ESPORTS

AN EXPLORATION OF THE GROWING

ESPORTS LANDSCAPE AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETERS

August 2016
 A primer on the hot spectator sport making headlines this
INTRODUCTION
year—esports

ABOUT ESPORTS & THE A look at the history, the terminology, genres and the rise
RISE OF GAMING in popularity of esports

GAMERS & SPECTATORS A deep dive on the esports consumer including

demographics, usage and brand preferences

Understanding the esports ecosystem regarding

COMMUNITIES & CULTURE
partnerships and platforms

BRANDS GET IN THE GAME How brands can and should get involved

CONSIDERATIONS: HOW What marketers should keep in mind when considering

TO DO ESPORTS RIGHT esports opportunities

The most important points marketers should take with

KEY TAKEAWAYS
them regarding esports

2
 INTRODUCTION

There is a hot spectator sport making news this year and it is on its
way to becoming a billion dollar industry. It has professional
competitors, millions of fans, enviable viewership, millions of dollars
in championship prizes and regularly sells out arenas. It is more
watched than the World Series and the NCAA Final Four. We are not
talking about the NFL—we are talking about electronic sports, also
known as esports.

Esports (defined as competitive online video gaming) has not only

become a cultural phenomenon, but also offers opportunities for
brands to reach a unique community of fans.

Like many popular sports, a tremendous business ecosystem has been

built around esports (a subset of gaming). Game publishers, hardware
manufacturers, formal leagues, tournaments, connected play and
streaming platforms serve a growing customer and viewership base of
millions. Analysts believe the total worldwide market for esports will
surpass $700 million in 2016, while viewership – at 214 million today –
will cross 303 million by 2019.1

From its roots in geek culture to its increasing mainstream popularity,

gamers and esports fans participate in a strong community that
despises inauthenticity and is quick to reject a relationship with
brands that do not deliver a clear value. This offers both opportunity
and challenges for advertisers to connect with esports’ young, tech-
savvy and mostly male audience, a demographic that is increasingly
avoiding brand messaging on many platforms. Establishing
relationships with major league sports have proven to be an effective
channel through which to attain reach and build equity, and esports is
no different with its vast and scalable universe of opportunity.

This Spotlight On Esports explores the rapidly evolving world of

gaming and esports, including how the landscape is primed for
growth, a deep dive into the esports audience and considerations for
how brands can get some gameplay!

1. "Worldwide esports market report,” SuperData Research, July 2016.

 ABOUT ESPORTS &
THE RISE OF GAMING

FROM THE ARCADE TO THE ARENA

The popularity of video game spectating first arose in the arcades of the 70s and 80s - think Pac-Man and
Space Invaders. Over the decades, games have become more sophisticated and accessible to a wider
audience, with 80% of U.S. households owning a gaming device, according to the Entertainment Software
Association.

Today, global esports fandom is a natural extension of that uncanny pleasure, with esports fans watching as
experts tackle popular games. Online platforms, such as Twitch, and connected consoles link competitors
across geographies to play mega hit titles, and spectating has blossomed online to support them. Now,
communities of players and fans (and brands) spend hours a day streaming game content and posting
comments during live gameplay. According to industry analysts at SuperData Research, 214M people
worldwide are watching esports1; with its growth rooted in social media and driven by a market of
blockbuster titles.

For those new to gaming, the marketplace and culture can be daunting. There is no shortage of specific
terminology and technical jargon to learn about the space, making the opportunity hard to grasp but still
very real. Let’s start at the beginning with a brief history…

Considered the pioneer

of professional video
game tournaments, the
Cyberathlete
Professional League
(CPL) is founded with Blizzard releases the first StarCraft. By
Atari holds the Space prizes worth $4K. 2004, it will sell 9.5M copies, with half XBOX Live launches, accelerating
Invaders Tournament, the of sales in South Korea alone. multiplayer online gameplay
first video game through a connected console and
competition. Attracting PC platform.
10,000+ participants
worldwide, others follow
with similar events over the
coming years, sowing the
seeds of what would Intel sponsors the Intel Extreme Masters
eventually become esports. (IEM) in Seattle, WA, now the longest- Amazon buys Twitch in a $970
running esports tournament. Red Bull million deal in August. By
enters esports, working with pro gamers December, Twitch is averaging
like Halo legend David “Walshy” Walsh. 100 million viewers per month
Twitch, a dedicated worldwide. The League of
gameplay Legends World Championships
live-streaming packs a stadium in South Korea
platform, launches with 40K fans, and attracts 27M
in public beta. live viewers worldwide.
Riot Games releases the
multiplayer online arena The U.S. State ESPN.com launches esports vertical.
game League of Legends. Department begins
Within 5 years, LoL reaches granting visas to The first ELEAGUE TV broadcast begins on TBS.
27M daily players and 67M professional gamers under
the same program used At E3, Facebook and Activision Blizzard announce a
players monthly. partnership to stream league gameplay within Facebook.
by traditional athletes.

