Nielsen Cares About eSports: Here’s Why You Should Too

Nielsen rates eSports

Television rating company Nielsen just released a playbook on the eSports industry and investment.

In August of this year, Nielsen declared that it would begin it’s in-depth research on eSports viewership. This announcement marks the first analytical analysis of the new industry.  North America and Europe are the focus of this report.

Information on eSports viewership, sponsorship, and participation has previously been difficult to measure.  Nicole Pike believed that the company was up for the task stating: “Nielsen knows sports, Nielsen knows games, and we obviously know the audience.”

Nicole Pike and Stephen Master will head up Nielsen’s new eSports department.

On Tuesday, Nielsen released an investment “playbook” that was put together by two members of the company’s new eSports team Nicole Pike and Stephen Master.

The report examines a number of statistics including those involving gender, games played, games followed by fans and social aspects of the industry.  It reviews many theories and myths associated with eSports and gaming in general.

The general purpose of this playbook is to position eSports in the bigger picture of entertainment. The graphic below summarizes these findings.

 

Nielsen eSports Charts
Source: Nielsen

 

Nielsen also determined that the viewership for eSports differs greatly from that of traditional sports.

In regard to sponsorship, there have been over 600 eSports sponsorship agreements since the start of last year. Most fans do not appreciate the volume of sponsorships present in the industry.

A major focus of the playbook focuses on the implications of the inclusion of eSports in the upcoming Olympic Games.  While 52 percent of fans believe that gaming should be considered a sport, only 28 percent consider it worthy of being included in the Olympics.

The most popular games played are the most likely candidates for the Olympic Games. The most played eSport in the United States and France in Call of Duty. Grand Theft Auto tops the charts in Germany and the UK.

Rounding out the new eSports department is a new advisory board. ESports event managers, broadcasters, publishers and others involved in the industry make up this board. The company is hoping that further research over the years will allow for a deeper understanding of the inner-workings of eSports.

Keep an eye out for another Nielsen publication and more research into the industry. The company looks to add statistics about the Asian eSports market in the near future.

 

Share this article:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on tumblr
Tumblr
Share on email
Email
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp

Recent Posts

Marvel 1943 cover art. Captaint America and Black Panther Gaming News

Get a Closer Look at the New Black Panther and Captain America Game | Marvel 1943

It’s been a while since we first got word that the great Amy Hennig was working on a new Black Panther and Captain America game. After creating something like Uncharted, …

Mad Catz Strike 11 Keyboard. A keyboard with red and black keys Hardware & Tech

Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 11 Mechanical Keyboard Impressions

I have been on the search for a decently priced wireless keyboard and there is no shortage these days. Our friends over at Mad Catz sent over their S.T.R.I.K.E. 11 …

Hardware & Tech

Level Up Your Set Up with Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf has been one of the market leaders in the gaming lighting space for years now. They have a variety of products to level up not only your office space …

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Gaming News

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and What’s Next For Xbox | Let’s Chat

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the next big game set for release and the rumor mill has been set ablaze with talks of Xbox going multi-platform. We take a few …

Gaming News

The Pimax Crystal 8K VR Headset | CES 2024

AR and VR were some of the bigger topics during this year’s CES. Last year I was able to go hands-on with the Pimax Portal but this year it was …

CES

NVIDIA Announces 40 Series Super Cards and More at CES 2024

A year can’t go by without a huge announcement from NVIDIA. During CES 2024 in Las Vegas, NVIDIA announced an upgrade to its 40 series cards. The GeForce RTX 40 …