Mainstream Brands Eye Esports Opportunity

As the UK Sponsorship Awards prepares to launch its new-look Gaming Sponsorship categories for 2019, Andy Fry runs the rule over some of the brands breaking into esports. 

There are still plenty of people (mainly over 30) who don’t really get what esports is all about. But there’s no question the sector is moving mainstream. Digital research firm Superdata estimates that the market generated revenues of US$1.5 billion in 2017. Looking ahead, it expects esports to rake in a staggering US$2.1bn by 2021. By that time, industry insiders reckon more than one billion people will have watched an esports event.With the vast majority of that audience made up of younger demographics, esports is clearly an important opportunity for brands. But it hasn’t proved easy for them to gain traction in the sector for a couple of reasons. The first is that the market is very fragmented.

Unlike the world of traditional sports, it’s not always easy to work out exactly what or who brands should be sponsoring and how they should activate against it. The second is that esports fans are deeply suspicious of brands that simply seek to badge teams and events within the sector. Any commercial partner perceived of as inauthentic is likely to get shredded instantly by gamers on social media platforms. And if that happens it can take years to win back their trust. Added to all of the above, esports still isn’t that easy to measure compared to more orthodox marketing platforms. It’s getting better, but metrix can still be a stumbling block for brands.

It’s for these reasons that the most successful brands in the esports arena to date have been endemic brands – i.e., those that directly contribute to the enjoyment of the community. But there’s no question this is changing. With esports rights owners and non-endemic brands both keen to join forces, a growing number of mainstream brands have tested the waters. Here we look at a dozen of the more high-profile examples of brands from mainstream categories breaking into esports.  Click here for more