RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) – The latest ally in competitive gaming’s fight for mainstream awareness just might be marketers.
At an intimate, invite-only gathering this week at an exclusive seaside resort, executives from corporations like AT&T, State Farm and McDonald’s were looking to electronic sports to potentially capture new consumers. While esports now regularly draws tens of millions of spectators both online and in person, the genre continues to battle for broader recognition in North America.
“There is definitely an awareness issue across mainstream elements,” said Dustin Beck, vice president of esports and merchandising at “League of Legends” publisher Riot Games. “We want this to be a successful ecosystem for decades to come, and that will be buoyed by having larger brands, like those here, who become aware of esports and get involved in esports.”
Beck was among the attendees Wednesday at the sixth annual PTTOW! summit, an exclusive get-together of execs interested in reaching young consumers. Other subjects discussed at PTTOW! – which stands for “Plan To Take On the World” – included virtual reality, globalization and predictive marketing, with esports among the summit’s most popular topics.
“Our job is to tell people what they don’t know,” said Roman Tsunder, co-founder and CEO of PTTOW! “Who wants to talk about something everyone knows about? Everyone here is the best in the world at what they do, and esports was important to include because enough people mentioned it. That’s notable because there’s $68 million of media investment in this room.”