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ESPORTS & BRANDS
Powered by
Esports, VR, AR, MR and LBE business development for companies around the world.
One of the Fastest Growing Global Industries
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Esports
Esports Overview
Overview
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Brand
Brand Opportunities
Opportunities
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The secret is out. Competitive gaming is both the world’s fastest growing
sport and form of entertainment.
Advertisers and investors are finally taking notice of esports’ access to key
audiences, with contributions accounting for 85% of the worldwide market
— which, by the way, reached $1.5 billion in 2017, according to SuperData.
Those among us who have never picked up a game controller may scoff,
but the reality is clear for those who are paying attention to the numbers.
SuperData reported that today, more people watch video games across
platforms like Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube than consume content on
HBO, Netflix, ESPN, and Hulu, combined. And it’s not just viewership — the
Intel® Extreme Masters World Championship 2017, one of the most
renowned gaming circuits globally, had more than 173,000 attendees …
By all indications, esports is here to stay.
-Paul Brewer, Vice President of Global Sponsorships at ESL
What Are Esports
Top 25 Games watched by esports hours on
Twitch according to Newzoo 2018 Global
esports market report
Broad Definition: Competitive video gaming.
Extended Definition: Competitive gaming at a professional level and in
an organized format (a tournament or league) with a specific goal (i.e.,
winning a champion title or prize money) and a clear distinction between
players and teams that are competing against each other. (Newzoo 2018)
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Popular Types of Esports Games: Top 5 Esports Games of 2017
First-Person Shooter (FPS) (Business Insider based on viewership/
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena players/earnings):
(MOBA) League of Legends
Card Games Call of Duty
Sport Games DOTA 2
Strategy Games Overwatch
Fighting Games Starcraft
Most followed games according to 2017 Neilson Report on the 4 key Western esports markets.
Current Market + Projections
Esports is one of the fastest growing industries. It has shown impressive growth in revenue, viewership, sponsorship,
and content creation over the last five years. The industry shows no signs of slowing down.
Since the start of 2016, over 600 esports sponsorship agreements have been signed, Global esports revenues will reach $905.6 million in 2018, an increase
with the majority of them coming from the IT/computer space. More than 360 IT/ of more than $250 million compared to 2017. North America will
computer sponsorships have been secured, followed by retail with over 100 deals, online generate the most revenues, contributing 38% of the global total in
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services (60+), non-alcoholic drinks (50+) and online media (40+), according to
2018.
Nielsen.
Sponsorship is the highest grossing esports revenue stream worldwide,
The number of people who are aware of esports worldwide will reach 1.6 contributing $359.4 million in 2018 compared to $234.6 million in
billion in 2018, up from 1.3 billion in 2017. (Newzoo) 2017. (Newzoo)
Demographics + Who is Watching
Esports is a very attractive industry to non-endemic brands because 18-35 year olds
make up between 65-75 percent of the market according to multiple reports- the
sought after millennial market with the up and coming spenders of the gen z.
What also plays into the power of marketing to the esports fan is that the median
household income is above average. Mindshare research reports that , Forty-three
percent of eSports enthusiasts have an annual household income of $75,000 per year
or higher—and nearly one third (31%) have an HHI2 of $90,000 or higher.
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Esports fans are known for their passion, commitment to viewership, loyalty, and
interest in play themselves. For non-endemic brands there are multiple appealing
ways to engage these fans. From product placement in live streams to team
sponsorship to league sponsorship the opportunities are open.
61% of esports fans live in households with 3+ people – while
esports may be their personal hobby, they are part of (and making
purchase decisions for) a household/family. (Nielson)
7 in 10 esports fans are male; further, male fans tend to live stream
esports content more frequently than their female counterparts.
However, nearly 1 in 4 female fans still stream at least weekly. To
characterize all esports fans as Millennial males would be far too
simplistic. (Nielson)
Esports fans are avid streamers who also watch linear TV and
are consuming content via all sorts of different screens.
