%
ESPORTS SPECIAL
85%
AVERAGE USER SPENDS MORE THAN
90DAY ON SITE
MINUTES
PER
LE
90%
OF AUDIENCE
OF USERS
ACCESS
TWITCH
MORE THAN
ONCE A DAY
AGED 16-34
CE
“Google estimates only 40,000 average monthly searches
around eSports, and while this can only grow in the
coming years, it’s clear that even the best PPC and SEO
strategy will not drive one million depositing players
before the end of the year.”
traditional advertising models, will yield
the greatest return.
Globally, Twitch has 125 million unique
users per month, seven million of which
are in the UK. An incredible 95% of their
audience are male, and 90% of those are
aged between 16-34. More significant,
however, is how engaged these users are –
85% of twitch users visit the site at multiple
times throughout the day and the average
user will stream 90+ minutes a day.
Harnessing the power of this channel
will undoubtedly go a long way to
delivering on the ambitious target
David Stern and other investors have set
themselves for AlphaBet. It is, however,
only one piece of the puzzle. Looking at
the search trends around eSports, there is
a massive difference between what Google
estimates are the average monthly search
volumes around these keywords, against
the large user base we see on Twitch.
In the US alone, Google estimates just
40,000 average monthly searches around
eSports, and while this can only grow in
the coming years, it’s clear that even the
best PPC and SEO strategy will not drive
one million depositing players before the
end of the year.
The success of eSports, and therefore
eSports gambling, will ultimately depend
on how companies can not only engage
with prospective customers on platforms
like Twitch, but also at the events which
have been attracting thousands of fans on a
yearly basis. The statistics back up the need
for a coherent strategy between these two
platforms, with 24% of those in attendance
at eSports events generally watching
between five and nine hours of streaming
per week, while a full 38% watch more than
10 hours a week3.
This is clearly not a traditional market,
and as such, traditional digital strategies
will not give the same return we have
seen them deliver in the online gambling
space. This market is extremely educated,
and engaged in their product – the lack of
search volume around eSports shows that
they do not need to search out information,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/02/25/new-report-details-how-esports-is-an-effectiveengagement-and-marketing-tool/
but rather they know where to go to get
it. Platforms like Twitch will obviously be
increasingly popular in the development
of this market, but success will all depend
on how brands interact. For gambling
companies, there may even be a need to
move away from the brands they have
established in the sports market, and create
separate new ones specifically for the
eSports market. Only time will tell which
strategies will ultimately drive success. One
thing is clear, however, investments such
as those made by David Stern are going to
continue, and only increase.
B I98