The Business of Esports Updated

Esports LandscapeIn the Video Game ecosystem there are Publishers who develop the game itself and the strategies to take the game to market These companies include Tencent Apple and Sony Interactive There are the Games themselves which is a 180billion worldwide revenue industry and growing Currently 68 of all US persons 2 play video games There are Game Franchises such as Mario and Game Streaming and Streamers who compose the participants and viewers and the overall bucket of esports within gaming which according to Oscar are organized live events and streamed digitally showcasing multiple teams and players that are akin to traditional sports with Leagues and have reached revenue levels of 11billion For advertisers these industries offer a rich opportunity to reach a highly engaged audience through sponsorships native video and product placementEsports AudienceNicole Pike Global Sector Head of Esports and Gaming at YouGov noted that quotmost people are gamersquot today and that they constitute quota broad group with lots of nuancequot From her perspective gamers represent the trends that indicate where media is heading These gamers are quotsuperpassionate and traditional forms of media are not reaching themquot she addedFor David Tucker Senior Vice President Managing Director US Strategy MAGNA gaming and esports is the place to quotreach a vital audiencequot He explained that quotThere has been a 54 decline in 1849 in linear TV viewing Look at the magnitude of figures Amazon has seen a 73 growth in ad revenue from Twitchquot It is there he added where you can find a valuable audience But advertisers are lagging he admitted quotThere is a big gap in what today39s advertisers think about gaming and the amount of spendquot they attach to itCOVID39s Impact on Gaming ampamp EsportsThe pandemic which has impacted and initially limited the amount of general sports content available to viewers might have fueled this dramatic increase in gaming viewership Pike believes that while there has been some impact because of COVID especially on gaming use hours growth would have happened anyway quotThere will likely be a slowing speed of accelerationquot she explained but added that this growth was part of an overall trend quotCOVID was the accelerant of a trend that was already in placequot which ramped up what might have been three years of growth into one year She also believes that quottrends have stickinessquot inferring that the end of the pandemic may slow but not stop this growthNick Barrionuevo Gaming Partnerships Lead for Samsung Ads saw a quotfootprint spike at the beginning of the pandemicquot then the spike came down to a new plateau and incremental riseGaming ampamp Esports BusinessFor Barrionuevo the audience shift to gaming is causing a business shift Currently he reported there is more viewing on streaming than viewing to linear on Samsung TVs quotOTT content is the way to reach gamersquot he stated and added that he is working on ways to serve this audience and reach them where they areAccording to Dave Madden Executive Vice President Gaming and OTT Simulmedia quotBrands have to figure out how to turn these gaming environments into marketing opportunitiesquot because COVID has created a new social structure for young consumers To that end he recommended comarketing partnerships more like major league sportsUltimately for esports gaming and game streaming to fully compete with other media like TV there have to be a common viewership metric that can be easily comparable quotWhat is the opportunity cost of moving money to gaming ampamp esports We need a comparative metricquot Pike statedFor Oscar the future of gaming and esports looks very bright quotAs a young millennial myself I can tell you that I have never owned a cable subscription and I don39t really plan on it However I can tell you I39ve banked hundreds if not thousands of hours online with my friends in some of my favorite games watching some of my favorite streamers and cheering for my favorite esports teams For me and many others gaming isn39t a solo activity it39s how we stay in touch with our social networks Marketers who are willing to put in the effort and not just stick to the status quo of advertising in traditional formats have an incredible opportunity to reach a great audience and build unique and exciting ways to connect with themquot he concludedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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The Business of Esports Updated

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Charlene Weisler

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