited, an app-driven community gaming platform that allows gamers, streamers, teams, and brands to collaborate, compete and monetize their gaming experiences. The app is built for users to compete in tournaments and bet on player-vs-player and player-vs-environment games.
And like with football, baseball, and other sports, fans and players need data, statistics, news, and real-time commentary. Tidal Gaming technology seeks to provide that as well. Think a Sportradar or STATS of sorts for esports.
“Our Lazarus esports media division is all about engaging players and their audiences and helping expand their followings, helping to make them more popular, and helping them to move their content creation by allowing us to get advertising and be like an agency model for getting them revenue through advertiser sponsors, etc., and keeping obviously a piece of the action for ourselves so that we can fund our business,” he said.
With all that said, Hearne envisions Tiidal Gaming becoming the “engine,” or the supporting infrastructure for the esports world 24 hours a day, seven days a week – namely account verification, pricing, risk management, bet settlement, and match data solutions. That’s essential number crunching to provide the final results in just seconds.
Also, for Tiidal Gaming, the data it generates through player and fan engagement are key. It uses that data and analytics to provide predictive and prescriptive models as well as win-probability applications and statistics for teams, media, fans, and bettors. Also, that includes customized probability engine, interactive sports matchup models, spread, and over/under distributions.
But another key component of Tiidal Gaming’s technology and services is game play, which means ensuring fair play and guarding against cheaters.
“I could go into a poker room online and play,” Hearne said, “but I have no idea who’s sitting there … (whether) I’m playing against a group of equals?”
To ensure fair play, Sportsflare’s platform matches players according to skill to level to even out the odds and prevent more skilled players from taking advantage of weaker gamers.
Looking to expand operations with the right leadership, Tiidal Gaming hired Hearne as CEO in January 2022, given his specialty in growing early startup companies to IPO’s and successfully conducting financing schemes. Most recently, Hearne was CFO for esports media company TheScore, and the pari-mutuel betting company Sportech.
Going forward, Hearne said the company’s strategy is to expand operations in its home market of Ontario – which just legalized sports gambling – and the massive and lucrative US market as well as select markets in Africa and Europe.
“I think there’s a lot of room to maneuver in the market space, and it’s just going to be all about how we play out and fill out our books and build out some new products that will allow us to expand what we’re doing in the esports space,” he said.
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The above has been published by Proactive Investors Limited (the «Company») on its website and is made available subject to the terms and conditions of use of its website (see T&C ). …
Tiidal Gaming Group Corp (CSE:TIDL) CEO Tom Hearne tells Proactive that its wholly-owned division Sportsflare has signed a partnership agreement with Skirmish Limited, an app-driven community gaming platform based in the Isle of Man. Launched globally in January 2021, Skrmiish is the first…
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