Esports teams and organizations continue to work on identifying who their fans are and how best to monetize, said panelists at the Lagardere Sports esports Rising conference. FanAI co-Founder & Head of Product Chris Dowell said his firm continues to find sophistication in esports fans rather than typical stereotypes. “There’s this common misconception that esports fans are 21 years old, unemployed, laying around playing games with Cheeto dust on his lap,” Dowell said. He also noted that as mobile gains greater traction in esports, more female esports fans are cropping up. The esports fan also tends to be passionate about digital and dismissive of traditional media, Dowell said, which makes consumption habits easier to track. MVPindex Senior Dir of Strategic Accounts Adam Honig, whose firm tracks social metrics, also noted esports fans tend to be highly social and have a mobile focus, “as well as the ability to be influenced by brands.” But Honig said brands have to think differently when playing to esports fans than they would to a traditional sports fan. Honig: “It’s got to be authentic. They have to be able to integrate that brand within the programming, the media so it’s not turning those fans off. That’s very challenging compared to traditional sports.” Dowell said of brand plays to esports fans, “You just need to be sensitive to what you’re doing, it’s nothing crazy.”
ON THE FLIP SIDE: DOJO Madness Head of Shadow Initiatives Tim Sevenhuysen, whose firm tracks esports player performance, discussed the difference between an esports gamer and traditional sports athlete. While traditional sports training is for the most part physical, esports is about learning how to parse out the right pieces of information in a timely manner, Sevenhuysen said. “Esports is entirely about decision making,” he said. “It’s about training them on an identifiable piece of information, knowing which piece of information to look for while they’re playing, and then reacting to that.”
