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Activision Blizzard names ex Fox Sports exec as CEO of esports division

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 2 min

Activision Blizzard has named former Fox Sports executive Pete Vlastelica as president and CEO of its Major League Gaming esports division.

Pete Vlastelica, CEO of MLG
Pete Vlastelica, CEO of MLG

The move is aimed at creating an all-star esports executive team as fans embrace the idea of spectating major gaming events. Market research SuperData says that the global esports market is expected to grow from $892 million in 2016 to $1.23 billion by 2019.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.