What’s E-Sports All About?
A couple of years ago, the word eSports would have raised some eyebrows. The culture of gaming definitely was thriving but it was a different environment. There were a lot of people who just liked playing games for fun. Out of nowhere, the eSports industry materialized after decades of passionate gamers competing at LAN parties and online or at home. Today there are many agencies and brands jumping on board as interest and popularity escalate.
Why? Interest, Viewership, and Impressionability.
The business of eSports is ready to explode.
Which brands are getting involved?
Not just any brands are getting involved either. Major players like Microsoft, Intel, Razer, Starbucks, VW, Mountain Dew, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, BMW, Monster, Logitech, and Best Buy just to name a few.
The Industry is Seeing an Increase in Sponsorship Revenue, New Demographics Emerge
71% of the current industry valuation comes from advertising and sponsorships, which is about 350 million dollars. These sponsorship dollars come from game publishers who have been using esports as a means to increase the shelf-life of their game’s popularity and to appeal to players of other games, gaming companies, as well as non-gaming brands. Marketers in a variety of industries are seeing eSports as a medium for reaching younger, more digitally oriented customers.
eSports Events are Generating a Buzz
Recently a sold-out crowd packed into Seattle’s KeyArena to watch the world’s best complete. Inside the arena, Jersey-clad patrons screamed with anticipation and excitement. There was a hype a man. Eyes were fixed on the giant jumbotron to watch their favorite competitors play online. The main attraction of the event? Dota2. Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena. For some players, this game is their livelihood. With a $20,770,460 purse for the event and nearly 10 million dollars at stake, you can see why this can be a stressful career for many gamers.
The popularity of events in eSports is on the rise as well as these events begin to sell out arenas across the globe. Last year esports events comfortably sold out key arena, nationwide arena, staples center in Los Angeles, and Madison Square Garden in New York
There are more ways to watch
The primary attribute of the industry’s fanbase is its youth. It comes as no surprise that the most who watch espots live stream it on sites like twitch, youtube gaming, hitbox and mirrativ. Twitch which amazon acquired in 2014 for around a billion dollars receives 2.1 million unique streamers per month. It’s 84th on the Alexa ranking of the worlds most popular web pages, one spot ahead of New York Times. Not only are the online streams available but esports is beginning to make its way over to cable television. ESPN aired the Evolution Championship Series of fighting games and ESPN.com launched an esports vertical on its site. BBC and Yahoo are also broadcasting the sport on their websites.
The Competitive Gaming Market
What’s interesting is that there are financial institutions who are beginning to take notice in the popularity and interest of eSports. Financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, who recently valued the eSports market at $500 million, last year. They’re expecting the market to grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into more than a billion dollars.
What are some brands doing to support the eSports scene?
Mountain Dew, for example, is sponsoring three squads, Team Dignitas, Splyce, and Team SK Gaming. These new partnerships provide fans with exclusive content and access to some of the best players and eSports celebrities in the world via the mountain dew twitch channel.
Even some unexpected brands are getting involved in the eSports scene:
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The NBA, for example, is launching its own eSports league in 2018.
BeCore has worked with several brands involved in the eSports space such as Microsoft, XBox, Red Bull, Mindgamerz, Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, and many others for providing strategy, production, and the management of eSports events across the industry.
If you have questions about experiential marketing in esports contact BeCore today! We’d love to partner with you!