Yahoo eyes eSports entry with Major League Gaming acquisition

US news sources have reported that advertising giant Yahoo Inc has entered talks to acquire eSports organization Major League Gaming.

The news of Yahoo’s interest in entering the eSports market, comes as the media owner posted a Q3 2015 earnings decline with revenue generation well-below analysts’ expectations.

Under pressure Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is reported to want to continue to diversify Yahoo’s core product range and audience with a view of investing in rapidly growing markets such as eSports.

At present no details have been disclosed with regards to Yahoo’s interest in acquiring New York based Major League Gaming.

However commentators believe the interest to be real, as the sector has seen investment from Yahoo tech competitors Amazon and Google, who have market presence through Twitch TV (acquired by Amazon for $1 billion in 2014) and Google’s release of YouTube Gaming Channel.

Looking to build connections with a younger audience, Yahoo announced the re-launch of its Fantasy Sports product in April, with a view to compete against DFS market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings. However the DFS market has entered a period of scrutiny and scepticism following allegations of data conflict by the FanDuel and DraftKings employees.

Yahoo is expected to confirm its interest in acquiring Major League publicly in the coming weeks.