Research, learn and understand before embarking in esports

Of the four esports sessions at Betting on Sports this year one was focused on the commercial opportunities and the pitfalls to avoid when entering esports in some form. 

It was hosted by Dominic Sacco, Founder of eSports News UK and Content Director at the British Esports Association. On the panel were James Dean of ESL UK and Ollie Ring of Esports Insider.

Whilst the ample opportunities in esports right now were highlighted, much was said of the importance of understanding the various communities within it, and not attempting to run before you can walk. Ring said: “Be careful with launching esports events because these are passionate fans that do not forget.”

The warning here was clear; that organising an event which is ill thought out and badly run can be far more detrimental to your brand with this target audience than not launching one whatsoever.

Dean mentioned that getting them right meanwhile can ensure excellent brand awareness and returns. He brought up the case of Intel and its Extreme Masters series, run globally in partnership with ESL, which is the company’s longest running digital marketing campaign in its history at over ten years and still going strong. Dean stated: “It’s about speaking the same language and having experts on board and involved that are fans themselves.”

The varying demographics of fans across esports’ main games was also discussed. Dean said that “whilst there are overlaps and commonalities, each comes with a very distinct community.”

He added: “League of Legends for instance has typically younger players and more females playing too. As such they have to be treated differently but there are opportunities around them all.”

On the gambling side of things the decision as to whether to include esports in a sportsbook, the route which Sky betting & Gaming has taken, or to launch a separate esports portal as in the case of Betway, was debated.

One point for operators to take note of here was that there is scope for it to be even more specific than this and for, for example, a regulated Dota 2 betting site to be launched.