Argentina is the third most important market for eSports in the region, behind Mexico and Brazil, both at an audience and professional level, which ceased to be a market niche for young players who entertained themselves by playing online from home.
Over the years it has become a real machine, growing worldwide and in which there are investment opportunities by a multiplicity of brands from different sectors and famous athletes who enter the gaming world.
The 2,700 million players estimated to exist in the world explain the interest of the main brands in this market that does not stop growing and moves millions.
In 2020, the global revenue generated by the eSports industry amounted to about US $ 947 million, a figure that is estimated to exceed 1.6 billion in 2024.
In Latin America, firms such as Mastercard, Adidas, Burger King, Puma, Movistar, Intel and Microsoft, bet on this machinery that does not stop expanding in different countries
The gaming and eSports industry is increasingly tempting for brands looking to diversify their investment in marketing, mostly fintech and technology companies.
The CEO and founder of Furious Gaming, Gonzalo García, explained that “as soon as the pandemic began we had a growth in interactions of 40%, clearly because people began to spend more time at home and began to consume gaming / eSports as a channel of entertainment”.
“Brands are targeting healthier content, unforced and more organic advertising; the classic format of radio, TV and public street advertising is not compatible with the gaming market,” adds Francisco Robin, COO and partner of the company.
Juniper Research estimates that esports will move US $ 3.5 billion in ads and broadcasting rights by 2025; and a growth of 70% in the next four years.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the sponsor market extends beyond the technological category: Coca-Cola, Toyota, Gillette, Red Bull, T-Mobile, Monster, Toyota or Audi are some of the brands that already spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to appear at events and sponsor teams.
But the eSports business not only came to the marketing world as a new channel for reaching the public of interest, famous athletes also landed on the gaming planet.
Paulo Dybala, soccer player for Juventus in Italy and for the Argentine National Team, is a partner of the Argentine eSports team Furious Gaming; and other teams and organizations are related to Diego “Peque” Schwartzman, Fabricio Oberto, Juan Sebastián Verón, Sergio “Kun” Agüero and Guillermo Coria.
“Athletes are reflected because eSports competitions are very similar to traditional sports, they have a lot of previous preparation – from the psychological, through eating behavior, even physically -. There are many hours of training behind these eSports teams “, completes García.