Interestingly, female esports fans are watching 15% more TV on average
than their male counterparts. (Nielson)
Leagues + Competition One of the biggest differences between a
pro sports league like like the NBA and a
The ecosystem of esports is a multifaceted one with publishers/developers, pro gaming league like Major League
league organizers, and tournaments working together to create competitive Gaming (MLG) is, of course, that the latter
game-play situations. covers multiple games. (Recode)
Every competitively played esports title (game) has at least one official pro-
league. Some titles (games) have multiple pro-leagues and competitions.
Some publishers/developers host their own leagues and championships,
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The international fandom of eSports is
while others work with organizations to license their titles. heavily splintered, and the jury’s still out
on who really “owns” it. Is it MLG, well-
known to pro gamers in the U.S.? Is it the
Below Blake Robbins of Ludlow Ventures explains the difference between Organizers and Publishers. This helps to understand how
leagues and competitions are created:
Europe-based Electronic Sports League,
Organizers: or ESL, which is preparing to challenge
In esports, there are a lot of tournament and league organizers. Most of the organizers listed have MLG on its home turf? (Recode)
direct support from the game publishers, thus they receive assistance with marketing these events.
League of Legends Championship Series, LCS, is a unique league as it is directly organized and run
by the gaming publisher themselves.
For other games, it is quite common to compete in a variety of leagues and tournaments. In
Counter-Strike, for example, you will see professional teams compete in ELEAGUE, Dreamhack,
Esports Championship Series, ESL, and MLG events throughout the year. League of Legends is an
Publishers: interesting case as the publisher
There are thousands of game publishers; however, for the sake of simplicity, there are only a handful of (Riot Games) run all professional
publishers that have successfully focused on competitive gameplay and reached a critical mass. leagues and tournaments
Publishers play an extremely critical role in whether games will be played competitively as they have
themselves.
full control over gameplay, customizability, and the community involvement.
Without publishers, there would be no esports. They ultimately control all intellectual property and
have fortunately allowed their gameplay to be streamed and recorded.
Key Publishers + Leagues
Leagues
Publishers Highlights Dreamhack
Riot MLG is one of the fastest growing digital networks worldwide, the most recognized
MLG
brand in eSports and pioneer of the competitive gaming industry. Activision |
Activision | Blizzard Blizzard acquired MLG in 2016. MLG currently works with game publishers and ESL
Epic Games developers such as Riot Games, Hi-Rez Studios, Valve, Microsoft, Warner Bros.
LOL
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EA Games, Ubisoft, Nintendo, and Take-Two Interactive. They host several pro-leagues
EVO
and competitions.
Ubisoft ECS
Supercell Blizzard Blizzard Entertainment® is a premier developer and publisher of
ESEA
entertainment software. Blizzard is a developer of upwards of 20 video games.
Wargaming.net They host several leagues and tournaments for their games, as well as work with ELEGUE
CapCom other associations to host leagues and tournaments. Their main esports leagues
OWL
Super Evil Megacorp are for Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and
The International
Starcraft II.
Valve ESL is the world's largest esports company, and the oldest professional Intel Extreme
Hi-Rez Studios esports organization that is still operational. ESL hosts competitions
Masters
around the globe, partnering with publishers such as Blizzard
Entertainment, Riot Games, Valve Corporation, Microsoft,
Wargaming.net and multiple others to facilitate thousands of gaming
competitions annually. ESL competitors are supported on both
The League of Legends World Championship national and international levels. In 2017, there were 588 major
is the annual professional League of Legends esports events that generated an
world championship tournament hosted by estimated $59 million in ticket
Intel® Extreme Masters is the longest running global pro gaming tour in the world.
Riot Games. In 2017, the finals were revenues, up from $32 million in
watched by 60 million people. Started in 2006 by ESL, the competition features Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,
2016. (Newzoo)
StarCraft II and League of Legends tournaments across multiple continents.
Everyone is Buying into Esports
Not only are endemic and non-endemic brands make esports plays, but celebrities, Venture Capitalist, former sports stars, and
established traditional sports franchises are procuring teams and sponsorships. For the NBA 2K 18 inaugural season 17 of the
30 NBA teams have started their own 2K teams/leagues.
Multiple NHL, MLB, NBA, and MLS
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Franchises are creating or buying esports
Recently, “Twitch broke its record for most-viewed stream by a single teams.
player when pro-gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins assembled an unlikely
supergroup to play the wildly-popular sandbox shooter Fortnite.
