Esports continues to grow as a disruptive force. Case in point: 420M will be watching competitive gaming by 2019 (Newzoo estimate).
While game titles like League of Legends and Overwatch dominate headlines with multi-million dollar franchise values and media deals, Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) quietly remains an esports powerhouse.
Exhibit A: Turner Sports’ ELeague Boston Major Grand Final registered more than 1.13M concurrent viewers – breaking its own all-time record for a single Twitch channel set last year.
Accordingly, let’s investigate how non-endemic product categories fare with the ELeague audience.
Approach
Our eSports iQ analytics platform profiled the social data of 7,500+ English-speaking ELeague Boston Major viewers.
Specifically, consumer conversations that indicate positive purchase intent/history for products or services. An index value of 0 (unlikely) to 100 (very likely) was then calculated for product categories.
The result: Data-driven insights into the buying behavior of CSGO esports fans.
What you should know about ELeague viewers
- 9 times more likely to consider purchasing a gaming-related vs. esports product
- Purchase intent for esports is nearly 5 times stronger than traditional sports
- Bitcoin and esports intent are within 20% of each other
- Streaming is a major influencer for gaming related purchases
- Live event attendance boosts esports purchase intent by 28%
Why it matters
Numbers don’t lie. ELeague’s record-breaking viewership is a tantalizing opportunity to capture attention and increase awareness among millennial-minded audiences. Plus, the data shows (click image to enlarge) definite purchase intent across several non-endemic categories.
Intent to buy is a strong justification for brand marketing spend. The hard-to-reach nature of esports audiences, coupled with Turner Sports’ experience producing premium content for linear platforms, only strengthens the case.
Key takeaways
- Adidas’ apparel partnership with North, an ELeague team, is a great example of brand alignment with a product category this audience is already interested in buying
- Gaming most strongly influences the consumer experience
- Esports fandom is just one part of a wider gaming lifestyle – streaming, playing games (other than CSGO), etc.