Esports and the Future of Fandom

Why All theamp160Buzz About EsportsThe esports ecosystem is far more complex than you might imagine There are organized gaming competitions that take place live in sporting arenas including Barclay39s Center in Brooklyn and TD Garden in Boston Professional players train to play games that are organized in leagues Tournaments have considerable cash prizes for example the League of Legends 2018 world championship prize pool was 14 million amp8212 more than Tiger Woods won at the masters in 2019The games span a variety of types from League of Legends a multiplayer online battle arena or MOBA game to firstperson shooters such as CounterStrike and Overwatch to battle royale games such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown39s Battlegrounds to games that mimic traditional sports such as Rocket League and MaddenIt39s important to note that esports is different from gaming Although both grew up from the same medium esports is a sport There are competitions played for spectators professional teams and prizes and players train and work at developing new techniques and strategies to win Gaming is about fun and entertainment and ranges from playing simple games on mobile phones to groups and individuals playing on a console or PC It also includes gamers who stream live on platforms such as Twitch but their goal is one of creating content for an audience that enjoys watching not winning in a formalized settingThe buzz around esports is considerable wellknown figures from traditional sports such as Shaquille O39Neal and Magic Johnson have invested in esports teams and singer Drake has acquired a stake in esports organization 100 Thieves There are even whispers that 2024 Olympic officials are quotdeep in talksquot to include esports as a demonstration sportMost recently esports39 most famous player Tyler Blevins who is known by his player name Ninja announced that he would be leaving Amazon39s Twitch platform for the Microsoft platform Mixer This created headlines in publications such as The New York Times The Washington Post CNN and Forbes as the move is seen as hugely important to Microsoft39s business and brand Blevins39 presence on the platform will guarantee a shift in audience as well as transform how players are compensated in the industryThe audience for esports is more diverse and wideranging that you might expect amp8212 and they39re primarily the young hardtoreach group that advertisers want to engage There are 40 million esports fans in the United States 55 percent of those are ages 16 to 35 and 62 percent are male They39re playing watching others play and attending live events although 23 percent are only watching and don39t play themselves Esports fans tend to be savvy and hardtoreach with traditional advertising as 68 percent use an adblocker and less than 40 percent watch TV on a weekly basis They39re also an involved passionate group more than 60 percent of Twitch fans for example engage with gaming personalities on a daily basisWhy Should Brands Be Thinking About EsportsFor brands there are many opportunities for those willing to get in the game As with any other partnership esports should be one component of a larger brand strategy and must have a genuine authentic fit The message and consumer takeaway must be consistent across all esports channels and should ladder up to and support the overarching brand story Opportunities exist across a wide spectrum from lowcost shortterm investments eg ad placements across esports sites networks and platforms to highcost longterm investments eg creating ingame exclusive content sponsoring leagues andor teams to developing custom gamesWhatever the opportunity a brand may decide to leverage it39s important that it has a clear brand role adds value to the experience is authentic to gamers and the community and is social buzzworthy and unique Brands that can get this balance right will unlock a new audience have added cultural relevance and stay on the cutting edge of sports fandomClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Esports and the Future of Fandom

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Cate Evans

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Esports and the Future of Fandom

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