As esports continues its rapid rise in popularity, Senior Consultants Pulkita Vaish and Mayank Pawar from EXL’s Sports Analytics practice led a primary research initiative to uncover esports fans’ evolving preferences and behaviors. This research, with contributions from former EXL intern Andrew Young, provides key insights that can help esports organizations deepen their understanding of the evolving esports fanbase and enhance their fan engagement strategies.

Esports Industry: Challenges & Opportunities

Over the past decade, esports has become a leading source of entertainment for young viewers worldwide. Esports has already amassed a global viewership of nearly 500 million in 2024, according to industry reports. This surge in popularity was evident in the impressive viewership numbers of recent international tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship 2024 with 6.94 million peak viewers¹ and Valorant Champions 2024 with 1.4 million peak viewers.²

Many global entities strive to capitalize on this untapped market, predicted to grow at 21.9% (compounded annual growth rate) between 2024-2033.³ However, despite its rapid growth, the esports industry faces significant challenges that threaten its continued future growth. Key issues include maintaining long-term fan engagement amid shifting preferences, competing for attention against traditional sports, and attracting a diverse audience. To thrive, esports organizations must adapt to evolving trends, differentiate themselves from conventional sports, and foster inclusivity across demographics. Effectively addressing these challenges is essential for securing a robust and sustainable future in this dynamic landscape.

Esports sponsorships, while lucrative, face uncertainty due to the industry’s novelty. To maximize ROI and attract sponsors, digital analytics is crucial. By tracking online interactions on platforms like Discord, Reddit, Facebook and Twitter, organizations can gauge fan sentiments, preferences and engagement. This data-driven approach enables tailored strategies to enhance fan experience and community building. Additionally, analyzing fan comments on OTT platforms provides real-time insights into fan reactions, preferences and interactions with teams and other esports fans.

Key Survey Findings on the Esports Fan

For this research, we conducted a survey to gain insights into fan preferences and behaviors. The target demographic of the survey were North American residents who consider themselves to be an esports fan. An online survey with 72 completed responses focusing on esports fan profile and behavior forms the basis of this research. The key findings from the survey are listed below:

• Fan Demographics: The main demographic in esports is mainly millennial, typically higher income, with a large amount of esports viewers located in the Asia-pacific region. Female respondents were low despite the survey being rolled out across many different platforms, indicating a male majority in esports. Female respondents also were on average newer fans, indicating growth in female esports fan numbers which is likely because of an industry wide increase in female gamers. Nearly half of the respondents were found to have been watching esports for five or more years.

• Fan Loyalty: Fan loyalty was found to be largely held towards players, with 40% of respondents holding loyalty towards a player as opposed to only 26% holding more loyalty towards a team. Additionally, 11% of respondents began watching esports due to a specific player whereas only 1% stated it was because of a specific team.

• Esports Betting: The overall likelihood of fans betting on esports was also extremely low. 50% stated that the chances of them betting on an esports event was “highly unlikely,” with the second most common answer being “somewhat unlikely” at around 12.5%. This shows a general disinterest in esports betting among the fans surveyed.

• Advertisement Preferences: Survey respondents preferred gaming-related advertisements, with around 70% fans preferring to see gaming hardware and accessories at esports events. Respondents had overall a positive sentiment towards attending an in-person event.

• Esports Prize Pool: Prize pool size across the top games was generally large yet some games had extremely large prize pool size despite having a low peak viewer count throughout 2024.

Recommendations to Enhance Fan Engagement Strategies

• Leverage data, analytics and AI to understand individual fan preferences and tailor content accordingly. For example, utilize viewer data to personalize content and marketing strategies, focusing on individual preferences regarding teams, players, and games. Moreover, leverage personalized newsletters, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and custom-made merchandise to create personalized fan experiences.

• Conduct sentiment analyses to gain a deeper understanding of evolving fan preferences and concerns. Leverage these insights to proactively address issues and to improve the overall fan experience. For example, monitor social media and community forums to gauge fans’ sentiment – related to teams, players and in-game elements – and to adapt the fan engagement strategies accordingly.

• Increase focus on player-centric vs team-centric esports marketing to enhance fan engagement. For example, promote player-specific content through various organizational channels such as vlogs, podcasts, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, media appearances and live Q&A sessions.

Conclusion

Esports is on the path to become one of the top forms of online entertainment worldwide. As it continues to grow, alterations must be made to ensure its continued prosperity. Moving forward, an increase in focus on revenue from in-person events and merchandizing may prove to be beneficial to maximize profits as well reduce sponsor dependency. Understanding the esports fan is essential for brands and organizations to stay informed about the changing needs and preferences of esports fans, especially given the rapid evolution of this industry.  This can help key esports stakeholders develop effective fan engagement strategies and capitalize on the opportunities presented by the industry.

References

[1] Esports Charts. (2024, November 2). 2024 League of Legends Worlds hits new record of 6.94M Peak Viewers. Retrieved from https://escharts.com/news/2024-league-legends-worlds-record

[2] Esports Insider. (2024, August 27). Esports Insider. Retrieved from Esports Insider: https://esportsinsider.com/2024/08/valorant-champions-2024-viewership

[3] Esports Market. (2024, October). Retrieved from market.us: https://market.us/report/esports-market/

About EXL: EXL has been partnering with major sports organizations across the globe to navigate issues surrounding data management, viewership, subscriptions and fan engagement to achieve business goals and to strategize for the future. EXL works extensively with these organizations to derive data-driven insights, identify opportunities for growth and deliver end-to-end improvements. To learn more about how EXL can support your organization, please get in touch with us at Sports.Analytics@exlservice.com.

Contributors:

Anuroop Talwar                                                                          

Vice President II – Sports Analytics                                    

Anuroop.Talwar@exlservice.com  

Abhishek Kumar

Engagement Manager – Sports Analytics

Abhishek.Kumar19@exlservice.com

Pulkita Vaish       

Senior Consultant – Sports Analytics

Pulkita.Vaish@exlservice.com                                                                     

Mayank Pawar

Senior Consultant – Sports Analytics                                   

Mayank.Pawar@exlservice.com