Every Brand Wants to Know: Are Esports for Real?

Initial reactions to the concept of esports are often the same. At first, surprise—people actually enjoy watching others play video games? Yes actually, they do. In fact, tournaments are now packed into sold-out stadiums, and a “USA Today” columnist even wrote that as of 2014, “more people are playing and watching esports…than are watching the NBA Finals, World Series or BCS national championship game.” Ad sales reps are even starting to suggest that sponsoring a “League of Legends” event or hiring UNIVeRsE (a professional gamer from the U.S. who has racked up nearly $3 million in tournament prize money) as an influencer can sometimes be the best way to engage millennials, married men under 35, and select groups of women. To all this, the reaction is often: Is this for real? Like a gamer finally unplugging after a 13-hour virtual melee, it’s time to wrestle with reality and illusion.

Esports is, quite simply, professional video gaming. Players, as a part of teams, compete in matches and tournaments. One unique aspect of esports is that there are multiple games within the “sport.” Some of the most popular right now are the “League of Legends” and “DotA” series, both of which fall into the battle royale format and fantasy genre. In essence, players fight against, and alongside, others who could be in the same room or simply connected to the same game online. Many participate at home, while the more avid users join tournaments.

This concept may be nothing new to most, except that tournament players are now making millions. They are part of teams like Evil Geniuses or Team Dignitas (which both sell merchandise worldwide, with the latter organization boasting an acquisition by the Philadelphia 76ers last year). At this level, things are evidently less about camaraderie, and more about the business of professional sports.

Though even beyond tournament players, some less-skilled gamers are finding ways to be paid to play through content creation efforts. Without the talent to qualify for Evil Geniuses, but equipped with a personality, a gamer might create their own channel on Twitch TV—a live streaming website that is the clear leader in esports coverage, costing Amazon $970 million to own—where they play video games and narrate their experience. All of this detail is important to marketers for one big reason: people watch. They fill stadiums to cheer for their favorite teams, and they tune in to Twitch by the millions on a daily basis.

If it’s strange to think that there are fans supporting gamers who are only remotely controlling actual competitors, then the supposed size and makeup of the audience might seem even more bizarre. General estimates of U.S. viewers who have ever watched an esports tournament range from 20 to 30 million. That number balloons to north of 200 million when you consider global tallies of those who have either watched or played esports. Focusing back in on U.S. viewers, some reports estimate nearly two-thirds of the audience are millennials, and 60 percent are between 25 and 39, indicating a median age of about 28. With 44 percent of them parents and around one-third making over $90,000, the typical stereotypes start to fade. That’s especially true when considering that the gender ratio is a moderate 3:2, only slightly in favor of males.

This being a new, under-examined space means terms like “viewership” and “fan” are arguably difficult to measure. That said, there are a few inarguable figures worth mentioning to fill out this new juggernaut’s stat line. The five members of 2016’s championship “Dota” team each went home with $1.87 million for their gaming prowess. The winner of the Masters golf tournament? Only $1.8 million (though they do get a slick green jacket). For its part, the “League of Legends” World Semifinal Round sold out Madison Square Garden two nights in a row.

Though where the numbers become simultaneously more impressive, yet also brow-furrowing, is when analysts like Ben Casselman claim the 2013 “League of Legends” Championship “…[drew] an online audience of 27 million—more than the TV viewership for the final round of the Masters.” The obvious issue here is that “League of Legends” was viewed online, not tracked by Nielsen like the Masters, or other previously-compared marquee events such as the World Series or NBA Finals. That means we’re left to compare completely different measurement techniques.

It is also important to remember that, while the esports audience in the U.S. is nothing to dismiss, it represents only about 10 percent of global viewership. With about 70 million fans in China and plenty more across Asia as a whole, geographical and cultural considerations should always be raised at the forefront by any brand considering an esports partnership or media buy. That’s especially true when acknowledging that the last Intel Extreme Masters tournament was “broadcasted by 70 linear and digital outlets worldwide across 19 languages,” according to Business Insider.

So there is no doubt that esports has solidified a diverse and engaged audience, but are these huge numbers simply an illusion? Geico doesn’t think so; they produced an entire web series chock-full of humor that only an esports fan would understand. And what’s the second largest Coca-Cola-operated Twitter account (after @CocaCola)? That would be @CokeEsports, with the soda giant acting as a main sponsor of “League of Legends” events for years. Still, every marketer should keep that anecdotal “data” at bay. From the U.S. perspective, esports is new and niche, and it can’t be expected to have the same visibility as other events already ingrained in American culture. Esports is not bigger than basketball, baseball, or hockey—and don’t let anyone tell you it is—but according to Newzoo, it does have the same millennial viewership (22 percent) as both the MLB and the NHL. With total audience growth at 21 percent year-over-year across the U.S. and Europe, esports seems to have solidified a place in competitive culture. Ultimately, brands who approach this category with the right context, and ask the important questions, might just come to the conclusion that for them, this is for real.