Ninja was joined by NFL rookie turned gamer JuJu Smith-Schuster , Musician, record producer, and music executive,
rapper Travis Scott, and — drum roll please — pop superstar Drake. At Steve Aoki invested in Team Rogue.
its peak, the stream was trending on Twitter and hit 628,000
concurrent viewers, smashing the previous record of 388,000 viewers
for a single-player stream . (The Verge ) Former NBA star Rick Fox, owns the
esports organization Echo Fox.
The Philadelphia 76ers, own the majority
Magic Johnson is a co-owner of the investment group aXiomatic,
share in Team Dignitas.
which in September acquired controlling ownership to one of the top
esports organizations in the world, Team Liquid.
Shaquille O’Neil , Jimmy
Rollins, and Alex Rodriguez
bought Team NRG.
Key Teams Key Brand Team Sponsors
Many of the top teams are also multi-game organizations. Just how
different leagues and tournaments host multiple games, many teams Non-Endemic
have separate teams for different game titles all playing under the Audi - Astralis
same umbrella name.
Monster Energy - Team Liquid, Evil Genuses,
Alliance, Team Envyus, Fnatic, and Vici Gaming
Red Bull- Tempo Storm and OG
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Mountain Dew- Team Dignitas, Splyce, and
Team SK Gaming
T-Mobile- TSM and Cloud9
Visa- Splyce
Pepsi’s Adrenaline Rush- Virtus.pro
Gilette- EDward Gaming
Hot Pockets- Cleveland Cavaliers NBA 2K Team
(Many additional sponsors are expected to come
on for teams as the NBA 2K 18 League kicks off it’s
inaugural season)
Snickers- FlyQuest
League of Legends Championship Series (LCS)
North America Brand Sponsorships
LCS NA is one of the largest esports leagues, LCS NA is a league dedicated to the game League of Legends (LOL). The publisher of LOL, RIOT, hosts all of it’s own professional
leagues and competitions. We are breaking out the newly announced Spring Season LCS NA brand sponsors as a visual example of how brand can sponsor a specific league.
www.samimmersive.comwww.samimmersive.com Key Non- Endemic Brands Involved in Esports
Breakout of Q1
2017
Brand
Sponsorships
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Esports is a fast-growing industry with
an ever-changing topography of
sponsors. Brand involvement is
multiplying every quarter and most
brands are renewing prior
sponsorships. The table to the right is
a highlight of brands from the first
quarter of 2017.Brand Opportunities
Sponsor Esports Leagues & Tournaments
Example: In 2016, Mountain Dew, which Pepsico owns, created the Mountain Dew League (MDL), a professional competitive gaming league designed to help amateur
gamers become pros. In partnership with ESL, the world’s largest esports company, Mountain Dew and E-Sports Entertainment Association League (ESEA) provide
amateur gaming teams the opportunity to qualify directly for a place in the ESL Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Pro League. (Venture Beat)
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Example: As a part of its sponsorship with the Overwatch League, SOUR PATCH KIDS brand—the country’s #1-selling sour candy—will bring fans content that will air
during the Overwatch League season-one livestream. Fans on-site at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles also will be able to enjoy a branded experience, digital-board
messaging, branded thundersticks to cheer on their favorite teams, and of course free SOUR PATCH KIDS candy at select matches. (Business Wire)
Sponsor a Team or Player Create Brand Content + Influencers
Example: Pepsi’s Adrenaline Rush brand signed Research media company digitalsurgeons on the
a partnership with ESforce Holding, which owns
Russian eSports team Virtus.pro. The 1-year deal
Experiences importance of using popular streamers for brand
promotion and content creation:
includes the usual jersey logo across their teams One way to test the waters of Esports is to create
On influencers/streamers: What better way than
and athletes in Counter-Strike, League of branded experiences. As opposed to sponsoring an
to let the Michael Jordans of gaming do some of
Legends, Hearthstone and Dota 2. (The Next Level entire tournament or leagues, these experiences can
that talking and relationship building for you? Each
Media) be on a much smaller scale. From viewing parties to
of these influencers have tremendous amounts of
VIP rooms at events to experimental brand
loyal followers, who see them as a source of
Example: Team Liquid has signed its first non- installations these are great way to reach fans.