4 1. "Esports market goes mainstream as viewership reaches 214M" SuperData Research. July 2016.
 ABOUT ESPORTS &
THE RISE OF GAMING

ARE ELECTRONIC SPORTS REALLY A SPORT?

A simple definition of esports is competitive video gameplay between internet-connected
players, and the fandom that cheers them on. Outside observers may debate if that meets
their definition of sport, but the market has clearly decided – the answer is yes!
Success as a gamer requires many of the same key qualities as “traditional” athletes: skill,
strategy and competence earned through practice and dedication. For the audience, the
drama of sport is all there—the excitement of watching elite players, the experience of
camaraderie in cheering along with a community of fans and the thrill of following the
competition live as it happens.

POPULAR ESPORTS GAMING GENRES

Despite the fact that esports does categorize as a sport,

esports gameplay is as unique as its fan base with
ambitious titles, creative storylines and realistic worlds.
Gaming titles fall in one of the below categories:
First Person Shooter (FPS) – In first-person perspective
[think of the player seeing digital versions of their hands
with a weapon] characters move through environments,
clearing them of enemies. Popular titles include the Call
of Duty franchise and CounterStrike. This is the most
popular genre for play, across ages, genders and self-
identified casual and hardcore gamers.
An in-game screen capture of Starcraft,
Real Time Strategy (RTS) – Characterized by continuous a real time strategy game
play within a changing map, where players build units and
control territory while subverting the efforts of their
competitors to do the same. StarCraft, hugely popular in
Korea, is a defining example of the genre.
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) – A sub-genre
of RTS, MOBA games take place between teams who
must defend territory and take out the home base of their
opponents within a set arena. These games are the
second most common format, and the most popular
among 18-24 year olds. MOBA is the only format more
watched than played. League of Legends and DOTA are
two hit titles.
Fighting – Head-to-head combat games like Mortal
Kombat and Street Fighter. As the name implies, they An in-game screen capture of CounterStrike:
tend to be violent, blood-splattered affairs, but can also Global Offensive, a first person shooter game
be cartoonish and comical, like Super Smash Bros.

5
 GAMERS &
SPECTATORS

GAMERS ARE A DIVERSE GROUP

“Gamer” is a general term; it can refer to people who play any and all video games, including mobile and
casual social games. Those who identify as gamers can be players and fans, or just people who feel at home
within gaming culture. When we talk specifically about the esports audience, we are usually talking about
the coveted Millennial male. However, despite the fact that they are young, they are not juvenile, rather
they are tech-savvy, educated and have a lot of spending power.
A recent study by Group M’s Mindshare found that 60% of esports fans are between the ages of 25 and
39.

of esports fans are Millennial of total esports fans are

males, and have a higher women– equal to the share
household income than the of audience made up of
U.S. average.1 women of the NBA & MLB.2

ESPORTS VS. TRADITIONAL SPORTS CONSUMERS

Because of their similar nomenclature, it is inevitable that we compare esports and the traditional sport
landscape. While one might assume overlap in consumer audience, there are distinct characteristics of each
that are important for marketers to understand.
An MEC Consumer Pulse study found that esports viewers skew younger and male, in addition to being more
ethnically diverse and tech-savvy, however they are driven by emerging platforms and new tech, making
them an ideal candidate for the right brands to engage.

