Introduction to eSports

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Esports Expand Into The Mainstream, And Sponsorship Dollars Follow

http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2014/02/18/Esports-Expand-Into-The-Mainstream,-And-Sponsorshi.aspx



Online gaming provides a clutter-free environment to reach young adult males.

February 18, 2014

While online competitive gaming has a long way to go in securing sponsorship revenue on par with traditional sports properties, the industry is quickly making up lost ground.

Once the domain of computer hardware, microprocessors and other endemic categories, a growing number of non-endemic brands are staking their claim to the growing sport of competitive gaming.

American Express Co., The Coca-Cola Co. and Nissan North America, Inc. have recently entered or expanded their presence in the electronic sports waters.

Electronic sports center around online video game competitions, many of which feature professional gamers. The competitions are played on personal computers and feature League of Legends, Dota 2 and other free-to-play multiplayer games. Many of the competitions include both on- and off-line play.

Properties in the esports space range from tournament organizers (Major League Gaming, etc.) to software developers (Riot Games) and individual teams.

And companies are signing deals across all three tiers.

Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. earlier this month sponsored a Major League Gaming competition to promote the upcoming Blu-Ray, DVD and digital high-definition release of Ender’s Game, a film adopted from an eponymous military science fiction novel.

The movie producer sponsored the Feb. 5-16 tournament under the “Ender’s Game on Blue-ray Tournament” moniker.

Meanwhile, American Express and The Coca-Cola Co. last year partnered with Riot Games, Inc., the publisher of the blockbuster League of Legends multiplayer online (MMO) battle arena video game and the organizer of the League of Legends Championship Series.

American Express is leveraging the partnership with a specially-designed prepaid card that offers gamers special in-game rewards. The partnership affords status as the official payment partner for the League Championship Series and official partner status of the World Championship.

The Coca-Cola Co. in 2014 is titling the Coke Zero Challenger Series, a new development series for the League of Legends Championship Series. The partnership supports the brand’s tie-in with video games and related platforms.

At the team level, Nissan in late 2013 announced a partnership with Team Curse, a team of pro gamers who compete in the Legends Championship Series.

WHO IS THE CORE PC/MMO GAMER?

WHO IS THE CORE PC/MMO GAMER?
Source: 2013 Newzoo Data Explorer, Market Sizing & Profiling Data—Based on an aggregate of 18 key countries.

Corporate interest in electronic sports is largely driven by three factors:

Access to a hard-to-reach demographic. Competitive gaming provides access to young adult males, a demographic that does not traditionally watch TV.

Sixty-nine percent of PC/MMO gamers are men, with 21 percent between 26 and 30 years of age, according to Newzoo, a market research and consulting firm that specializes in the gaming community.

A large participant base. The size of the electronic sports community is staggering. Case in point: 32 million people play League of Legends each month.

Global reach. Electronic sports tournaments can provide sponsors global reach through live video streams of both online and off-line tournaments.

Most tournaments stream competitions through their own web sites or Twitch.TV, a streaming platform dedicated to the gaming market. And viewership of live games is growing: The Electronic Sports League recorded 81.3 million view sessions on Twitch in 2013, up from 5.4 million in 2009.

Electronic sports properties also can provide reach through social media. World of Warcraft has 5.3 million Facebook likes, League of Legends has 4.1 million likes while Dota 2 has 1.4 million likes.
Electronic sports tournments can rival the intensity of a rock concert. Above, the 2013 League of Legends World Championship at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.

Software Developers Create Proprietary Tournaments
Riot Games and other software developers are increasingly creating proprietary tournaments for their flagship titles.

Riot Games several years ago created the League of Legends Championship Series while Valve Corp. hosts The International for Dota 2. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in 2005 launched BlizzCon, a hybrid conference/gaming event that promotes Warcraft, StarCraft and other titles.

The events draw significant demand. The League Champions Series last year sold out the Staples Center in under one hour, while BlizzCon sells out in less than five seconds. BlizzCon takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center.

To no surprise, software developers are finding more interest from non-endemic brands for proprietary tournaments and events.

“Historically we have focused primary on endemic brands, but lately we’ve been approached by non-endemic brands in categories like CPG, auto, beverage and confection. We certainly are open to expanding into those categories provided they fit the look and feel of a BlizzCon partner,” said Jonathan Zweig, Blizzard Entertainment’s vice president of global corporate alliances.

BlizzCon partners include DirecTV, Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp.

Whether endemic companies or lifestyle brands, BlizzCon looks for partners that can enhance the on-site experience. For example, Intel showcased a beta mobile version of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft at BlizzCon 2013.

“It’s was great for Intel, but also great for us to provide cool content to fans.”

In addition to a presence at the convention, BlizzCon sponsors gain exposure on the event’s pay-per-view broadcast on DirecTV, free and pay-per-view online broadcasts and promotion through the organization’s social media channels.

ESL VIEW SESSIONS ON TWITCH

ESL VIEW SESSIONS ON TWITCH
Source: Newzoo, Turtle Entertainment Group GmbH

Case Study: American Express And Riot Games
The financial services company designed the American Express Serve Prepaid Account to enhance the gaming experience with a rewards program tailored to the League of Legends community.

The RP+ rewards program gives gamers the opportunity to earn Riot Points , a virtual currency that can be used to purchase in-game items like boosts or customizations.

And those transactions are significant. Global free-to-play gaming revenues are expected to total $13.4 billion in 2016, up from $6.5 million in 2012, according to Newzoo. Credit cards are the dominate payment option with 78 percent of players using a credit card to make purchases, according to the research firm.

Consumers that sign up for the card can pick one of five cards that feature League of Legends Champions—Teemo, Vi, Lux, Twisted Fate and the Summoner’s Cup—or the League of Legends logo.

“Riot Games is passionate about serving their players and giving them avenues for enhancing the game experience,” said Stefan Happ, senior vice president of US Payment Options with American Express, in a statement announcing the partnership.

Nissan Uses Team Curse To Support Digital Campaigns
Nissan uses its partnership with Team Curse to support three online marketing campaigns: the Your Door to More video contest; Passion Portrait human genome campaign; and the Open the Briefcase social media game.

“We pitched the concept of using electronic sports to deliver results for some of Nissan’s marketing campaigns. During that process we proposed we could deliver a certain amount of traffic, click throughs and interactions, and we delivered on those beyond expectations,” said Steven Arhancet, director of eSports with Curse, Inc., which manages and sponsors the team.

The team promoted the programs via social media and streaming games. The popularity of the team on social media is significant: Joedat “VoyBoy” Esfahani has more than 130,000 fans on Facebook and 154,000 followers on twitter.

“As soon as one of our players turns on his computer, he’ll have 30,000 watching him live. He can say ‘go to this site and click on that.’ That doesn’t exist in traditional marketing.”

Nissan used two of the marketing campaigns to promote specific models: Your Door to More (Versa Note) and Open the Briefcase (Rogue); The company uses the Passion Portrait campaign to promote the Nissan brand.

TBWA/Chiat/Day inked the partnership on behalf of Nissan.