Digiday Gaming Advertising Forum

As advertisers flow into gaming, Electronic Arts is taking advantage of its portfolio of popular sports games to create natural opportunities for brands to reach the company’s millions of players. Over the past year, brands such as USAA and Lexus have taken advantage of EA’s advertising inventory through activations such as the Ultimate Madden Bowl, for which Lexus became the title sponsor of a virtual stadium inside “Madden NFL 24,” and the premier Madden esports ecosystem Madden NFL 25 Championship Series, which used USAA Stadium as its virtual homeground. As EA looks to raise marketers’ awareness about the advertising opportunities within its gaming portfolio, esports represents a key touch point for the gaming community. In this session, EA Senior Director of Esports & Ventures Brand Monica Dinsmore will speak to Digiday about the opportunities for advertisers within Electronic Arts’ wide-ranging portfolio of esports properties.

In an era where capturing audience attention is more challenging than ever, gaming has emerged as a highly effective channel for brands looking to reach a leaned-in audience. Its immersive nature and interactive experiences within capture active attention in ways other digital channels cannot match. With 3.4 billion gamers worldwide, the industry is rapidly evolving, offering brands unique opportunities to engage diverse audiences through compelling and interactive ads across gaming platforms. By leveraging gaming’s capacity to maintain immersion through gameplay and integrated ad experiences, brands can unlock player attention and effectively stand out in today’s fragmented and competitive media landscape.

ESL FACEIT Group is the largest organizer of esports events worldwide. As the company scales up its operations through partnerships with publishers such as Activision Blizzard and Riot Games, its leaders believe that building generational fandom is key for the future of esports — and that “super-events” are the way to accomplish the task. For this session, ESL FACEIT Group chief commercial officer Rodrigo Samwell will speak to Digiday about how the company has helped sponsors like Intel become synonymous with the competitive gaming scene thanks to repeated annual major events such as the Intel Extreme Masters series of “Counter-Strike” and “Dota 2” tournaments.