The Future of eSports

The number of non-endemic brands entering esports will continue to increase, although so too will their nervousness

While brands are keen to get involved in eSports given its audience and popularity, the nature and environment they are entering will naturally make brands wary about committing too heavily. Non-endemic brands will continue to experience vocal resistance from the eSports community if they are deemed to be non-authentic/non-credible while those same brands may have reservations about partnering with certain eSports titles, specifically violent titles that do not align with brand values, with the potential fallout damaging the brand. While endemic brands still make up the vast majority of sponsors, some non-endemic brands are clearly targeted at adults i.e. alcohol and gambling brands, which presents obvious problems in a sector with a large underage audience.

A consequence of these issues will be non-endemic brands taking a ‘dip-the-toe’ approach to eSports sponsorship, acquiring lower value, less high-profile assets which will provide them with flexibility until the ROI impact of eSports partnerships becomes more apparent.

Increased industry-wide inclusivity initiatives are expected to counter the perceived lack of gender and racial inclusivity of the eSports industry

Initiatives such as SKYLLA, a series of grassroots CS:GO tournaments pitting male and female teams against each other and AnyKey, a diversity initiative set up by ESL and Intel, are looking to tackle a problem that is widely acknowledged within the eSports community, namely a lack of inclusivity. With female gamers routinely degraded and abused online alongside notable incidents of racism, the industry is taking steps to improve inclusivity and offer a level playing field for all those wishing to compete in eSports.

Major ‘traditional’ sporting events and rightsholders are expected to continue to leverage eSports to grow their existing brands and attract the ‘next generation of sport fan’ for their current offering

Rightsholders see eSports as a way to drive audience growth in their existing product offering (i.e. eSports as a ‘cross-sell’ opportunity) as evidenced by the growth of the NBA 2K League, the Formula One eSports series and in the PSG and FC Schalke branded Dota 2 and League of Legends teams. By creating IP and interest around eSports, those ‘traditional’ sports are attempting to leverage the popularity of eSports in an era when the audience for mainstream sport is as fragmented as it has ever been. While it is expected that eSports will be its own standalone offering/profit-centre in the future as eSports continues to gain mainstream popularity, in the short term the opportunities offered by cross licensing with eSports will provide rightsholders an opportunity to reach a new audience.