An eSports tournament that piggybacks off the Olympics "looks set to legitimise the sport and open it up to big brand sponsorship," according to Matthew Chapman of MARKETING MAGAZINE.
The U.K. government "is backing the tournament, called eGames, and its first event will launch on the same day as the Rio 2016 opening ceremony."
The event takes place in Rio, is described as a "two-day pop up" event and will "pave the way" for the first full eGames event in PyeongChang in South Korea in '18, the year South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics.
It is hoped the Rio showcase will attract "partners" to the competition and "drum up interest in eSports."
Another eGames "is also being planned for Tokyo in 2020, which is the year the city will also host the Olympics."
Despite positioning itself as the gaming Olympics, the eGames official website "is keen to stress it is not affiliated" with the IOC or the Olympic Games.
M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment Head of Digital Haran Ramachandran said the unofficial tie-up with the Olympics "will help legitimize the sport" in the eyes of brands and believes some big brands "can be expected to sponsor the tournament." Ramachandran highlighted how Samsung had sponsored the now defunct World Cyber Games in South Korea but believes the sponsorship did not work because it was "ahead of its time."
Monster and Red Bull "have got involved in esports sponsorships already" and Ramachandran believes brands such as adidas or Reebok could be a good fit for sponsorships of FIFA tournaments at the eGames.
As yet "none of the games that are to be played at the eGames have been revealed" (MARKETING MAGAZINE, 4/8). The BBC's Chris Foxx wrote competitive gaming, known as eSports, "is a big business and professional tournaments offer thousands of pounds in prize money."
Top players "are thought to earn upwards" of £1M ($1.4M) a year.
There "has been a mixed reaction to the news," with games journalist Pao Bago writing on Twitter, "When will new organisers learn that best teams respond to the best incentives? Last night's eSports Olympics announcement was great and all but giving shiny medals and zero money is suspect." Ovum analyst Edward Barton said, "Potential sponsors and players will be reassured that a major government is backing the event and that will help with getting the funding and exposure the event will need to succeed" (BBC, 4/7).
