Are Esports Set to Compete with Traditional Sports?

Esports and traditional sports markets have converged over the last few years, pushing companies and sponsors on both sides to experiment with new types of partnerships and activations. This sports-esports crossover is contributing to competition between these sectors in their attempt to capture the marketing budgets of different brands.

While there isn’t necessarily a rivalry between the two sectors, there’s a huge shift in viewership, sponsorship, and brand partnerships. For instance, when video game fans talk about Kyle Giersdorf (Bugha) and his gaming channel on Twitch, they speak about him like he were Tom Brady or LeBron James. They analyze the 20-year-old’s skills in the bottle royale video game “Fortnite”, quoting his stats and kill ratios. They also emulate his moves and tactics as they hope to become competitive gamers in the future.

According to tech consulting firm Activate, there are over 250 million esports fans worldwide and a significant number of them also play video games. While the pay and popularity of video gamers like Bugha is rare unlike in traditional sports, it’s evident that the esports market is growing fast.

Unlike cricket or football, esports isn’t rooted in any culture or religion, which gives it a global appeal. That’s making esports franchises more attractive to sponsors and brands, since being able to reach millions of people is crucial in building commercial value.

Esports finding its audience

Every successful gaming market needs a large audience to thrive. Being able to capture the attention of fans is crucial in the monetization and marketing of the gaming sector and the esports market is no different. That’s why operators of online slots for real money in Australia for instance are continually improving their offering to keep their players engaged.

Similarly, esports players need to grab the attention of their fans to gain followers, sponsors and streaming revenue. That also applies to game developers and broadcasters striving to gain an edge in this highly competitive market.

In the esports market, game developers and broadcasters have to contend with traditional sports marketers for the same audience demographics, normally between the ages of 18-34 years. This audience makes up 73% of esports viewers as shown by the data revealed by Global Web Index, a consumer marketing research firm.

Esports has a global market that’s quickly growing, despite the strong competition from traditional sports for the audience. To go after this audience demographic, game developers are taking up tactics that have proven to work in the sports industry. That includes establishing competitive leagues like Blizzard’s Overwatch League that fans can root for.

Other developers are heavily investing in flagship competitions like The International, an esports tournament organized for Valve’s “Dota 2”. In 2018, the prize pool for The International tournament was $25.5 million. On the flip side, the largest prize pool on the PGA Tour in the same year was $12 million in the US Opens.

Esports has also been named as a possible Olympic sport and was featured in the 2018 Asian Games; they were previously reserved as a door for taekwondo and judo. As such, many experts are viewing esports as a threat to traditional sports. However, the esports and traditional sports markets can complement each other to thrive in the current market as the future of video games might involve emulating the structures present in traditional games.