Competitive online video gaming Competitive sports such as

NFL, NBA and MLB

Predominately male, 25-34 SHARED TRAITS While still skewing slightly

of age and more ethnically male, traditional sports
diverse—in contrast to the Price conscious, despite viewers are slightly older and
white male stereotype that their spending power more evenly split across males
exists within traditional sports and females than esports
Brand loyal; stick to the
brands they like enjoying While 1 in 2 esports
More tech-savvy, turning
brands that reward loyalty
to online reviews before viewers have a smart TV,
making purchases Frequent users of sports
traditional sports viewers
merchandise; having made do not
purchases in the past
of those who watch esports of those who watch
6 months Traditional sports
say they watch traditional traditional sports say they viewers
sports online are predominately
have played esports 35+ and
have a larger female
population

While 1 in 2 esports
viewers have a smart TV,
6 1-2. MEC Consumer Pulse. July 2016.
traditional sports viewers
 GAMERS &
SPECTATORS

ESPORTS CONSUMERS ARE OPEN TO BRANDS

MEC Consumer Pulse also looked at the psychographics of esports viewers and found that these
tech-savvy consumers are open to non-traditional brand experiences and interactions, offering
opportunities for marketers to leverage emerging platforms and technology to connect in
authentic, experience-driven ways.

are looking to first to buy

try new brands the latest tech

support companies willing to share like products

that support personal info automatically
their causes with brands sent to them

of Millennials prefer brand

logos player uniforms and
gear in-game play

of Millennials do not enjoy brand

sponsored messages by
commentators in-game play

About MEC Consumer Pulse: MEC Consumer Pulse is our agency-driven A&I initiative that gives real insights and data on consumers and
beyond. Sourced from MEC’s proprietary survey, among 2500 respondents in the U.S., fielded between July 4th through July 10th.
 GAMERS &
SPECTATORS

HOW AND WHERE ARE ESPORTS EXPERIENCED?

Despite the intricacies that differentiate gamers from traditional sports fans, the real difference is the ways
in which gamers engage with esports.
• Play: Gamers play most often on PCs and connected consoles.
• Watch: Most eyeballs follow esports through their laptop or desktop browser, or connected TV.
Digital platforms like Twitch – whether on a browser, console or connected TV app – host livestreams
where fans follow the gameplay of their favorite athletes, enjoying both the game action and the picture-
in-picture stream of the players’ reactions.
• Live: Major competitions are growing in popularity in both digital and live attendance, with 112 events
bringing in $20.6M in ticket sales and 25M peak online viewership in 2015, according to Newzoo.

TOP DEVICES MOST FREQUENT GAMERS USE1

PC

Game Console

Smartphone

Wireless Device

Dedicated
Handheld System

1. Entertainment Software Association “Essential Facts 2016”

8
 COMMUNITIES &
CULTURE

A FAMILIAR SPORTS ECOSYSTEM

As reflected in our Consumer Pulse research, esports and traditional sports (e.g. NFL, NBA, MLB) have
more in common than one might think
We approach both kinds of sports with an eye to leveraging powerful equities and opportunities for reach
and relationship-building with the audience. There are broadcasts, uniforms and gear on which to place
logos, and celebrity athletes to sign into endorsement deals.
Newzoo forecasts that the U.S. will generate $175 million in esports revenue in 2016 from online
advertising, sponsorships, media rights, merchandise, tickets and additional publisher investment.1 But
unlike traditional sports, esports is still fragmented across different leagues and titles, without an obvious
NFL or NBA heavyweight to be organizer or gatekeeper. In addition, the variety of popular games mean
there are essentially multiple sub-categories within esports. It is also inherently a digital experience; all
gaming is happening through a screen whether you are watching or playing, in an arena or at home.
Nonetheless, it is a helpful analogy to compare the brand opportunity within esports to traditional field
and court sports.
When it comes to fans, the key differentiator between esports and traditional sports is the crossover
between players and viewers. According to a Nielsen study in 2015, only 10% of esports fans did not
themselves play video games. Imagine if NFL fans hit the gridiron at home at that rate!

