Wednesday’s announcement that Walt Disney Co. agreed to a deal with Activision Blizzard Inc. to broadcast the playoffs of the Overwatch League on ESPN continued a yearlong windfall for the video game maker and its peers. Activision shares rose as much as 3% to a record high Thursday and are up 27% in 2018.

“We view reaching audiences through linear media as the key next step in legitimizing and monetizing eSports,” Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak wrote in a note reiterating his overweight rating on the stock. “We continue to see licensing and streaming revenue as the largest component of Overwatch League monetization,” he added.

Activision is not alone in riding the eSports wave. Competitor Electronic Arts Inc. has jumped 41% to a record high this year thanks in part to gaming popularity. After the real World Cup ends this weekend, EA’s FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 championship will take place Aug. 4 at London’s 20,000-seat O2 venue.

Activision started the Overwatch League in January after releasing the game in 2016. It has already become wildly popular thanks to its team-based multiplayer style. Tickets to the Grand Finals July 28 are sold out at the Barclays Center in New York but are going for US$143 on StubHub, more than the cost to go to the average Brooklyn Nets basketball game in the same arena.

The Overwatch League is not the only asset that can spur growth for Activision. KeyBanc analyst Evan Wingren wrote in a note that Activision’s mobile subsidiary, King, has been testing video ads. “Bringing rich Activision and Blizzard IP to new mobile games is a large opportunity set that is untapped to date,” he added.

Wingren and Nowak are among the 22 analysts with the equivalent of a buy rating on Activision’s stock, which has eight holds and no sells with an average price target of about US$78.