How Chipotle’s fighting-game-focused esports strategy is paying off at Evo 2024

When it comes to esports, Chipotle has zigged where many other brands have zagged.

Instead of focusing on prominent competitive games such as “League of Legends” and “Counter-Strike” and the flashy events like the Esports World Cup that host them, Chipotle has invested its marketing budget in the relatively smaller fighting game community, which competes in one-on-one martial-arts-inspired games such as “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat.”

Chipotle’s outreach to the fighting game community goes beyond its title sponsorship of this weekend’s Evolution Championship Series (known to fans as Evo), the annual fighting game championship in Las Vegas. In the past two years, Chipotle has also integrated itself directly into titles like “Street Fighter” and — as of earlier this year — ”Tekken.” 

“There’s definitely some white space for brands in the space,” said Chipotle director of brand marketing Scott Robinson. “The publishers themselves were very open to creating something unique to Chipotle, versus some of the more formulaic brand partnerships that can often occur in other games.”

In 2024, Chipotle’s choice to court the relatively niche fighting game community appears to have paid off. According to a joint study by YouGov and the agency rEvolution, which helped develop Chipotle’s gaming strategy, U.S. esports fans between the ages of 18 and 44 reported a nearly 100% increase in their intent to purchase Chipotle following the brand’s esports campaign last year, with 20 percent of respondents saying they planned to eat at the restaurant within the next month.

The aforementioned study also noted increases in Chipotle brand sentiment among U.S. esports fans as a result of the campaign — a phenomenon that was more than evident on the ground at last year’s Evo, whose in-arena crowd raucously cheered and chanted for Chipotle whenever one of the restaurant brand’s ads appeared onscreen. As some marketers begin to question the return on investment of esports sponsorships, fighting game fans have given Chipotle a clear go-ahead.

“I don’t think you can ever take credit for that level of organic reaction in its entirety,” said Evolution Championship Series general manager Rick Thiher. “What you can talk about is setting up a relationship between a brand and a consumer base that share enough interest in what one another is doing to actually generate some level of rapport.” 

In 2024, some other major non-endemic brands have finally taken note of the fighting game community, such as Nike, which announced an official collaboration with “Tekken” earlier this month. Although Chipotle has a head start in its efforts to reach the FGC, it welcomes other non-endemics to play in the space, viewing Nike’s involvement as an endorsement of Chipotle’s broader approach to esports. 

“Nike is this massive, culture-driving brand, with incredible marketing prowess on the global scale,” said rEvolution svp Chris Mann. “And so if they’re taking notice of the fighting game community and platforms like ‘Tekken,’ of which Chipotle has been part of for the last two years, it shows you that you’re doing something right.”

The fighting game community is still relatively small compared to more prominent esports scenes. However, the space could be poised for growth in the near future. When Evo 2024 kicks off today, July 19, it will be the largest esports tournament ever, boasting over 10,000 unique entrants across various games. And earlier this year, Riot Games announced the name of its own much-anticipated fighting game, 2XKO, alongside promises to support the game’s nascent competitive scene. 

“We’ve certainly heard about that game, and it’s definitely on our radar,” Robinson said. “So I guess all I can really say is more to come on that.”