The global esports market is set to grow to $3 billion in value come 2027, with most of its revenue counting on China. It’s no wonder then that investors are displaying a great appetite, trying to get in on the action in the Asian eSports industry.

Stepping into the boom, sports prediction platform SportsHero (ASX: SHO) has announced the execution of a three-year legally binding agreement with the popular Hong Kong-based TALON Esports Limited.

TALON is a highly-regarded figure in the eSports industry, most notably for its PSG TALON team that competes in the game, League of Legends. The team is in partnership with Paris Saint-Germain, the legendary French sports club’s eSports division. Since its establishment in 2017, TALON has garnered a substantial following in the Asia Pacific region, with over 20.2 million fans across all channels, including players and influencers. It has also formed partnerships with renowned companies such as Animoca Brands, PSG, Nike, KFC, and Mastercard.

As part of the agreement, TALON Esports will white label, market and scale SportsHero’s proprietary esports prediction and tournament management app in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and India.

In the last 12 months with 23 TALON-owned and managed social channels in 7 different languages across 7 different markets, the company has achieved over 61 million average monthly impressions across all TALON channels, over 10.1 million average monthly views across all TALON live and video content, and over 4,000 pieces of content produced per month across the entire network.

TALON Esports will promote the App through its partners and to its 20m+ fan base (including players and influencers) by engaging its digital sporting and entertainment network as well as activating its entire suite of social media assets.

This agreement comes at a crucial time for SportsHero, since it is coming on the heels of a grim H1 FY23. The Company’s revenue declined 59% to $18.3k, and its losses shot up by 55% to $1.6 million.

SportsHero has agreed to give TALON 10 million free options to purchase fully paid ordinary shares in SportsHero, subject to ASX Listing Rules compliance. The options will be exercisable at different prices and will expire three years from their issue date: 2.5 million options at $0.05, 2.5 million options at $0.10, and 5 million options at $0.15. In return, SportsHero will receive a 50% share of all revenue generated from its app

While Talon is a big name to collaborate with, some shareholders fear that SportsHero may be getting the shorter end of the deal, with only a 50% share against 10 million free options to Talon. But at least SportsHero will benefit from the name association with Paris Saint Germain for the next three years.