Indeed , Donohue puts the growth of NBA2king the NBA 2K League in partnership partners to the combination of companies who recognize the growth of esports as a market as well as the rapid increase in fan engagement. It's my opinion that it's already being observed, and the increasing fan engagement just fuels the flame.

It was due to the fact that each brand we talked to about partnerships understood that they needed to get involved in esports . They are just trying to figure this out.However, for businesses there is an inherent risk when jumping into the esports industry, which is still in its infancy, something former Golden State Warrior and well-known tech entrepreneur Andre Iguodala once called "the Wild Wild West".

It was worth the risk for the NBA. "It's within the very DNA of the NBA's name and 2K's own brand to be creative" Donohue explains, adding that the NBA owners "realise the future and this will continue to expand. Therefore, I think there's a greater risk of not doing it than actually doing it.

There are fears that esports may be marginal ideas that only attract gamers who are hardcore, but with the potential for commercial success, are a myth that has been proved false. Forbes revealed last year that revenues from esports worldwide were expected to be in excess of $1.1bn by 2019.

Donohue tells me that even over the past three years, three seasons in which I have been talking have been vastly different from the way they were before the league was established. As Warriors Assistant GM Kirk Lacob recently told me the world of Buy 2K MT Xbox esports is "absolutely becoming more mature".