Why Esports World Cup sponsors aren’t in it for the viewership

The Esports World Cup has certainly exceeded the viewership numbers put up last year by its predecessor, Gamers8, with average viewership growing by nearly 8 percent, according to official EWC partner Esports Charts. On the other hand, some observers have pointed out that the event’s average viewership numbers have been lower than other tentpole gaming and esports events such as Games Done Quick, an annual speedrunning gathering, or the League of Legends World Championship.

No complaints

Arguably, the sponsors’ opinions matter most when it comes to the Esports World Cup’s future advertising prospects. So far none of the event’s sponsors appears to be complaining about the event’s viewership numbers, whether or not they’ve exceeded expectations.

“Our partnership with Esports World Cup has brought us closer to millions of esports fans,” said Mastercard evp of global sponsorships and partnership models Pernilla Winberg Babtist. “During our first week of broadcast, there was a peak viewership of 2.4 million fans, with 36 million hours watched. That’s incredible.”

When reached for comment on the event’s performance thus far, an Esports World Cup representative pointed to a July 9 newsletter by Esports World Cup Foundation CEO Ralf Reichert, who said that he was pleased with the engagement and viewership around the event’s first week.

“We will share the first viewership stats with you very soon, but for now, I’m happy to share that we’ve already clocked over 50% of the total hours watched when compared to last year’s precursor,” Reichert wrote.

Brands have certainly taken note of the excitement. Over the past month, the Esports World Cup has announced a veritable who’s-who of major non-endemic sponsors, including PepsiCo, Mastercard, Unilever, Amazon and Adidas. Instead of looking to more immediately visible stats such as viewership, brands including PepsiCo and Mastercard told Digiday that their focus with their sponsorships of the event is more long-term.

“[Viewership is] an important metric, but it’s not the key deciding factor on whether this is something that we’re going to pursue in the future or not,” said Karim El Fiqi, svp and CMO of PepsiCo AMESA. “The on-ground engagement that you have with the consumers, the equity that you build with the gamers onsite and then your positioning in this passion point in the space is the value of that in the long-term.”

Getting a foot in the door

In addition to selling its products at the Esports World Cup, Pepsi views sponsoring the event as a way to get its foot into the door of the many other Saudi gaming and esports projects, including the esports leagues run by ESL/FACEIT Group and the gaming city in Qiddiya.

“You know all about the Saudi Vision 2030 — how they’re trying to continue building the country, but also diversify the economy and the sources of income,” El Fiqi said. “As PepsiCo, we’ve been a player in Saudi for years, so we have a role to play in supporting this 2030 vision.”

Strengthening its presence in the Middle East is a central goal of Mastercard’s sponsorship of the Esports World Cup, too.

“The Middle East is a rapidly growing gaming market that’s been getting a lot of attention,” Winberg Babtist said. “And as a global brand, we understand that we need to meet our consumers where they are.”

For some of the sponsors of this year’s Esports World Cup, there are additional intangible, yet very relevant, potential benefits to partnering with the Riyadh-based event. After all, the Esports World Cup is deeply intertwined with the Saudi Arabian government, and supporting initiatives such as the Esports World Cup could subtly enhance a brand’s presence in the region.

“There’s a heavy involvement of the government or government entities in this, and I think companies that operate in that region are very cognizant of keeping them on side and being seen to be supportive,” said Malph Minns, managing director of sports marketing agency Strive Sponsorship. “That then oils the wheels of other conversations elsewhere — and this is probably a more cost-effective way of doing it than sponsoring the Saudi football league.”