Why Esports Is Everything But Mainstream

Is EWC the best time of the year to be a gamer?

I'd say without a doubt.

25 competitions over the course of 7 weeks cover pretty much every competitive genre from Call of Duty to Street Fighter to Chess. 

For someone like me, it's the virtual kid (adult) in a candy store. Almost every day is something new. Some new play, some new game I don't know much about, and someone new winning A LOT of money, a $75M prize pool to be exact. 

I'm far from a neutral observer. It's a personal passion. Iridescent ranked COD player here if I could give myself some flowers. I've gamed since I can remember. Everything from Pokemon Red to GoldenEye to Final Fantasy, and even Earthworm Jim. For me, it's a part of my life that is never going away. "NOT A PHASE" as some would say.

These days I have a family and a 4-year-old son who is about to be humbled in Mario Kart as soon as he can pick up the sticks.

At the same time I've spent the last 15 years building brands at the best agencies in the world, until I opened JK, an AI-native ad agency I run with my partner Kev. 

So, when I watch EWC, I don't just enjoy the competition. I see a multi billion-dollar industry with way too much missed opportunity.

Esports has every raw ingredient of mainstream sports. Booked stadiums, popular games, players people love to hate, rivalries, drama, heartbreak, and redemption arcs. Aside from the ACL tears, you'd think I was describing any normal playoff run in the NFL or the NBA. 

And yet, it's still the largest niche industry I can think of.

The reason is simple. Everyone thinks it's "for the nerds".

Three diagnoses

1. There's no casual on ramp. Every sport can be understood by a stranger in thirty seconds. The ball goes in a hoop, and you win. A first-time League of Legends viewer is watching absolute chaos. The broadcasts are built by experts, for experts, and they assume the fans watching already know what's happening. F1 didn't get Americans to care by explaining super car engineering. It built Drive to Survive as the entry moment, and let the sport's natural excitement pull them in. 

2. Fandom is shallow because orgs sell rosters, not identity. Rosters change every season, and many times in season. Identity is what keeps someone a Yankees fan despite trades. Most gaming orgs build follower counts instead of community. Anyone who has Optic Gaming tattooed on them can tell you the difference. New orgs can learn a lot from that.

3. Esports has no moment in time. Traditional sports own appointment viewing. Sunday afternoons, holidays, and the entire month of October are owned by the big 4. Esports is streamed on monitors rather than living room TVs. EWC is the closest thing the industry has to a shared calendar moment. It's proof the model works. The industry needs more of them. 

What winning looks like

If you are a gaming org that wants to build advocacy or a publisher looking to grow your competitive scene, here is where I would start. 

Adjust the broadcast product

Add newcomer commentary tracks. Take time to explain scores and scoring systems. Highlight the storylines. Treat the broadcast as your primary brand experience, which is likely true for the majority of fans.

Better partnership with streamers

Streamers love your game, and their fans love them. Take more advantage of that. Instead of disparate watch parties bring it together. 

Get physical

Sponsor real-world community competition. Everything from little league to paintball to Quidditch (kidding....kinda). Make your brand synonymous with winning culture. 

Where AI Fits

Every recommendation above starts with understanding your audience. If you're a marketing director or a CMO, these tools are your best friends. Use them. 

At JK we build audience simulators that we've deployed for clients from professional sports to energy companies, letting marketing teams pressure test ideas against realistic fan personas before spending any money. 

Ours is called STAN. Create a diehard fan (someone that hasn't touched grass in weeks) and ask how a change in format for a broadcast will be perceived. 

Our Invitation

I want the fan base of every gaming org to triple. 

I want tournaments a newcomer can follow from the opening match. 

I want LAN finals at the biggest venues in the world, and watched by millions at home. 

This industry has everything it needs. 

Kev and I relish working with clients who have challenges like this. Connect with us and we hope to see you at the next event. 

JK