Esports is one of today’s fastest-growing industries. There are currently over 173 million esports enthusiasts globally—a number that will grow to 264 million by 2021. Endemic and non-endemic brands alike are looking for ways to activate and understand these consumers. What are their interests, viewing and spending habits, and attitudes toward certain brands? Together with our partners and popular esports teams—Alliance, Envy, LGD, and NaVi—we conducted research on their respective fanbases to help answer some of these questions. In this article, we will look at the aggregated responses from the teams’ fans.

In terms of demographics, most of the people who took part in the study were young, male, and students. Forty percent of respondents were aged between 15 and 20, 39% were aged between 21 and 26, and just 17% were 27 or older. Over half (54%) were students, while 30% were full-time employees. Looking at gender, less than one-tenth of the respondents (9%) were women.

Activating Esports Fans via Content, Social Media, and Merchandise

Of course, many people who responded to the survey watched a lot of esports. The vast majority (91%) of respondents viewed esports video content several times per month or more. In a typical week, 22% watch more than 10 hours.

And many respondents were loyal to their favorite teams, whichever franchise they play. Eighteen percent were a core fan of a single team regardless of franchise, while over a quarter (26%) focused mainly on certain teams but paid some attention to specific franchises. However, some respondents were more drawn to particular games, with 22% focusing on certain franchises with some attention to different teams and 15% being a core fan of a single franchise (regardless of which teams play it).

Nevertheless, many respondents spent plenty of money on team-specific merchandise. This is no surprise, as this year alone esports will generate $900 million in revenues, and over 10% of this amount will come from merchandise and tickets.

On average, each respondent spent $96.50 on team-specific merchandise in the past 12 months. Roughly 5% spent over $400, while 13% spent $100-400. Naturally, the majority (63%) of fans buy merch to represent their team. Team merchandise—especially jerseys—frequently features the brands that sponsor them.

Shoulder Content is Important on Social Media

Most respondents also kept up with their favorite teams’ social media accounts. In fact, 99% of respondents followed one of their favorite team’s social media channels. However, some content was more valued than others. Most respondents were interested in behind-the-scenes footage before and after matches (58%), footage inside the team houses (56%), and player interviews (55%).

The women who participated in the survey were interested in slightly different social media content than the men. For example, 72% of them said they were interested in behind-the-scenes footage before and after matches, compared to 57% of men. Similarly, 70% of women and 55% of men had an interest in behind-the-scenes footage in team houses. Women were also likelier to be interested in player interviews, social media content, and casual gameplay streams. Interestingly, many teams and leagues currently offer all-access passes that include this kind of shoulder content, including the Overwatch League All-Access Pass and Znipe.tv’s Digital Pass for events and TeamPass for teams.

What Other Interests and Brands Are Important for Respondents?

In addition to esports and gaming, respondents were passionate about other things. Unsurprisingly, two-fifths classed computers, electronics, and gadgets as their favorite hobbies and interests. Many also had an interest in music (30%), traditional sports (28%), movies (23%), technology and science (15%), and board/card games (11%). The top sports that respondents follow are soccer (42%), basketball (28%), American football (11%), and boxing/fighting (9%).

Despite being predominantly young, plenty of respondents had the means to spend on their interests and hobbies. Overall, 29% of respondents in the U.S. had high income, compared to 22% in Europe. Naturally, the majority (72%) of all respondents enjoyed spending their disposable income on games and software, but many enjoy spending it on consumer electronics (38%), books, movies, and music (31%), clothing and fashion (23%), and traveling (21%).

Looking at respondents’ brand attitudes, 71% were positive toward Nike, while 70% saw Adidas in a positive light. Notably, there was a negative correlation between age and brand attitude for Nike. Eighty-three percent of those aged 10-14 thought positively about the apparel brand, compared to 73% of those aged 18-20 and 69% of those aged 27-29.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents had a positive attitude toward Coca-Cola, while 57% and 52% were positive about Pepsi and Red Bull, respectively. Men were more likely than women to think positively about Red Bull (54% vs. 38%).

Newzoo’s Custom Services

Looking for deeper insights into your target audience? We regularly perform bespoke quantitative consumer research on a local or global scale, including continuous brand tracking and community profiling. This can be a one-off effort, bi-annual, quarterly, or monthly. With our custom consumer research service, you can tap into a panel of more than two million game enthusiasts and benefit from our years of experience. Using a unique combination of our tracking data, you can track specific markets, apps, and companies to spot new opportunities.

Want to know more? Fabrice Zaumseil, fabrice@newzoo.com.