valuable information pertaining to their favorite
endemic sponsor, Monster Energy. The energy eSport.
drink maker is working with the team and its Example: Coca Cola’s viewing parties which offered
On Content: An effective way of getting the eyes
players just as it does with extreme athletes fans the chance to see the League of Legends World
of the eSports community exposed to your brand is
around the world. Team Liquid’s director of Championships (held in Los Angeles) in 200 cinemas
to create compelling videos around the eSports
operations, Mike Milanov, told [a]listdaily that the across Europe, Canada and US in realtime. The
they're interested in, where your brand takes a back
energy drink category is very important to Team purpose was to recreate the excitement and the
seat to the content itself. eSports fans appreciate
Liquid because these companies are sponsoring atmosphere for those fans unable to see the real deal
the brands who bring them valuable content that is
events and teams around the world. ([a]list) live. (SevenVentures)
relevant to their interests.Mountain Dew Coca-Cola Snickers
Mountain Dew has made major plays in the esports Coca-Cola is another huge player in the esports world.
Snickers is a great example of another non-
industry. They sponsor an amateur league to help Coca-Cola does not sponsor any teams, but supports
endemic brand moving into the world of
players on the path to the pro-leagues, three pro- multiple leagues, tournaments, live fan events, and
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esports.
teams, and have an Esports dedicated Twitch content creation. Coca-Cola has a global head of
channel. esports and is dedicated to the growth of this sector of
They made a splash in 2016 when Snickers
the market for their brand strategy. Coca-Cola’s Twitter
became a sponsor or Eleague. Snickers was an
Mountain Dew has been a major player in the account, @CokeEsports, engages over 354,000
official marketing partner with Turner and WME
gaming world since 2003, not only by introducing followers each day, growing by 100,000 in just a year.
IMG’s joint esports venture.
its signature Game Fuel flavor but by initiating
partnerships with popular titles, systems and The soda giant sponsors the League of Legends World
As of March 2018 Snickers is the official
gaming platforms such as Twitch. Mountain Dew will Championship, one the largest eSports competitions
sponsor of season 5 of the Rocket League
continue to push boundaries and explore new on earth. But to take it a step further, Coca-Cola and
Championship Series.
territories in gaming to be able to provide casual, Riot Games partnered with some cinemas to host more
amateur and professional gamers with unique than 200 simultaneous viewing parties for the 2016
Earlier this year in Jan. 2018, Snickers
experiences, trainings and opportunities. (Mountain League of Legends World Championships throughout
announced it will be sponsoring team FlyQuest
Dew Press Release) the U.S., Canada, and Europe. (Business Insider)
for the 2018 North American League of
Legends Championship Series. The team will
Mountain Dew and Immortals just announced their Coca-Cola’s head of global eSports,
have the Snickers logo on their jersey’s. In
landmark deal! They are planning on an array of Alban Dechelotte told [a]listdaily that, from a brand
addition speculation has been made that the
digital and live activations, including extensive perspective, there’s a greater ability for brands to be on
team will create lighthearted fan-based content
programming on Mountain Dew’s Twitch channel. stage in eSports than anywhere else in gaming in the
that will more than likely be released under the
Immortals’ players from multiple games, including past. “Fans love that Coke is engaged with them and
Snickers name.
Super Smash Bros., Dota 2, and the newly recognizes the popularity of eSports,” Dechelotte said.
announced Immortals Mobile division, with teams in “They love being invited to live events, whether it’s
Arena of Valor and Clash Royale, will be prominently through an activation in movie theaters for League of
integrated into Mountain Dew branded esports Legends or connecting with fans live at the League of
events, including Dew Tour and Mountain Dew Legends world championship—which we see as the
League, currently in its third year of operation. Super Bowl of eSports.”Target Audience = Loyal Consumers for Life
As stated previously, esports hits the sought after consumer demographic of Millennials
and is set to appeal to Get Z. With the right approach brands can gain loyal consumers at
a young age through esports and keep them for life.
