The esports industry has flourished in recent years, driven by a dedicated fan base and a few great competitive games. It has transformed from a niche subculture to a multi-billion-pound industry.

Now that esports is mainstream entertainment, huge sums of money are involved, and this is largely due to sponsorship. As with other major sports, corporate sponsorship has become a central part of esports. 

Sponsorship is essentially a two-way partnership between a sponsor and the players, teams, tournaments, or events. Big companies' sponsorship influence is wide-reaching, and in this article, we’ll break down some of the ways in which it has influenced esports.

The Arrival of Sponsorship in Esports

Not all that long ago, esports wasn’t a particularly valuable industry. These days, it’s worth billions of pounds globally. No longer just a series of grassroots competitions and tournaments, esports has matured and, with this maturation, it has attracted some big sponsors with dollar signs in their eyes.

The first companies to begin sponsoring gaming tournaments include Red Bull, Intel and Nvidia, and these pioneers got on board when esports was a young industry. 

By the early 2000s, a wider range of companies were getting on board, and esports was beginning to reach a much wider audience.

Arguably, esports hit the mainstream sometime in the late 2010s. Since then, there has been stiff competition not only between competitive gamers, but between the big corporate sponsors who want to have their name associated with esports.

Types of Sponsorship

There are different types of sponsorship, and these are generally defined by whom the members of the partnership are. Next, let’s take a closer look at the most common types of sponsorship that are found in esports:

• Team/Player sponsorship: This is where a brand will partner up with a particular team or individual player. The team/player will promote the brand in return for substantial payments. 
• Event sponsorship: A corporate sponsor makes a deal with a particular tournament, competition or esports event. The event promotes the brand. 
• Platform sponsorship: This relates to the incredible popularity of streaming games. The sponsor makes a deal with a platform, such as Twitch or YouTube.
• Product sponsorships: A manufacturer of esports products or computing hardware will provide its technology to a team or individual player in return for brand exposure.

Which Companies Drive This Change?

The competition for sponsorship deals in the esports arena is fierce, with more and more companies joining it. There are a few, however, whose name crops up time and time again…

• Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola has long been a key sponsor of events, including the League of Legends World Championship and the Overwatch League. It also supports smaller, amateur contests and has created its own marketing campaigns aimed at gamers.
• Intel: Whilst mainly focused on hardware sponsorship, this huge processor producer has created entire esports events. Intel Extreme Masters remains one of the longest-running professional leagues. 
• Red Bull: Red Bull focuses on sponsoring teams and players, and only the best of the best of these. It has even gone as far as to create dedicated training facilities for esports players in London and Tokyo.
• Nike: Nike has developed custom gear aimed at esports players and has partnered directly with various League of Legends competition creators.
• Microsoft: Through Xbox, Microsoft has got into the esports sponsorship game, supporting competitive gaming across many of its titles.
• Sony: Sony hosts the PlayStation Tournament and EVO (Evolution Championship Series) events. These are mainly to support its original titles, which are popular in competitive gaming spheres.
• NVIDIA: As a major chip and GPU supplier, NVIDIA’s focus is on hardware, providing its products for free to the best teams. It also offers training programs to those that it sponsors.

Recently, there’s also been a trend of brands whose products aren’t even relevant to esports getting involved. These include providers of luxury services, vehicle manufacturers, and finance companies.

For the most part, however, it’s the tech giants and beverage producers who dominate this landscape. As time passes, the nature of sponsors is likely to diversify even more, with all kinds of businesses cashing in on the esports boom, and thus injecting money into the sport.

Pros and Cons of Esports Sponsorship

For players and sponsors, advantages or disadvantages will depend on where you are in the central relationship. However, from a fan’s perspective, there are some clear pros and cons:

What the Future Holds for Esports Sponsorship

One thing is clear: as time passes, sponsorship becomes a bigger and bigger part of esports, which seems unlikely to change.

However, new technologies will continue to become part of esports. We’ve seen this already with the arrival of AI-based predictive stats and blockchain assets such as NFTs. As technologies develop, they will continue to impact esports, including esports sponsorship.

In the coming years, the esports industry is set to continue growing, and as the sponsorship market expands, more gaming-related companies will look to carve out their own niche. They collaborate with teams, sponsor tournaments, and offer special deals for their fans. These are already making strides by offering exclusive bonuses and costless possibilities, like access to free casino slots games on Slotozilla, which helps keep their audience engaged while giving them a risk-free way to try out their favourite titles. So, it will be a no-brainer for them to integrate into the esports community.

It remains to be seen whether the industry will manage to strike a balance, but it has a few factors to weigh up. Hopefully, esports will prove itself progressive enough to find a suitable source of corporate backing without compromising its competitive spirit or diminishing the things that fans love about it.

Summary

There are several reasons why sponsorship is beneficial for the esports industry. For instance, the sport would not have gained so much popularity without certain sponsorship deals. 

Conversely, these big companies have a lot of influence over their partners, which could lead to compromises in the integrity of teams, events and more. 

Sustainable, long-term relationships with ethical companies are the ideal solution, as these provide the funds the sport needs to grow without controversy. 

Sponsorship is here to stay, but key decisions must be made within the industry, and ethical considerations must be given — for the good of all involved.