Interactive
ESPORTS YOUGOV
type of opportunity presented to streamers with smaller audiences during this time, too.
In terms of titles, Riot Games’ VALORANT made a major entrance onto the scene mid-year and has been leveraging organisations around the globe to build its tournament scene. Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone, a battle royale version of the ever-popular franchise, has also emerged as an online tournament fan favourite this year.
Another BR that was a massive hit with streamers this summer was Fall Guys, though we haven’t seen a structured esports scene develop around this yet. In the same genre, Garena Free Fire was not newly launched this year, but we’ve seen its success rising globally as mobile esports become a more established format worldwide.
Despite video game competitions not being a new phenomenon, is the complexity of the esports landscape underestimated? Are esports sponsors and rights holders under- informed about who their properties, streams and activations are reaching?
Complex is a great word to use in this case – and I’d probably also add confusing to that. From a brand or sponsor’s standpoint, many experience “decision paralysis” when it comes to esports; as an industry, we’ve always referred to just ‘esports’ – but the reality is that every title and event circuit is its own mini-ecosystem, and not every opportunity is going to be the right fit for every brand. Once brands start to peek under the surface, they can become pretty overwhelmed with everything.
Te reason I began pursuing measurement and insights in esports several years ago is that I saw how big of a positive impact it could have on the growth and sustainability of the industry, if done in the right way. Vanity metrics were creating short term gains, but at the expense of long-term failures and disappointment among investors.
Tings like accurately sizing who esports programming reaches, how large fan bases are, and where around the world they are located are complicated in the space – and as an industry, we’re still working to untangle many of these. But I’m optimistic that as we do, brands will have the clarity they need to jump into the space headfirst.
P82 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
How are sponsorships evolving in esports? Which are the more successful partnerships between leagues, teams and players?
Esports sponsorship has always had a component of non-match day content, but we’re just seeing the amount, quality, and value of content continue to skyrocket. Especially during COVID when events were cancelled, delayed, or significantly changed from a format perspective, esports organisations really took advantage of the captive audience they had to create more interactive content experiences for fans.
We’re also seeing a lot more collaborative projects coming out of the esports space. For example, Riot Games and Spotify formed a partnership that included a Spotify hub for all things LoL audio, and podcasts series related to the title. Esports team organisation Fnatic and Gucci collaborated to launch a Fnatic-inspired watch as their initial project together under a new sponsorship deal; fashion has been a huge trend in esports this year.
From a brand or sponsor’s standpoint, many experience “decision paralysis” when it comes to esports; as an industry, we’ve always referred to just ‘esports’ – but the reality is that every title and event circuit is its own mini- ecosystem, and not every opportunity is going to be the right fit for every brand. Once brands start to peek under the surface, they can become overwhelmed with everything.
In terms of success, this is so much more a function of how aligned the rights holder and brand are with each other and what fans want vs. a formula of which assets and categories exhibit the most success. An overarching objective of esports sponsorship should be that it offers fans a compelling reason to exist and tangible benefit to their gaming and/or viewing experience – all successful partnerships will check these two boxes, at minimum.
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