ESPORTS VIEWERSHIP IS AN ASPECT OF

GAMING CULTURE
Gamers report a preference for playing and
Esports, as a subset of all gaming, is mostly concerned spectating with friends, either while in the
with rapid-response, high action competitive games. same room or online
According to Newzoo, most esports viewers are
It may not look like the gang on the couch or at
between 21 and 35, with a significant number being
the bar for Sunday Night Football, but esports
Millennial dads. Additionally, while only 30% of esports
livestreaming is inherently a shared social
fans are female, they represent 52% of all video game
experience for fans.
viewers.2 EEDAR’s survey last year found that the most
popular reason MOBA fans watched the games was There are two major viewing platforms that
because they loved watching the world's best players support co-viewing:
(70%), followed by a desire to improve their own game
Twitch originally spun off from Justin.tv, an
(57%) with 55% saying they watch when they cannot
early, general topic livestreaming site created
play. 3
by Stanford graduates. Today, it is the number
one livestreaming destination for esports. In
Surrounding the high-action, competitive culture of
2015, Twitch hit 100 million monthly views.4
esports is the co-viewing and spectating aspect.
Gamers view 421.6 minutes of programming
Spectating is centered around platforms like Twitch,
per month on Twitch.tv, which is far higher
where viewers can subscribe to popular gamers’ feeds
than YouTube’s 291 monthly minutes. The
and regularly participate in community chats as they
social engagement is extreme: Twitch reports
follow the gameplay. In addition to its entertainment
3.6 million average daily chat interactions in
value, Twitch content is engaging because viewers look
the US alone. 5
to it to learn how professional gamer-influencers get
past tricky levels, and thereby increase their own skill YouTube Gaming launched Summer 2015, is a
level. Twitch also hosts on demand content like new slickly designed app and specialized version of
game reviews and reveals, and engages 1.5 million YouTube that has yet to reach Twitch’s
broadcasters. community size, but given parent Alphabet’s
giant reach, we expect big things.6
1 + 3 . "Esports Consumer Analysis White Paper,“ as reported in Polygon. 2015.
2. Free Esports Report: The Valuable Esports Audience." Newzoo. March 2016
4. Twitch internal reporting
9 5. Twitch comScore data, as reported in Tech Crunch, February 2016
6. “YouTube Gaming is a great reminder of everything YouTube already does.” The Verge, September 2016.
 COMMUNITIES &
CULTURE

CROSS PLATFORM VIEWING OF LEAGUE PLAY

The Wall Street Journal has dubbed 2016 a turning point for the industry as several high-profile
partnerships take shape, most notably the ELEAGUE and ESPN’s esports vertical. Both are attempts to
serve the growing fan base of esports with content that mirrors the institutions of traditional sports.
Inevitably, the broad reach of television and mainstream media coverage will lead to an increase in
awareness of esports among the general population.

Like most sports, leagues are useful for helping sponsors connect to viewership at scale, especially
considering the diffuse and fragmented landscape. Each game title or genre has its own universe of
players and fans, with less overlap than you might expect. The star athletes of DOTA and
CounterStrike could be as different and have as little fan overlap as Messi and Brady; they are playing
on completely different fields. Leagues can sit atop these disparate gamer sub-groups, foster
awareness and up the stakes of play.

Major League Gaming, or MLG (now owned by

Activision Blizzard) and Electronic Sports League
(based in Europe) are two incumbent esports leagues,
notable for hosting tournaments in Call of Duty and
League of Legends, respectively. They are joined in
2016 by the ELEAGUE, a partnership between Turner
Sports and WME-IMG that is regularly bringing live
gameplay to television. ELEAGUE and TBS together
host a CounterStrike: Global Offensive team
tournament, one of the most played first-person
shooter games in the world.1 The tournament streams
live Tuesday through Thursday digitally and on
Twitch.tv, and each week the action concludes with a
Friday night live television broadcast on TBS.
At their 2016 digital upfront presentation, Activision
Blizzard announced their own big move, as of June,
MLG game play is streamed live within Facebook and
fans can now find competitions like Call of Duty on the
MLG.tv Facebook account.
Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Credit Karma have
joined as title sponsors for the ELEAGUE in its first
iteration. So far, buzz has been soft on the televised
segments and it has not yet been proven that the
digital audience for esports is looking for opportunities
to move to TV viewing. A second 10-week tournament
is planned for the Fall.

1. "Turner set to unveil televised esports league featuring CS:GO" Daily Dot, September 2015.
10
 BRANDS GET IN
THE GAME

As with traditional sports, an esports strategy can accomplish three brand goals: awareness, affinity
and acquisition
The esports audience is hard to reach for many brands. There is opportunity to engage them by placement
within gaming properties, borrowing equity from popular titles and players and activations. A brand may
not be an obvious “fit” for esports – like hardware peripherals and energy drinks. If the pace of growth
continues, we are not far from an insurance or beauty brand joining the sponsor ranks, just as State Farm
and Cover Girl have found success with the NFL.
How, where and when to pursue an esports strategy will vary significantly by brand and category. Not
enough research has been done to identify true best practices that are specific to esports, which is why we
use experience from traditional sports as a guiding light into this new landscape. Over the last year and a
half, some big names have begun to experiment. We outline a few models and examples below.

