According to Newzoo, the global esports audience will reach 453.8 million by the end of this year. As the booming esports industry increasingly takes over mainstream mass media and entertainment, and especially with the rise of mobile gaming, global brands will benefit by expanding their presence in the world of competitive esports. News and broadcast leaders can positively influence the connected and interactive future of entertainment by making esports coverage more accessible across the globe.

The following Latinx leaders are utilizing their skills and expertise in broadcasting and mobile to enhance the availability of esports for Latinx communities worldwide. 

Eli Velazquez, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, EVP of Sports Content

Eli Velazquez launched his career at Univision Communications, and transitioned to NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises as Senior Producer for the network’s first-ever Olympics coverage of Athens. His decorated background in journalism includes Emmy Awards™ for coverage of the Beijing and London Olympics in 2008 and 2012 respectively. Velasquez also executive produced the Rio Olympics in 2016, earning his 3rd Emmy™ for Outstanding Studio Show in Spanish. 

This year, Telemundo Deportes launched the first Spanish-language esports streaming channel in the United States, a testament to the growing popularity of organized gaming competitions. Competition coverage kicked off with the EA Sports FIFA19 FUT Champions Cup.

“The launch of Telemundo Deportes esports channel strengthens our leadership position in the esports space and gives us an opportunity to further connect with the Hispanic, multicultural gaming audience,” Velasquez said. He is excited to make a valuable impact on the connected future of entertainment by making esports coverage more accessible to the Latinx community around the world.

Javier Ferreira, Scopely Co-CEO 

Javier Ferriera is a digital media and technology professional with over 15 years of experience as a leader in the gaming industry. His gaming career began at Telefónica Mobile, after which he held executive positions at EA, Disney Interactive, and TF Artes Gráficas. Since joining Scopely in 2014, Ferriera has helped the company achieve accolades and recognition, including Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” Entrepreneur’s “30 Startups to Watch,” and Inc. Magazine’s “Inc. 5000” as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America.

Ferreira loves working in mobile gaming as opposed to traditional gaming and media, because mobile businesses are data-driven and investments can be spread across multiple launches. 

“Mobile games have gone from being a smaller category in the gaming world to the dominant platform,” he remarked in an interview with VentureBeat. “We’re living in a world of mobile first, which is very different from where we were a few years ago.” 

With Ferreira at the helm, Scopely expanded into Barcelona this year, tapping into the tech hub’s high-quality technical talent pool. Mobile is the only truly connected platform in gaming and it can be harnessed to create more content across diverse categories for players around the world. Ferreira strives to use the power of mobile connectivity to empower accessibility for European markets, especially in the Latin American region.