Over the last 5 years, the growth and popularity of esports has been rising steadily and substantially. However, it still remains a small fraction in proportion to advertising budgets. Advertising and commercial sponsorship has established a great relationships with traditional sports, but it has yet to break through on a bigger scale in esports. It is true that there are brands that are forming partnership deals and initiating sponsorship that allows them to reach out to a highly vibrant esports fanbase. But, it isn't enough, and this fanbase is growing tremendously.
According to Newzoo by 2021 global esports revenues are predicted to rocket to $1.65bn, $1.4bn of which will come directly from brand investment. 1 What should brands be doing to enter the esports market and why should they in the first place?
There are definitely notable major global brands entering the market. For example, mobile giant Vodafone became a premium partner of ESL this year, and last year, Mercedes-Benz made its high-profile entry by announcing a partnership with ESL, spanning tournament sponsorship across several countries.
While investment has come in from traditional sports teams, private-equity firms, marketing agencies, games publishers, consultancies and market research companies, the non-endemic advertisers have been largely absent, aside from a select few. There are a few theories around this. One is that most non-endemic brands still struggle to find meaningful entry points into
the category. Advice from those brands that have entered into esports advertising is to understand the demographic you are targeting.
For example League of legends is the game most closely associated with Gillette who chose it because of its popularity and ability to reach a young, male audience. Brands need to understand that each esport game is different and has its own fanbase.
What gamers care about is altruism, and they want to see the brands doing
something that benefits the space, not just the brand. Additionally, the top 17,000 streamers, which include professional esports players, can participate in an ad- revenue sharing program. It is the players, not Twitch, who decide in real time when the ads run during their streaming sessions.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what other brand advertisers are already doing in the marketplace, you can head over to Esports North Asia's website and download the research! In there, you can read about the in-depth research about the esports ecosystem as well as brand associations.
For more esports news and update, stay tuned to IGN SEA.