MEDIA AND EVENTS

Esports broadcasts feature many of the same advertising options as traditional sports: logos and
branding on set, commentator booths, commercial spots and product placement. Gameplay has few
natural breaks for sponsor messages, unlike the time outs and quarter breaks common to American
football, for example. Also unique is the extent to which spectators are also players themselves. Brand-
led experiences that help the audience connect, especially offline, can be powerful acquisition and
affinity-building activations. Tournaments, conventions and gaming events are growing in popularity,
and bringing in new audiences just as they create opportunities for brands to own a special occasion.
The variety of different popular games means there are several “Super Bowls” a year. Sponsoring a high-
profile annual event is a significant investment in this space and an opportunity to build brand affinity
with the audience.

EXAMPLE: DURACELL
In January 2015, three NFL players, nine pro-gamers and over a million fans
came together on Twitch to test a battery. Recognizing that gaming is a
key market for rechargeable batteries, Duracell created its own event, a
twenty-six hour “Longest Lasting Tournament” for Madden NFL 15, hosted
in partnership with Twitch. Duracell challenged gamers across the country
to beat teams of gaming legends and NFL pros. For the entire 26 hours,
Team Duracell would play with only one set of batteries in their XBOX
controllers. The results of this campaign, as reported by Anthology, were
60,000 Facebook impressions, 262,000 Twitter engagements and a total of
33.3 million social impressions.

EXAMPLE: COKE
A sponsor of League of Legends since 2013, Coke played a
major part in getting fans closer to the action. They
sponsored live viewing parties in movie theatres across the
U.S. for the 2015 League of Legends Championship, held in
South Korea. Every theatre sold out, despite middle-of-the-
night screening times. The tournament lasted 15 days and
brought in a record number of fans.

11
 BRANDS GET IN
THE GAME

SPONSOR A TEAM OR PLAYER

Superstar esports athletes are powerful brand ambassadors. According to the recent Mindshare research,
61% of esports fans said that they see esports players and teams as "moderate" or “major“ celebrities
wielding influence. They may not seem flashy, but pro esports athletes are admired for their skill and for
how they connect with their fans as peers.

EXAMPLE: RED BULL

Making its first steps into esports sponsorship in 2008, Red Bull played a key part in contributing to the
growth of esports in the subsequent years. Renowned for its marketing savvy, Red Bull helped spread the
word about esports and today hosts an online hub for esports news and media. Red Bull was one of the first
non-endemic brands to sponsor professional gamers, using this platform to build reputation and reach with
the audience of mostly young males worldwide.

One of the most biggest names in League of Legends is

Red Bull-sponsored Soren Bjerg, also known as Bjergsen
(his gaming handle), who currently plays for Team
SoloMid, an American LoL club. His influence reaches
300,000 fans on Facebook, and 633,000 Twitter
followers. The real impact is, unsurprisingly, on Twitch,
where his stream counts more than 68 million views and
has more than one million subscribers.

INTEGRATE INTO POPULAR PLATFORMS

Amazon purchased Twitch for nearly $1 billion with a clear sense of its potential as a platform for
connecting brands to the growing esports audience. Twitch attracts millions of eyeballs, and unlike many of
the leagues and game-specific events, the platform draws fans of different games and different levels of
engagement, from casual to more intense or ‘hard-core.’ Because it is the most established and high profile
platform for esports, Twitch offers a variety of formats and scale for brands to engage the audience of
esports viewers. Opportunities to sponsor a livestream or popular gamer’s channel are fairly turnkey,
though some brands have gotten creative with product integrations as well. In the future, we expect
YouTube Gaming to offer similar brand opportunities.

EXAMPLE: SNICKERS
Snickers delighted Twitch viewers with a prolonged
stunt wherein a popular gamer play-acted extreme
“spaceyness” while livestreaming. Eventually, he
was “not himself,” replaced by an actor who
doubled down on the spaced-out shtick. Ultimately,
eating a Snickers bar rescued the gamer and
restored him to his usual, energized self, similar to
the television spots featuring Marilyn Monroe and
Willem Dafoe. Commenters were confused at first,
but the payoff delivered big LOLs and many
impressions for Snickers.

