eSports business grows in Latin America, with Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina leading the way

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A recent report by the specialized video game consulting firm Newzoo revealed that the eSports industry worldwide reached, in 2021, more than 728 million viewers and collected approximately US$1.1 billion, figures that would represent a growth of 14.5% compared to 2020.

According to figures from the specialized media Esports Bar, in Latin America, this activity could reach 70 million local viewers by 2022. This increase in popularity may be because more and more people in the region have access to the Internet. According to another study by Newzoo, there are currently 438 million Latin Americans with a connection, of which more than 253 million are gamers.

Contrary to what happened in other industries, the pandemic has been an accelerator of consumption in this sector since, in the first months of 2021, the video game market increased its profits by 19% compared to the previous year, so that this entertainment added more than US$174 billion, of which US$6.8 billion are generated by the region.

In this context, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina are the countries that experienced the most remarkable growth at both the audience and professional levels, ceasing to be a niche market for young players who entertained themselves by playing online from home.

Over the years, eSports have become a real machine, with worldwide growth. There are investment opportunities for many brands from different sectors and famous sportsmen and women venturing into the gamer world.

In Latin America, firms such as Mastercard, Adidas, Burger King, Puma, Movistar, Intel, and Microsoft are betting on this machinery, constantly expanding in different countries.

The gaming and eSports industry is increasingly tempting for brands seeking 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 started we had a 40% growth in interactions, clearly because people started spending more time at home and began to consume gaming/eSports as an entertainment channel”, according to Télam.

“Brands are aiming for healthier content, non-forced and more organic advertising; the classic format of radio, TV and 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 advertising and broadcasting rights by 2025, and a 70% growth in the next four years.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the sponsorship market is expanding beyond the technology sector: Coca-Cola, Toyota, Gillette, Red Bull, T-Mobile, Monster, Toyota, and Audi are some of the brands that are already spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to appear at events and sponsor teams.

But the eSports business has not only reached the marketing world as a new channel to reach the public of interest; famous athletes have also disembarked on the gaming planet.

Paulo Dybala, a soccer player for Italy’s Juventus and 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 have a lot of similarities with traditional sports, they have a lot of previous preparation -from the psychological, through eating behavior, to the physical-. There are many hours of training behind these eSports teams,” García adds.

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