Seven readies eSports platform ScreenPlay
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Rebecca Hawkes
| 27 June 2017

Australian free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster Seven has secured a foundation partner in St George Bank for its nascent eSports platform ScreenPlay, which is set for launch on 29 June.

Seven’s ScreenPlay will run gaming content across several digital and social media channels, including a weekly magazine style show on the 7 mate channel. Former Good Game hosts Stephanie Bendixsen and Nich Richardson will cover news, reviews, live streams, game plays, interviews and cosplay for the eSports platform.

The partnership is designed to enable the next stage of a long-term strategic rollout for the multichannel platform, said Seven West Media chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette. “ScreenPlay is already creating an authentic connection direct to the eSport and gaming community in a way never seen before in this country.”

The social, ‘mobile first’ platform will be available online at screenPLAY.seven, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Twitch.

“Esports audiences are not your typical linear TV consumers, and brands who want to reach them are utilising incremental budgets to go and find them because they are attractive young adults,” Seven chief digital officer Clive Dickens told AdNews.

The worldwide gaming industry hit US$91 billion in revenues in 2016, and Australia’s broadband network nbn estimated that there are 1.5 million eSports fans in Australia in its recent Future of Sport report. In May, the inaugural Intel Extreme Masters event in Sydney attracted 15,000 fans.

“We’re really excited to partner with Seven and support a growing industry that Aussie families enjoy,” says Ross Miller, general manager for retail banking, St George. “St George has a long history of supporting community sports and eSports is no different. We’re proud to be the first bank in Australia to back eSports and help take it to the next level.”