The Cincinnati Business Courier recently published an article about a new branding effort from local Cincinnati e-sports company Game Day. The article is blocked for non-subscribers, but it describes the inception of Game Day's new brand, Fear Cincinnati, which aims to build the city's first professional e-sports franchise.
Electronic sports, or e-sports, refer to professional competitions for video games. Independent statistical analysis firm Statista predicts that revenue related to e-sports will reach 1.62 billion dollars by 2024 (full disclosure: Game Day cites this report on their website). Game Day and similar companies hope to expand the reach and legitimacy of e-sports by offering professional services to interested third parties in the form of sponsorships, event management and athlete endorsements.
But Game Day isn't the only thing happening on this front in the Cincinnati area. Let's take a look at some of the other opportunities that are available for those who are looking to get involved.
Where to Go to Get Involved
There are many opportunities for people looking to get involved in Cincinnati e-sports. If you're a college student, you can join the University of Cincinnati's E-sports Club, which meets every other Tuesday. Northern Kentucky University also has their own club. If you're not a college student, don't worry. There are still other ways to get involved.
The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati has an e-sports club for interested youth. It touts its program as a way for kids and teenagers to build their problem solving skills in a safe environment. There are also competitive high school e-sports teams at Elder, Oak Hills, St. Xavier, and Middletown high schools according to Esports Ohio, a non-profit, educational organization founded to provide students with safe ways to game.
For those of us who have aged out of school, there are plenty of private venues to choose from. Esports Arena is one of oldest e-sports facilities in the country, and they have multiple locations throughout the U.S., including one in Cincinnati. The Game Haus, a multimedia company based out of Cincinnati, provides commentary, analysis and journalism about the e-sport world, as well as content relating to conventional sports. Although they don't have a dedicated location, they're an excellent way to learn about the local e-sport community. Finally, Game Works in Newport, Kentucky, has its own e-sports lounge with weekly events.
E-Sports and Business
Like other sporting events, much of the revenue in e-sports comes in the form of advertising and sponsorships, according to Statista. That means that there are opportunities to market and build out your brand by advertising at e-sporting events. Statista goes on to say that by 2024, e-sport viewership could be as high as 577 million people.
Game Days puts the numbers into perspective: "In November, 100 million viewers watched League of Legends [a popular e-sport title] while 103 million tuned in to watch last year’s Super Bowl." Super Bowl ads are famous for their ability to entertain audiences. In fact, some people only ever watch the Super Bowl to tune into the ads. As such, the growing e-sports audience could mean whole new customer markets to tap into for those who act quickly.
Ready to get started? Titan Tech can help you build an audience profile and help you research different opportunities to advertise at e-sporting events. Don't wait; give them a shout out today to schedule your free consultation.
And for everything else tech related, stay tuned for more news later this week.