Varsity Esports???

The future is now: esports are real sports. 

This fast-growing world of competitive organized video gaming has an estimated 29.6 million monthly viewers in the US, and is expected to surpass $1.8 billion next year. Entities from Coca-Cola to BMW and the Air Force are throwing cash at sponsorships. Even universities have gotten in on the action through scholarships offered by over 175 US colleges with varsity esports programs.

Turns out video games being bad for kids was another thing parents got wrong after all!

WHAT’S UP ⬆️:
Esports aren’t just on the rise, they’ve gone mainstream. Not only do esports present great opportunities for brands to engage consumers, they can even help students further their education.

  • The Top Dogs: Most of the esports market is cornered by a few developers — Valve (Counter-Strike, Dota 2), Riot Games (League of Legends), Activision Blizzard (World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Call of Duty, StarCraft, Overwatch), Epic Games (Fortnite) and Electronic Arts (FIFA, Madden NFL, NBA Live). That being said, niches exist for all sorts of titles and studios… including some games over 20 years old.

  • Meet the Modern Gamer: They’re far from the stereotype of a lazy, socially awkward high school boy in his parents’ basement (though hey, if this fictional person becomes the next breakout gamer, good for him!). Esports players range from 18-34, and 30% identify as women. Surveys find the demographic to be social, highly engaged, and eager to spend on their passion. 

  • Where Brands Can Break In: The financial ecosystem of esports is complex, and brands need to understand the intricacies. For example, over 200 million viewers watched the League of Legend Championship final in 2018. That’s more than the Super Bowl! Dig deeper still and you find that the number of viewers outside China was just under two million. Even if you're prioritizing a domestic audience, that's still a lot of highly motivated consumers. But brands need to identify where they intersect with a specific esports demographic — each one is different!


WHAT’S DOWN ⬇️:
The stigma against playing video games too much. Far from a time sink, it’s now another way to get financial assistance for education and a legitimate career path of its own.


WHAT’S NEXT ➡️:

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Disruption		 Esports viewership in the US has outpaced every pro league except the NFL, signaling a profound shift in the world of sports. Take the Olympics… if you can even remember the last two. Most of the commentary on Tokyo and Beijing was whether anyone even cares anymore. 

Esports could give the event a much-needed shot in the arm. That’s why the IOC announced the first-ever “Olympic Virtual Series,” a group of esports events in the run-up to the 2024 games. Depending on the response, esports could appear in the actual Olympics as early as 2028.
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Innovation		 Historically, the main scholarships for the average high school student have been academic, need-based, or athletic. Diversifying the kinds of scholarships offered — like esports scholarships — means that more young people have access to higher education and greater opportunities, even if they don’t end up becoming streaming sensations.
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Polarization		 Mixing video games and school will always stoke controversy, even if there are tangible benefits. So will asking whether esports players are real athletes. There’s at least one worrying thing both have in common: just as traditional sports can take life-altering physical and psychological tolls on athletes, esports can have devastating effects on players’ health and wellbeing.
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Stickiness		 Esports generate big headlines — but not always for the right reasons. A report from YouGov and esports team Evil Geniuses found that nearly half of all women in gaming experience gender discrimination. It’s so ubiquitous that many female gamers disguise their identities.

Plus, you’ve likely seen the coverage on how horribly some major game studios mistreat employees, from crunch culture to widespread harassment. In many ways, the skyrocketing success of esports amounts to rewarding cartoonishly bad corporate behavior.
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Social Impact		 Like the stories you hear about kids wanting to grow up to be influencers or YouTube personalities, gaming is now a genuine career path that many aspire to. It’s become a feature of society, not a bug — and esports scholarships have legitimized something that was long considered a stigma.
Content Team