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XLIVE Esports Summit is heading to New York City this year. The conference will run Aug. 22 and 23 and will host speakers from both inside and outside the world of esports.
Discussing the future of esports
The conference is a senior-level forum where members of the esports, traditional sports, and entertainment industries meet to discuss their future intersections. The rapid growth of esports makes these questions more relevant and interesting than ever.
Here’s how XLIVE co-founder and CEO Waco Hoover pitched this year’s conference in an interview with Esports Insider:
“XLIVE is focused on creating extraordinary live event experiences, and one of the key tenants of esports is the live event component. We work across not only esports but are able to draw upon knowledge and resources from traditional sports, music festivals, food, beer & wine festivals, brands that host their own events along with a huge emphasis on event tech that connects all these live event markets.
Because we have deep relationships in these tangential markets we can incorporate learning and best practices that are relevant to the esports community. The ability to learn from outside your own industry, from relevant stakeholders offers more opportunity for innovation.”
For the last 14 years, XLIVE has been serving as a resource and information provider for the live event and esports industries.
According to its announcement, the event will bring together esports team owners and players, venue operators, tournament organizers, broadcasters, sponsors, agencies, legal experts, consultants, product developers, venture capitalists, and professional sports teams investing in esports.
An extensive speaker list
To include perspectives from various industries, the event features more than 175 senior executives from both inside and outside of esports. By putting together know-how from different fields, the organizers are convinced there will be positive spillover effects.
For example, Hoover says traditional sports and music festivals are two segments from which esports can learn many valuable lessons.
“While esports is growing rapidly, it also still has a lot to learn as a community which represents tremendous opportunity,” he said. “Pooling insights from analogous areas is powerful because teams versed in analogous fields are not mentally constrained by existing, ‘known’ solutions to the problem in the target area and can draw on different pools of knowledge.”
The current list of featured speakers includes:
- Christina Alejandre from Turner Sports
- Craig Levine from ESL and Turtle Entertainment
- Patrick Chapman from Facebook
- Keith Sheldon from Barclays Center
- Mike Tubman from Buffalo Wild Wings
- Manny Anekal from TNL Media and Versus Sports
- Nate Eckmann from Ultimate Media Ventures
- Robby Ringnalda from Denial Esports
- Max Brown from Events DC
- Ryan Morrison from Evolved Talent Agency
- Saira Mueller from Dot Esports
Esports conferences on the rise
Along with XLIVE Esports Summit, other esports-focused conferences have been announced recently. Betting on Esports, for example, is heading to London this September. It will feature many industry experts and panel discussions about the hottest topics in the industry.
Moreover, London already hosted a conference on esports this year. In April, eSCon Europe provided valuable insights on the industry’s status quo. With esports reaching new highs year after year, it’s no surprise the field is generating so much interest.
