U of G Prof. Norm O’Reilly, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, is featured in a recent Sports Illustrated article related to sports sponsorships and COVID-19.

According to the article,  the sports hiatus the pandemic caused upended sponsorship activity, canceling or postponing much of it. There was an expectation that sponsorships would shift dramatically to e-sports – competitive, multiplayer video games with spectators.

O’Reilly is quoted in the magazine saying that the sponsorship community has long believed that the e-sports business was ready to explode and that COVID-19 would accelerate the shift away from traditional sports. But that has not been happening.

O’Reilly is director of the International Institute for Sport Business and Leadership in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management.