Index to underlie the first eSports ETF on London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse Xetra
FRANKFURT, Germany–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, MV Index Solutions (MVIS) announced the licensing of the MVIS Global Video Gaming & eSports Index (MVESPO) to VanEck for the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports UCITS ETF (ISIN: IE00BYWQWR46). The newly listed ETF is the second product issued by VanEck based on the MVIS Global Video Gaming & eSports Index. The index has been underlying a U.S.-listed VanEck Vectors ETF since October 2018. With MVIS’ index as underlying, VanEck now offers the first ETF in this innovative business segment on London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse Xetra.
MVESPO is a pure-play index which tracks the performance of the global companies which generate at least 50% of their revenues from the video gaming and eSports sector. These companies may include those that develop video games and related software/hardware, streaming services, and are involved in eSports events. ESports is the sport of the digital generation and has grown from having a niche existence to becoming a mass phenomenon that is followed by millions of viewers on a daily basis via live streaming or in event halls.
“The video game and eSports industry has grown faster than expected in recent years. The growth is supported by new technologies, which has led to a massive number of over one billion players worldwide today,” said Thomas Kettner, Managing Director at MV Index Solutions. “MVIS’ innovative index approach is based on a pure-play concept and focuses on liquidity, diversification and transparency, which makes our index unique.”
“Just a few years ago, the success story of sold-out stadiums, millions of viewers, high-calibre sponsors and notable marketing activities was centred around football, baseball, basketball and hockey. But today, it is just as focused upon the world of video gaming and eSports,” explains Ed Lopez, Head of ETF Product at VanEck.
The video gaming market is in a phase of transformational growth and is expected to generate revenues of almost USD $150 billion in 2019, representing an increase of around ten per cent compared with 2018. One of the growth drivers for the sector is the rise of professional, competitive video gaming. For example, while the NFL Superbowl in 2018 achieved around 106 million US viewers, around 100 million people around the world watched the final of the “League of Legends 2018 World Championships.” This year, up to 454 million viewers could be reached through professional eSports events.
“We expect that established video gaming companies will benefit most from the rise in eSports, through partnerships, league ownership, sponsoring, franchising and other marketing measures. ESports has brought video gaming out of the living room and into the stadiums,” says Lopez. Since 2015, eSports has recorded an average revenue growth of almost 40 per cent and is benefiting from a young and wealthy audience.
MVIS Global Video Gaming & eSports Index launched on 16 July 2018 is MVIS’ first technology focused index and complements the range of MVIS sector indices. The index is weighted by free float market capitalisation and is calculated in U.S. Dollar as a price and a total return net index. Capping factors are applied to avoid overweighting of single index companies. The index is reviewed quarterly. Detailed information about the MVIS Global Video Gaming and eSports Index including methodology details and index data are available on MV Index Solutions website.
Key Index Features
Full Market Capitalisation (bn USD): 895.6
Number of Components: 25
Base Date/Base Value: 31.12.2014/1000
Top 5 Companies by Weighting: Tencent Holdings Ltd. (8.34%), Nvidia Corp. (8.24%), Electronic Arts Inc (6.85%), Advanced Micro Devices (6.28%), Activision Blizzard Inc. (6.19%)
(Data as of 24 June 2019)
Note to Editors:
MV Index Solutions (MVIS®) develops, monitors and licenses the MVIS Indices, a selection of focused, investable and diversified benchmark indices. The indices are especially designed to underlie financial products. MVIS Indices cover several asset classes, including equity, fixed income markets and digital assets and are licensed to serve as underlying indices for financial products.
Approximately USD 13.69 billion in assets under management are currently invested in financial products based on MVIS Indices. MVIS is a VanEck company.
Contacts
Media
Nibha Manandhar, MV Index Solutions
+49 (0)69 4056 695 22
media-enquiries@mvis-indices.com
