Major sponsors of esports events in H1 2023

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Esports is not just digital entertainment for young people, but also a way for promoting popular brands. In recent years, more and more companies are entering the industry with the goal of promoting their products to a young audience. Some of these companies sponsor multiple games or entire series of tournaments, while others prefer more targeted work with teams, players, or streamers.

A large number of sponsors is one of the main indicators of the discipline's popularity, as companies prefer to promote their brands and products where they can get the best audience reach. The format of the professional scene also plays an important role. The better and clearer its structure, the more likely it is for a sponsor to sign a long-term contract with a tournament operator or game publisher. In some disciplines, tournament schedules are planned years in advance, including for the convenience of sponsors to plan their advertising budgets.

Esports Disciplines by Sponsors in H1 2023   

Major companies can afford to have sponsorships across multiple disciplines, while smaller brands have to choose more carefully considering competition and various risks. Some game publishers or teams may specifically choose not to work with sponsors from certain categories (such as Gambling). On the other hand, companies themselves may face difficulties in promoting their product due to political policies or cultural nuances in specific countries. In general, esports is open to all sponsors, but each will have their own path.

Esports Charts has analyzed the number of sponsors at major tournaments in the first half of 2023. In the article, we have only considered events with a prize pool exceeding $250K. These are typically the largest tournaments of the season, attracting the largest viewership.

The greatest variety of brands was represented at League of Legends and CS:GO tournaments, and surprisingly, the U.S. Air Force appeared among the top 10 most popular sponsors.

League of Legends has become the leader in terms of the number of unique sponsors — we counted 33 unique brands across 18 different categories in just four tournaments that were included in the sample (regional leagues LCK and LPL, as well as MSI 2023). In addition to traditional "gaming" brands, the discipline also attracts sponsors from other categories, such as FMGC & Marketplace, Finance, Education & Entertainment, Jewelry, and others. League of Legends is undoubtedly the leader in terms of the number of non-endemic brands.

CS:GO boasts the highest number of major tournaments — in the first half of 2023, there were a total of 9 events, including Majors sponsored by Valve. We counted 25 unique brands across 10 different categories. The most prevalent category was Computers and Peripherals, but the discipline also showed popularity in categories such as Beverage and Betting & Gambling.

Major sponsors of esports events in H1 2023 (CS:GO, ML:BB, Arena of Valor, Dota 2)

Valorant has taken the third position in terms of the number of unique brands, although we have previously discussed the sponsors in detail within the discipline. We recommend reading about the most popular team sponsors in affiliate leagues, as well as the most popular device brands among participants in VCT 2023 Masters Tokyo.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has a large number of leagues and tournaments, but their prize pools usually do not exceed $250K. In the first half of the year, only three major events met this criterion, but it did not prevent the game from attracting 18 unique brands across 12 categories. The clear leader in the discipline was the sponsors from the category of Video Platforms & Streaming Services (where Moonton, the game's publisher, outpaced all competitors). This can be explained by the fact that ML:BB is very popular in Southeast Asia, where gamers/viewers from different countries prefer different streaming platforms such as NimoTV, YouTube Gaming, and others.

Arena of Valor is another mobile title, very popular in Southeast Asia. In the first half of 2023, we counted 18 unique sponsors in 11 categories in AoV tournaments. The most popular sponsor categories in the discipline were Video platforms & Streaming Services, as well as Food & Food Supplements. In the latter category, Arena of Valor is the leader among all represented disciplines.

Dota 2 had five tier-S tournaments in the first half of the year, including Majors in Lima and Berlin. During this time, we counted 14 unique brands in 8 categories. The most popular of them are Computers and Peripheral, as well as Beverage. Overall, it can be noted that Dota 2 more often encounters endemic brands, traditional for the discipline and gamers in general.

In addition to the ones listed in the Top 10 games by the number of sponsors, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, Smite, FIFA, and CrossFire also made the list. Interestingly, Smite and FIFA only had one major tournament in the first half of the year, but they managed to attract more sponsors than Call of Duty or Rainbow Six Siege. Certain disciplines, such as StarCraft II, Apex Legends, and Rocket League, are also experiencing a clear lack of sponsors, although each of them has the potential to attract a large number of viewers.

Most Popular Categories Of Sponsors

Most represented brands on elite esports level (H1 2023)   

Beverage, Video Platforms, FMCG & Marketplace, Vehicles, and Software also made it to the top of popular sponsorship categories. Many tournaments also feature sponsors from the Electronics, Finance, and Gaming Furniture categories, while pharmaceutical companies and airlines are still rare in the industry.

Monster emerged as the leader among the most popular sponsors in the first half of 2023. This energy drink brand was noticed at 14 different tournaments in 6 unique disciplines, which is twice as many as its direct competitor Red Bull.

Intel and Secretlab, which produce microprocessors and gaming chairs, respectively, also made it into the Top 3. Among the most popular sponsors are also the U.S. Air Force, which sponsored five major tournaments in two disciplines. In comparison, this is more than what Zowie, Puma, Samsung, Lenovo, and other companies had.

The analysis of sponsor popularity shows that there is often a greater variety of brands in team-based titles within classic genres, such as MOBAs and shooters. Additionally, mobile disciplines attract sponsors on par with PC disciplines and, in some cases, even surpass them in terms of viewership. Endemic sponsor categories significantly outweigh non-endemic ones, although this trend may differ for certain specific disciplines and regions. For example, energy drink manufacturers prefer working in CS:GO, while brands in the Food & Food Supplements category are most commonly found at Arena of Valor tournaments. Understanding these nuances helps companies analyze market competition and choose an optimal strategy for promoting their products.