Opinion: It’s Time To Take Esports Seriously

Adam Paris, associate director, sport and partnership marketing at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, on why it’s time we started calling eSports what it is, one of the world’s most popular sports…

By now, you’re probably tired of hearing that ‘eSports has gone mainstream’. It’s the ‘trend’ that has agencies and brands scrambling to present a specialist team to help navigate this unique blend of personal gaming, big time money and huge fan interest.

The thing is, if you are launching an eSports specialism now, you are already too late and you’ve missed the point. This isn’t a hobby or niche interest gone mainstream; this is one of the world’s most popular sports.

The industry has grown significantly over the past few years and as the ecosystem continues to evolve it will naturally experience many challenges along the way. Take the recent announcement of the World eSports Association, or WESA, which has been set up in order to drive more professionalism and better governance into the sport. Whilst the announcement has been met with criticism and confusion, an organisation that can create a stable structure, consistent regulations, better player representation and revenue sharing and a more solid foundation to drive long term participation is critical to evolving that ecosystem. It remains to be seen whether WESA will do this over the long term, but at least the organisations involved understand the need for change to keep growing this sport and ultimately make it a more attractive channel for investment.

Within Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ sports and partnership marketing team, we have developed a clear offering to provide: brand consultancy; brand partnership advice; and creative communications for clients. All designed specifically for them to better reach and connect with the growing young male audience.

There is no doubt eSports has the reach potential to match any professional sport. The Premier League has long boasted about its status as the best league in the world based on its global reach. Through live streaming video platform Twitch, eSports has even greater potential. According to Twitch partnership manager Pontus Eskilsson, Twitch receives 100million unique users per month, with fans 44% more engaged than football fans.

The nature of eSports professionals is one of the most glaring misconceptions about the sport. For the players, the pressures are no different to any other sport; performing in huge arenas, with thousands watching at home and with the draw of huge prize money. In the words of professional eSports player Callum ‘Swanny’ Swan; “There is a misconception that it’s just an occupation for introverts with no physicality. It is extremely mentally draining and physically strenuous and so we need to train and prepare in the same way as any athlete would.” CEO of Gfinity, Neville Upton, has promoted numerous eSports events and he sees the athletes as one of the sport’s biggest assets: “We’ve been gobsmacked by the level of professionalism. These guys train 10 hours a day and not many footballers are as polished and articulate as some of our eSports stars.”      

There are few people on the planet with a better understanding of the workings of an eSports team than Wouter Sleijffers, CEO of highly successful team FNATIC. As part of our panel, Wouter described the treatment that players receive is equal to anything seen to players in any mainstream sport: “We make sure the players eat healthy, bring in yoga specialists and sports scientists. It all adds up to improve the quality of the product.”

As with any traditional sport, the industry will continue to define and redefine itself. Shedding the stereotypes and misconceptions that have long been associated with eSports is essential if it is to grow, but this isn’t necessarily helped by those who have little understanding of the industry and are purely jumping on the bandwagon.

Time, investment, commitment and governance are key to growing this sport. In its structure, it has the same ecosystem as traditional sport and to maximise the eSports opportunity we shouldn’t limit ourselves to thinking in terms of ideas to suit a niche sport. We can’t fall into the classic trap of thinking in specialisms that led to ‘shrink it and pink it’ marketing for women. Instead of creating an eSports Olympics, how about putting eSports in the Olympics? It’s global, has a high enough participation and it has become a sport in its own right. It may sound ludicrous, but the opportunity here is truly endless. The key to maximising the eSports opportunity isn’t specialism, but ambition.