West Ham news: Kieran Maguire salutes innovative move after ‘total overhaul’ announced
West Ham are smart to diversify their revenue base by expanding into the esports industry.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about gaming as a growth market for Premier League clubs.
The Irons were early adopters of esports and have led the field in terms of innovation within the industry.
The club has gaming-focused social media accounts across various platforms and its own dedicated esports division.
They announced a rebrand of the department last Tuesday (1 February), with the aim of making further strides in the market.
As reported by Esports Insider on Tuesday (8 February), the Premier League will soon launch an official ePremier League in cooperation with BLAST.
Maguire saluted the Hammers for continuing to innovate at a time when the esports market is ballooning in popularity.
“Diversification is a way of de-risking in any form of business,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“To get into esports is logical. To ignore esports is naive of any club. There are a lot of blurred lines about what exactly constitutes an esport.
“But there is no doubt that the Fifa video game series is a hugely lucrative product for EA Sports.
“Therefore, there are ways for clubs to monetise that. That’s presumably what they are trying to do with this total overhaul.
“You can get very good streaming viewing figures and attach your name to that.”
In the regulation Premier League, West Ham beat Watford 1-0 on Tuesday (8 February).
That result leaves them in the top four with 14 games left to play.
In other news, West Ham opening new contract talks with Tomas Soucek