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Gillette and Dollar Shave Club both recognized the potential in sponsoring esports teams,
leagues, and tournament.
According to multiple online sources, Most young men start shaving around the age of 15.
The Next Level notes, “Assuming a life expectancy of 80, that’s 65 years of potential
revenue, with a ridiculous LTV (Lifetime Value) and makes sense for CPG Brands to invest
in eSports with its core male audience.”
According to a study by Statistia released in 2018, in 2010 Adults age 18-44 were the
highest percent of consumers of chocolate. This age range is the main demographic of
the esports market.Why Non-Endemic Brands Should Jump Into Esports
In esports, Coke and Red Bull have been the According to ESL’s 2017 achievement Turtle Wax, a brand which has absolutely
innovative non-endemics who were first to summary they had Non-endemic revenues nothing to do with competitive gaming, has
market and have led in helping grow the grow from 17% to 28% of total sponsorships paved an organic path into the space by way
scene. for ESL . of their team partnership and content
creation, and continues to reside naturally.
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The first questions we are usually asked by (Huffpost)
This trend isn’t new to 2018 since it’s technically
non-endemic brands looking to invest in already happening. Companies
esports are ‘what other brands are involved?’, like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jack in the Chipotle went from outsider to fan favorite in
‘what are they doing? and ‘who is doing it Box, Intel, Snickers, Coca-Cola and others are record time, because its involvement was
well and what examples can you show me?’. diving into the space, innovating across an
genuine, and now Chipotle is a new endemic
This was no different to cycling in the UK 10 industry that has already generated $1.5 billion
in the space. (Media Post)
years ago. -Malph Minns, founder of Strive in 2017 alone. At this rate, esports is projected
Sponsorship, which specializes in sport, to bring in $2.3 billion by 2022, according to
statistics company SuperData. What has me surprised me at Super
music, esports and film partnerships.
What we will see in 2018 is the accelerated pace League the most is how many non-
of new brands entering the space and the
endemics want to talk to us about our
The “gamer” stereotype is outdated and this sophistication and reach of these partnerships.
No longer is the market so fragmented that
youth product. It validates that so may
audience is one that brands should covet.
brands can’t get a good read on their ROI. brands want to get on esports and talk to
According to Nielsen’s latest Total Audience
Stability and projected longevity from entities mainstream gamers, but don’t have a lot of
Report, average household income for
like Overwatch League and Riot’s League positive access points to reach them.
esports fans is nearly $65,000, which is Championship Series will offer brands more Super League’s super accessible wrapper
greater than that of some major sports visible, global, robust platforms from which to around gaming and gamers provides that
leagues, including NASCAR and MLS. This activate and leverage their sponsorships. (Taylor)
consumer is educated, employed, incredibly marketing channel in a way that is low risk
savvy, and has no geographical limitations. for a brand. - Ann Hand CEO Super League
(Huffpost) GamingLouisa Spring
Ms. Spring is an accomplished C- level executive
in immersive media and gaming. Entrepreneur,
gamer, lawyer, producer, she has moved the
needle at every VR company she has worked with
including facilitating deals with Intel, Oculus and
Walmart with Spatialand which resulted in a
successful acquisition. Ms. Spring has worked on
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award winning VR campaigns for Mini-Cooper and
NYTVR, the award winning game Firebird: La Peri
and other PC and VR games around the world. As
a TV producer Ms. Spring has worked with Far
Moor, (successfully acquired by Endemol), and
William J. Macdonald, (Rome) as well as
representing Sir Roger Moore, John Rhys-Davies
and Christopher Judge. She's a former member of
the board of BAFTALA, and practiced law in
London.
Judge for the AICP Virtual Reality Awards 2016,
speaker on Virtual Reality and Storytelling at the
Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference 2016,
Silicon Valley Comicon panel on VR 2016,
moderator of Women in Virtual Reality at Digital
Hollywood 2016, 2017 Spring and Fall, speaker at
AWE 2016 on storytelling and VR, organised
inaugural Women In Virtual Reality for Women In
Film. Judge VR FEST 2018, speaker at VR FEST
2018, moderator at Amusement Expo 2018.You can also read
