eSports Takes The Stage
“I would quit my job if I ever had to cover eSports” — Colin Cowherd, Former ESPN Sportscaster
Despite being labeled as the black sheep of sports, competitive gaming has finally found its time to shine in an increasingly digital world. No longer bound by stigma and stereotypes, eSports are now taking center stage in the online world after spending over two decades in the fray.
Some sport purists have long held to the belief that eSports are not an actual sport; as video games are a digital medium, they argue, it could not possibly be compared to more traditional sports such as soccer and basketball. After all, who would sit down to watch another person playing a video game?
As is turns out, not only does fan engagement match or even surpass that of physical sports, but the back-end of both industries are growing remarkably similar: sponsors, merchandising, teams, and media rights are now considered featured staples of the nascent industry. Similarly, the life of a professional gamer is growing to be as equally taxing as its physical counterpart; with millions of gamers all around the world, it takes extreme dedication and zeal to become a cut above the rest.
eSport Teams Are Raising The Ante
Modern eSport teams take their jobs seriously. Team Liquid currently leads the revenue charts with over 19 million dollars earned across a staggering 1193 tournaments, with the top five eSport teams each raking over 10 million dollars each.
Gone are the days where the grand prize of an eSport tournament was a game developer’s old 1984 Ferrari. With both tournaments and sponsors now putting millions of dollars on the line, it stands to reason that investment in players is paramount.
eSports teams were traditionally stationed in a large house that allowed their members to play together and discuss strategy. Housing provides a competitive gamer’s every need: computers, food, sleeping area, and most importantly, a high-speed internet connection. With the industry’s popularity boom, however, the world’s biggest team is now kicking it up a notch by investing in a bona-fide training facility.
Offices, training rooms, analysts, and even physical therapists: this modern eSport training facility will have all the bells and whistles you’ve come to expect from a professional sports team. Team Liquid, the owner of said facility, believe that the 9,000 square foot premises will help bolster their players performance by providing a more well-structured training environment, allowing for a better separation between business and leisure.
As in any sport, the professional players involved are but one in many factors that makes an industry tick. The facility also houses the team’s coaches, staff, chefs, and the production team, all of which work around the clock to ensure their players remain in peak performance.
Sponsoring The Competition
Big crowds draw sponsors. No sport, digital or otherwise, are immune to the clutches of potential advertising — and for good reason. Sponsorship currently provides the bulk of revenue for the industry, amounting to roughly 38%, or 266 million dollars as of 2017.
Sponsors are streaming to the quickly expanding industry, and that is despite the fact that gamers are not your traditional marketing demographic. A study conducted by Goldman Sachs suggest that the “gaming” demographic are much less susceptible to traditional advertising, as they spend less time watching TV or reading printed media. Furthermore, eSport enthusiasts generally earn a higher income than your average online population, and are more likely to spend money on expensive hardware.
This makes advertising towards the gamer demographic difficult, albeit more rewarding. Companies are often forced to think outside the box, showing that they can connect to their audience in creative ways rather than just slapping a logo on a team.
The investment pays off, as even companies that have no connection to gaming choose to become sponsors. In the early days of eSports, sponsors mainly consisted of gaming hardware and paraphernalia vendors (Intel, Alienware, Razer, to name a few), but today just about any brand is included — from Audi to Coca-Cola. In fact, Coca-Cola even has its very own eSport division.
Too Big To Ignore
Most of us who grew up on traditional media are rightfully clueless to the advent of eSports. Although they’ve existed in some form since the 80’s, the monumental strides eSports have made in the past few years should serve as a wake-up call to both sport enthusiasts and gamers alike.
As more and more household names jump to embrace the budding industry, it becomes evidently clear: eSports are no longer a gaming phenomenon, but rather an international one. All that’s left for us now is to embrace the change, as eSports are definitely here to stay.
