This July, Nodwin Gaming and Star Sports announced BGMI Masters Series’ Return then Krafton India partnered with JioCinema for BGIS live streaming. Esports IPs are gaining popularity among TV and digital media companies, resembling the success of established sports events in cricket, football or other traditional sports. The Indian esports market is expected to touch $107.8 Million in 2023 and it is attracting not just brand enthusiasm but also broadcasters and streamers. Piyush Kumar, founder and CEO, Rooter, gaming and esports audience is the young, tech savy, connected audience that every marketer is trying to tap.
In an interview with Storyboard18, Kumar talks about growing esports viewership, interest from brands, fundings in the space and more.
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Traditional media companies now recognize that if they wish to reach a younger, more tech-savvy, and digitally connected audience, it will be through gaming and esports. Why is the viewership of esports on the rise, and why are traditional media companies interested in esports IPs?
There are several reasons for the growth of esports viewership. Firstly, the global popularity of competitive video gaming is now being mirrored in Indian markets as mobile gaming and esports tournaments around mobile games become popular. These are attracting a dedicated and diverse fan base. The pandemic has also been a key factor in accelerating this consumption of gaming-related content as it kept people connected in a socially distanced world. Next, the accessibility of online streaming platforms has made it easier for fans to watch tournaments, connect with esports players, and learn from their gameplay.
Traditional media companies now recognize that if they wish to reach a younger, more tech-savvy, and digitally connected audience, it will be through gaming and esports – the entertainment categories that they are most likely to consume. Naturally, this means that there is also a lucrative opportunity to advertise to these audiences through gaming and esports content, attracting brand partnerships in the process. For a traditional media company, esports IPs thus serve to diversify their content offerings to a wide and potentially monetizable audience base.
Does the rise of esports impact the business of online streamers? If not, why?
Game streaming has existed and grown independently of esports. A case in point is that despite no offline esports tournaments happening during the pandemic, game streaming has become a popular way for professional esports players and upcoming gamers alike to play and connect with their community. That said, with more esports players and teams coming into the limelight, streaming is only going to get a boost as more content gets created. Already we have seen the watch hours on our platform scale by 14 percent and content creation has scaled by 43 percent. In the recently concluded BGMI Master Series, we saw time spent per person reach 42 minutes, which is more than our average of 29 minutes.
What kind of viewership does esports IPs have? How does this viewership translate into monetization and revenue opportunities?
Esports IPs in India are setting new viewership records now. In the BGMI Master series, we garnered 84.8 million views across our platforms. Specifically, for the series, we partnered with 12 endemic and non-endemic brands. Three of them – Lenskart, TVS and Kreo came on board as brand sponsors and accounted for close to 30 percent of the revenues we made during the tournament. We also had brands like Intel, Tata Neu, ACT, Jio Cinema, OnePlus, KFC, Spotify etc advertising during the tournament.
What kinds of brands are you working with on Rooter? Has the number of brands you’re working with increased? If so, why?
Already, since BGMI’s unban in May, we’ve organized about 7 esports tournaments with partners like NODWIN Gaming, Upthrust Esports, Revenant Esports and Villager Esports, including the BGMI Master Series – the biggest esports tournament organized by NODWIN Gaming. In this span, we’ve worked with close to 37 endemic and non-endemic brand sponsors and advertisers. Now with Free Fire-based esports tournaments getting organized, the brand associations are only expected to soar.
Despite the funding winter that startups are facing, gaming startups are not being left behind. For example, Nitin Kamath recently invested in Nazara. Why do you think this is a good time to invest in the Indian gaming industry?
Absolutely. We did our growth round a couple of months back and now Nazara’s fundraise just goes to show that the industry continues to be attractive for investors. There are some very strong tailwinds for that:
Gaming