From sidelines to spotlight: Esports events are putting creators center stage

But this time around, individual content creators are soaking up much of the focus, both through the Content Creator League, which features teams led by top creators such as BanderitaX and SHoNgxBoNg, and in sponsorship activations by advertisers such as Spotify, whose partnership with the Esports World Cup includes a dedicated hub for on-site content creation. Thus far, the event has announced 22 sponsors for 2025, with categories spanning across consumer brands, tech platforms and endemic gaming companies.

“We’re excited to experience this fervent fandom firsthand, from influencers and creators to artists and fans,” said Spotify MENAP managing director Akshat Harbola. “Being at the core of fandom defines who we are, and this partnership allows Spotify to authentically engage with gaming fans and create meaningful experiences through on-platform initiatives such as the EWC Music Hub.” The Esports World Cup has never disclosed its rates for specific brand sponsorships, with observers speculating that the event’s sponsorships are a mix of multi-million-dollar brand partnerships and smaller vanity deals.

Last year, the Esports World Cup generated roughly €50 million in sponsorship revenue, according to an analysis by the German media company Spobis.

The growing presence of creators at events such as the Esports World Cup shows how the esports industry is acknowledging creators’ role as key drivers of both audience and advertiser interest — and is increasingly putting them front and center as a result. 

The Esports World Cup is not the only esports event that has leaned into creators in recent months. Danish esports company Blast has prioritized creators’ presence in both its broadcasts and in-person events in 2025, with prominent creators such as Alexandre “Gaules” Chiqueta livestreaming directly from Blast events such as the company’s major “Counter-Strike” tournament in Austin, Texas, last month. 

Blast’s 2025 Austin Major was the most-watched “Counter-Strike” tournament of all time, with Blast head of digital Ben Williams directly crediting the presence of creators at the event for its massive viewership. Of the 76 million hours watched during the event, 12.7 million came through creator streams, per Blast, with 97 percent of Portuguese viewership coming through creator co-streams such as Gaules’. 

“We felt truly integrated thanks to smooth access to backstage areas, production, and players for interviews,” Gaules said. “The high-level support and the cool integrations with the main broadcast made us feel like a genuine partner.”

Evolution Championship Series (Evo), the annual fighting game championship, has also upped its creator presence year over year, according to Sue Lee, vp of talent management at Evo part-owner RTS, although she declined to share specific numbers. 

Unlike other major esports events, which involve competitions between professional teams, Evo is a tournament for both pros and amateurs that often includes creators like William “Scarra” Li among its individual competitors. It also features popular creators like Stephen “Sajam” Lyon and Michael “IFCYipeS” Mendoza in its broadcast talent team, with the former planning to also operate a personal stream during this year’s event.

“A bunch of the brands that are involved are coming to people like me — who’s already pretty comfortable doing on-air talent stuff and is also a big creator, so it’s kind of a pretty easy slam dunk,” Lyon said. “I’m going to be working with Chipotle at Evo, and I got asked to do stuff with some other brands [such as AT&T] as well.” Lyon did not disclose how much he was getting paid to do brand activations at Evo, but one-off event activations for creators of his size typically range between $5,000 and $25,000.

Esports events’ embrace of content creators reflects advertisers’ changing priorities across both gaming and the wider culture. In the past, marketers viewed esports as one of the best ways to reach gamers. In 2025, brands are instead prioritizing creators in their outreach to audiences across demographics and interest areas, including gaming.

“Most agencies and brands are quite behind when it comes to their understanding about gaming marketing, but they already understand influencers; they already understand content,” said Nina Mackie, the co-founder of the gaming advertising consultancy WeGame2. “So, that part is kind of an easy entry into either esports or gaming, however you want to play it.”

Blast brand partner Alienware, which sponsored last month’s Austin Major and was featured on the event’s in-person streaming booths, flagged the presence of creators at the event as particularly valuable to the brand – rather than running formal ads, streamers were able to demonstrate Alienware products as part of their regular content, making the promotion feel more authentic than traditional ads. The demonstrations were a natural result of Blast placing Alienware devices around the streaming booths, rather than a direct, paid creator sponsorship by Alienware, allowing the brand to glean an additional benefit from its pre-existing sponsorship of the event.

“By embracing co-streaming and creator-led content, Blast gave our brand the opportunity to earn incremental reach and connect with an expanded audience in a way that was more meaningful and unscripted,” said Alienware director of global marketing Chris Saylor. “We were confident in our ability to inspire and excite the fans attending onsite. And in an era of react content and creator-led storytelling, we felt supported by Blast’s ability to integrate our brand and activations to seamlessly elevate the creator experience.”

Creators’ presences at esports events are the result of both paid and unpaid opportunities. Creators such as Sajam are paid talent, acting as a direct form of sponsorship or advertising inventory for the events they represent. On the other hand, Blast’s creator co-streamers are usually unpaid, with the creators paying their own way and benefiting in the form of the Twitch subscription and donation revenue they make from their co-streams. 

“They obviously keep the Twitch revenue and the Twitch opps that they can monetize themselves, but we’re not funding any of that,” said Blast CBO Leo Matlock. “We also don’t allow them to take their own partners, so it’s great for our sponsorship inventory — because they take the main feed and showcase all of their partners to our audience, too.”