12
 CONSIDERATIONS:
HOW TO DO ESPORTS RIGHT

With a huge audience and growing awareness, the opportunity for brands to enter esports is significant,
and, as with any new category, some caution is warranted. Thanks to its passionate audience, many esports
properties enjoy a high level of regard and influence in the minds of consumers, and this esteem must be
leveraged carefully. Brands must understand what fans expect from an esports experience and how brand
messaging can add value rather than irritation.
More so than traditional sports and star athletes, esports allows for a peer-to-peer connection among fan
and pro. The best players look a lot like their audience, and while their skill and accomplishments are
impressive, the esports culture encourages a laid back attitude to fame. Matching this grounded attitude is
important for brands to understand when they design an esports strategy. Below, we discuss a few other
considerations to keep in mind.

BEWARE OF INCUMBENTS
Gaming may not be the best environment for more conservative brands
Some riskier categories are represented among early entrants to gaming advertising. A new sponsor might
hesitate to place their brand next to partners like YouPorn or more juvenile brands that got into gaming
early in order to communicate in the language of adolescent males. Like any valuable partnership, it can not
be the right fit for everyone. The mainstream acceptance of esports, and expansion in market size is
happening so rapidly, however, that brand safety is less and less of a concern.
CONTENT CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL
On a related note, video games can be intensely violent and gory, and sometimes the optics just are
not right for branding
Science has proven no link between violent videogames and violent behavior, but those FPS games can
make people uncomfortable with the implications nonetheless. Chat rooms can get raunchy, too. In the
worst cases, gamer comment forums and social media can host truly unsavory content, with a sometimes
hostile treatment of women. On the upside, gamers know this world’s reputation is mixed, and not always
fairly understood, and may be more likely to view the brands who participate as comrades who “get it.”
Therefore, embracing gamer culture is a great opportunity to build generate goodwill.

BETRAY THE CULTURE AND GET FLAMED

A wrong-headed foray into esports can be embarrassing if the hyper-social audience feels a brand
initiative has fallen flat, or worse, degraded their experience
It goes without saying that disruptive or interruptive advertising will be received negatively. Twitch
commenters, for example, are not shy about expressing skepticism toward commercial efforts and
anything that smells of “sell out.” Again, this can make an esports partnership even more powerful. If a
brand can avoid a “fail” and successfully align with the culture, as in the Snickers example, it will
be rewarded.

While these considerations are important, they need not be prohibitive—whatever your level of
skepticism toward esports, the reality is that it is very popular and it is only going to get bigger.

As the consumer base for video games has broadened over the years, so will the esports audience.
Already out-selling the music industry by some metrics, the world of esports is on pace to be a dominant
mainstream entertainment category. The good news is that engaging in esports does not require a
reinvented marketing approach; in fact, there are clear parallels between esports brand opportunities
13
and those for other major sports. Follow your target audience to esports and join them as fellow fans in
appreciating the fun, excitement and community engagement of players and viewers.
 THE AUDIENCE IS THERE
THE AVERAGE GAMER
DOES NOT FIT THE
STEREOTYPE
ESPORTS HAS YET TO BE
BRAND-SATURATED
AUTHENTICITY AND
VALUE EXCHANGE IS
VITAL
THE GAMING
LANDSCAPE IS MORE
FRAGMENTED THAN
ANY OTHER SPORT
For questions or to request more information, please contact
Catherine Halaby (Catherine.Halaby@mecglobal.com).
www.mecglobal.com
The 214m esports viewers around the world tend to be young,
male and deeply engaged with the sport – an attractive target for
advertisers, and one that cannot be ignored for brands that want to
reach Millennial and Gen Z men. Awareness among the general
public is growing, but still relatively low, representing significant
room for growth in the future.
Data shows that gamers are both older and earn a greater HHI than
the “teen in mom’s basement” stereotype you might have in mind.
Gamers are often Millennial cord cutters with healthy incomes who
are hard to reach through linear means. Think twice before
discounting the value of connecting with these consumers.
Unlike most traditional sports, there are few established
incumbents or long-standing brand partnerships in esports. There
is still much untapped potential for brands to align with esports
equities, create value for consumers, and be early movers within
major categories.
The culture of esports is driven by shared passions and places a
premium on genuineness and authenticity. These digital natives
are naturally skeptical toward brand messaging, but are willing to
interact with brands within esports when they get real value from
that relationship, such as relevant giveaways, in-stream assets or
access to gaming events.
Leagues and acquisitions are beginning to consolidate the diverse
array of genres, games, playing platforms and viewing experiences.
Today, fans of one game title might never pay attention to even
the highest-profile events and stars of other titles. Brands need to
think carefully about reaching fans of multiple titles or they may
miss out on large chunks of the market.