This is the 4th installment of eSports Group’s eSports Marketing Playbook. See part 3, here.
The eSports Experience Paradigm
The birth of the eSports phenomenon spans back to the arcades of the 1980s and the LAN parties of the 1990s. These events featured digital athletes gathered to meet, socialize and compete. At the time, competitive gaming was proximity sensitive, meaning competition had to take place in the same physical location. The advent of the Internet, coupled with the technological advances and the first heavily multiplayer focused games of the 1990s, marked the ascent of what is known as eSports today. The experience was now digitally viral, capable of taking over the Internet, and could involve more than just one player versus another; providing the foundation for widespread, competitive gameplay at the heart of eSports.
Live events as the centerpiece
The purchase of majority shares in the Electronic Sports League (ESL), one of the pioneers in high quality live competitive gaming events, for € 78 million helps demonstrate how valuable the live event experience is in the eSports world. Currently, most professional eSports leagues lack, among other things, a strong franchise model, consistent scheduling, and programming rights for live content. Contrary to traditional sports, where spectators can depend on matches being held at a pre-determined home or away stadiums, eSports depends on a vibrant ecosystem of tournaments held across the world.
“The great thing with eSports is that it has become a global uniter. When you think about it, what other sport is massively strong in both the US, Europe and Asia? So soccer is huge in the rest of the world, but not necessarily in the US. Here, we have American Football and Basketball, which again has following in other countries, but eSports is truly universal.” — Ehtisham Rabbani, CEO of SteelSeries
The matchups for these tournaments, streamed across the internet at no cost, connect the entire eSports community. When fans across the world can consume the same match and connect with others doing the same, the game becomes an international shared experience. The purpose of easily accessible streams, videos-on-demand and such is to export the experience to a worldwide audience. All successful eSports marketing perspectives should underscore the prominence of live events or risk falling short of their potential.
An underutilized marketing vehicle
Live streaming has exploded in popularity, to a great degree, because it expands the scope of authentic connectivity. The demand for authentic experiences, best delivered by live events, must be addressed by eSports marketing efforts. These live eSports events combine the social, entertainment and media elements of competitive gaming into a cohesive whole. They also provide a trusted channel for reaching highly engaged audiences.
The 2015 League of Legends North American Summer Championship, held in Madison Square Garden, provided a glimpse at the potential of live events. The New York Police Department shut down the meetup for Team Liquid, one of the teams competing in the tournament, after over 1,000 fans gathered in Washington Square Park. Better organization would have created a better experience for fans/supporters and helped open up additional marketing opportunities.
Currently, little has been done to leverage the marketing potential of the live eSports event. Some, incorrectly, assume introduction of marketing techniques will lead to a reduction in authenticity. However, marketing should not be confused with crass commercialism. Neither should it be associated with the “everything for sale” model employed in traditional sports. Rather, eSports marketing efforts must first connect and align with the underlying community to ensure long-term success.
Note: The current phase of eSports market research and intelligence classes the entire eSports domain as a single entity. This is done, mostly, to better compare eSports to their traditional sport counterparts. However, there is no “generic” eSports audience. For example, the League of Legends and Counter Strike Global Offensive audience cannot be classed as one and the same eSports crowd. When the audience for eSports is cast as a monolith, the question should be, “Which part?”
Organic growth
The eSports experience transcends the popular game titles of the moment. Regardless of which games are in vogue, elements of accessibility and participation will continue to grow the eSports genre as a whole. The success of streaming platforms, which help bring communities together, in the eSports domain, speaks to how valuable the notion of accessibility is to engagement. For example, in the traditional sports world, where the industry is ruled by paywalls, stringent media rights and business models built on inaccessibility, fan engagement is becoming a serious challenge.
[Image courtesy of Newzoo]
Participation by the mass of fans and supporters continues to grow the eSports experience. It is imperative to correctly class fans and supporters as active contributors, and not just spectators. eSports represents a trend away from passive consumption models to a larger overlap with active participation. The group of casters, analysts and content creators fuel engagement on sites like Reddit and other community-focused sites across the web; all of which plant the seeds of growth for even more interest and participation.
eSports Group’s eSports Marketing Playbook continues with part 5, here.
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Alex Fletcher is founder & president at eSports Group, where he helps customers meet their eSports advisory & consulting needs. When Alex isn’t glued to a screen, he spends time with his wife, their two dogs, and pretends to learn Polish. Feel free to stalk him on Twitter – @FletchUnleashed