This morning Major League Gaming, an e-sports company, launched an application for the Xbox 360 console.
The app will bring content from MLG’s MLG.tv gaming network of streams and tournaments and shows to the living room. Put more simply, MLG is opening the door to more viewership for content that it already creates. The percentage of viewers of MLG content on PCs that also have an Xbox I’d venture is high.
While the Xbox One has supplanted the 360 as Microsoft’s newest gaming device, the older device has a far larger install footprint.
MLG.tv has been an important success for MLG, driving the company to the point of being EBITA positive. MLG reaffirmed to TechCrunch that it expects to remain EBITA positive for the next few quarters.
MLG.tv matters as it has let the company control its content delivery system completely. This allows MLG to better monetize their traffic. The CPM rates that the company can charge are slightly eye popping. Here’s MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni speaking to onGamers:
MLG: Here are the ranges. Typical programming is a $25 CPM. Championship stuff is $45-50. Full-length trailer stuff is $80-90, and we’ve seen things top at $100. Our rate card typically has three or four CPM levels in it, but never for video below $25. It doesn’t mean we’ll never have video below $25 because the direct sold is never going to be 100% all the time, but that’s what we’re tracking towards.
And that content will now find its way onto Xbox 360 consoles in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK. MLG is working on a mobile app and an Xbox One app, unsurprisingly.
How quickly has MLG.tv grown? According to the company, from December to February “video consumption” on the platform rose 760%. Of course, when a product is new — MLG.tv launched in November — it isn’t hard to bounce your percentage figures, but it’s still a fine delta.
MLG, after a decade of life and $69 million in venture capital, appears to have found a model that is both sustainable, profitable, and growing quickly. Tenacity sometimes wins.
Top Image Credit: MLG.