• by Alex Weprin , May 7, 2018

The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Monday published its first primer on esports, serving as an introduction for marketers to the still-nascent business.

According to estimates shared by IAB, the esports audience will surpass 380 million people this year, with revenue estimates for this year as high as $906 million.

Nonetheless “as a marketing opportunity, esports has been under the radar and not very well understood,” Eric John, deputy director of the IAB Digital Video Center of Excellence, tells Digital News Daily.

“With the launch of the IAB Esports Guide, we’re hoping to shed some light on how brands can take advantage of the opportunity to connect directly with these younger audiences,” John added.

The IAB launched an esports working group comprised of publishers and buyers, and that group developed the primer being published today,   the “Marketer’s Guide To Esports.”

The co-chairs of that working group, Turner Sports executive Seth Ladetsky, NFL Media’s Brian Matthews and Activision Blizzard’s Mike Sepso, introduced the primer in a blog post Monday morning.

One of the key takeaways? Esports really isn’t that different than any forms of sports media.

“So how can marketers get in the game and reach this audience? Our biggest piece of advice would be to not overcomplicate it,” the trio write. “In many ways, getting involved with esports does not have to be drastically different than getting involved with a traditional sports marketing opportunity.”

As esports have become more professionalized in recent years, with leagues and teams gaining more structure, and having professional sports leagues like the NFL and NBA invest in teams, the opportunities for marketers have improved accordingly.

Even some of the risks present opportunities. According to the primer, the esports audience is more likely to use an ad blocker than other media consumers. While server-side ad insertion (SSAI) is an option to fight that problem, the nascent nature of esports also means that brand integrations allow for more flexibility and experimentation, which in turn can translate into more authentic and relevant campaigns.

You can read the primer here.