The Rise of eSports (and its Marketing Opportunity)

In October 1972 at Stanford University, the first known video game competition took place. A handpicked list of the best Spacewar! players at the school were invited to watch and compete, and the lucky winner would take home a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.

Fast forward a few decades (and a pandemic) later and the esporting empire has gained the widespread spectatorship--and money--of legacy sport leagues, such as the NFL and NBA. 

For conversational comparison, leagues like the NFL and NBA provide an intriguing analogy. Both were founded in the first half of the 20th century, but they only became revenue powerhouses in the late 1990s. Effectively, it took over 50 years to make something like the NFL the juggernaut it is today. By comparison, in just 46 years since Stanford’s Spacewar! competition, esports viewership is already comparable with the NFL and NBA.

As Covid-19 set the sporting world in a pause, esports maximized the moment with their livestreaming platform (Twitch) and exponentially gained a captive audience to grow in popularity the past few months.  And more than that, traditional organizations, such as NASCAR, embraced an esports adaptation of itself while their cars weren’t allowed on actual tracks.

In turn, it has brought to light that esports have been a big deal for quite a while, with its industry estimated to be worth somewhere in the ballpark of $1.8 billion. As it attracts the largest audience (and an enormous teen population) on the planet with most spectators daily tuning in for hours on gaming platforms rather than TV networks, it is easy to understand why sponsors like Monster and Honda are quick to be part of this transformational era. Academia has also taken notice of this recent growth as schools eagerly compete to attract top players by offering esports programs, gaming facilities, and scholarships.

Given the inclusion the esports offers mixed with various social groups and demographics, and the ever-changing regulatory cultural environment leaving stadiums empty, it is easy to understand how esports will only continue to gain new sponsors and opportunities for their audience.