Esports (short for electronic sports) is professional teams competing in multi-player video game tournaments for huge prize purses in front of millions of fans. It’s a huge marketing opportunity that has managed to slip under the radar of most CPG brands.
Here’s what you need to know.
- Over 36 million people watched last year’s League of Legends Championship. For comparison, the NBA 2016 Finals had 31 million viewers.
- The International Dota 2016 Championships had a prize pool of $20 million—-that’s twice as big as the 2016 Master’s Golf purse.
- The Philadelphia 76ers just purchased two esports teams for their franchise. Shaq and Jeremy Lin have also invested in teams.
- TBS and ESPN2 broadcast key esports events in 2016.
- The International Esports Federation petitioned the IOC for esports to become an Olympic sport.
- The largest segment of esports viewers are hard-to-reach Millennial men with high disposable incomes. They tend to be primary grocery shoppers and plan big-ticket purchases in the near future.
- Only a handful of CPG brands—Coke, Doritos and Red Bull—are focused on esports. All the sports’ other big supporters are technology companies.
- All kinds of marketing opportunities are available: event or team sponsorships, player endorsements, ads in video streams, etc.
Sources: Esports earnings.com 2016, Forbes 2016, Kotaku.com 2016, Mashable 2016, Smart Launch 2015
So please…You’re creative. That’s why you considered the name “Brandology.” Use those creative juices to come up with another name that’s not already trademarked. Even though it will take some time, it will be fun, happy time — a stunning contrast to the time you’ll spend with Brandon if you try to use “Brandology.” Really. (It’s probably a little tacky to mention, but if you want our help naming your business, that’s something we do too.)