opportunities of eSports
What is eSports?
eSports is ‘Electronic Sports’, essentially treating competitive video games as its own sub-culture allowing individuals to compete head-to-head in specific game titles usually for cash prizes. eSports has over the last decade exploded into the mainstream turning everyday people into online superstars.
eSports does not require sunny days for the playing field, nor does it require a scheduled practice time. However, with eSports, the weather does not affect it and lock downs do not cancel the event.
What is the opportunity for growth for participants?
South Korea shows a huge interest in the gaming section. Top performing players are treated like A-List celebrities, there is a saying ‘If you want to marry a girl in South Korea, you have to beat her dad in StarCraft’. That’s how big StarCraft is over there.
We want to bring that sort of appeal and excitement to the Central Victorian eSports League.
When we did our research on the games industry in Australia, we found that 70% of Victorians play some sort of video game.
While this isn’t excluding mobile games, the interactive entertainment market in Australia is only going to go up in value as time goes on. We hope we're just in time for a larger surge in popularity within this market.
Ways eSports participants save money
Learning about the culture will help you pick up the necessary skills to save money.
As an eSports Gamer, it comes down to the hobby behind it.
Participating in the event can learn valuable knowledge to look after their own PC, know whats wrong with it, and fix it without going to a computer repair company.
It’s cheaper doing it yourself.
They also know where to get good deals on computer equipment, as the club is always happy to help.
How can eSports earn participants money?
While winning competitions can be a great way for gamers to earn more money, it’s not the main source of income for many top performers.
Many players have signed for major teams earning 6-7 figure incomes. An example of Australian talent is a player by the name of Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami, who is signed to a North American team called ‘Cloud 9’. A team notable for paying their players at least $10,000 a month.
No more worries
Look at twitch tv, perhaps someone from there started as an eSports player, now they are making several million dollars a year.
If you are passionate about eSports, there are many avenues you can go down, whether it be content creation, Twitch streaming, or starting your own competitive organization, the list goes on.
You can build up a strong network of gamers that are more than happy to help each other out. Not to mention there is a zero-bullying policy.
The future of eSports
We are heading into our project whilst doing research studies based on mental health and gaming. We really want to fine tune everything to offer results that benefit the gamers and sponsors.
At this time, we can only speculate, but after doing a lot of reading we’re making a safe bet that the most common benefits include improving problem solving skills. We are looking to work with mental health groups and charities in the future and publish our findings
What are the benefits to sponsoring?
It really depends on who your target audience is. CVESL for example does not have a specific demographic for ages and genders. We are focusing on bringing a supportive yet competitive community together.
eSports as a whole has quite a large number of niche talents, but we focus mainly on competitive gaming and hope to address streaming and content creation as part of our focus.
The type of sponsors that fits their criteria would strongly benefit if their promotions are done right.
Other ways eSports can benefit sponsors are;
Brand awareness.
SEO score going up because the sponsor affiliate link.
Potential for generating more traffic to the website.
Personality that melds well with the product or individual.
Why should I sponsor eSports?
Because it is local to Bendigo and it supports local Esport games in Central Victoria.
eSports as a whole has not yet reached its full potential. It’s constantly growing and you should get into it early before it’s too late.
Also take advantage of being seen by young gamers that may re-watch their games and see your brand displayed. The branding is likely to stay in a player or spectators head just as well as a TV or radio advert.
How would sponsors get promoted?
Ad space on the website, affiliate links, live stream ad overlays, and in house area advertisement.
How can I sponsor eSports?