可口可樂 英特爾和日產等大品牌扎堆涌向電子競技

Anyone who still has doubts about the validity of eSports, or electronic sports, needs only to look at videos out of the sold-out KeyArena in Seattle from Valve’s Dota 2: The International tournament. Over 10,000 people watched team Newbee defeat Vici Gaming three games to one in a best-of-five format to take home just over $5 million of the over $10 million in cash handed out on July 21. Vici Gaming went home with nearly $1.5 million and the third and fourth place teams, Evil Geniuses and DK, also went home winners with over $1 million and over $819,000, respectively.

如果有人還在質疑電子競技的魔力，只需要看看今年在美國西雅圖KeyArena體育館舉辦的《Dota 2》國際邀請賽的現場視頻就知道了。7月21日，來自中國的Newbee戰隊在五局三勝制的總決賽中，以三比一擊敗了Vici戰隊，將超過1000萬美元總獎金池中的500多萬美元捧回了家。這場比賽的現場觀衆多達1萬人。亞軍Vici戰隊也分得將近150萬美元獎金，第三名的“邪惡天才”戰隊和第四名DK戰隊分獲100多萬美元和81.9萬美元。

While the majority of the millions of global fans watched the action via livestreams on their PCs and connected devices, ESPN3 covered the action just like it would an NFL or college football game. In fact, eSports has thrived thanks to livestreaming companies like Twitch, which back in May Google was rumored to be acquiring for $1 billion. But TV networks like ESPN certainly help put professional video gaming into the mainstream spotlight. And advertisers and sponsors are more accustomed to televised exposure for traditional sports.

全球大多數電競愛好者都是通過電腦或其他設備觀看的網絡轉播，但是ESPN3電視臺卻全程報道了總決賽，跟報道全美橄欖球聯盟（NFL）或大學橄欖球聯賽時沒什麼兩樣。實際上，電競的崛起在很大程度上要感謝像Twitch這樣的視頻直播公司——據說今年五月谷歌（Google）曾計劃斥資10億美元收購這家公司。但像ESPN這樣的有線電視網絡，卻使職業電競比賽走上了主流舞臺。廣告商和贊助商們也更習慣於在傳統體育項目的電視直播上打廣告。

One trend that’s clear with eSports is the crossover into holding major events in traditional sports venues. Last fall, Riot Games sold out the Staples Center for its League of Legends Championship Series Finals. While 12,000 people watched live in the home of the Lakers and Kings, over 32 million tuned in to the livestream. This year, European Sports League (ESL) hosted a Dota 2 tournament at former World Cup soccer stadium Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany. And Riot will host its 2014 World Championship in October at former South Korean Olympic venue Sangam Stadium, which seats 66,000 people.

電競比賽發展的顯著趨勢之一，就是將比賽搬到傳統的體育場館。去年秋天，Riot Games公司將全美《英雄聯盟》冠軍賽總決賽搬到了洛杉磯湖人隊和國王隊的主場——斯臺普斯中心，並且門票被搶購一空。當晚共有1.2萬餘人在現場觀戰，通過視頻直播在網上觀看比賽的人更是超過了3200萬。今年，歐洲體育聯盟（ESL）在曾經舉辦過世界盃的德國法蘭克福商業銀行體育場裏舉辦了一場《Dota 2》邀請賽。今年10月，Riot Games公司將在曾承辦過韓日世界盃的韓國上巖體育場裏舉辦一場2014年世界錦標賽，這個球場最多能容納66,000名觀衆。

“Selling out stadiums shows how passionate players are about eSports,” said Dustin Beck, VP of eSports at Riot Games. “Fans from all over the globe will be tuning in to watch the best of the best LOLeSports team battle it out for the World Championship the same way soccer fans from across the globe came out to support their favorite teams during the World Cup. That level of passion and engagement translates to an opportunity for brands who are looking to communicate with this audience by bringing added value to their eSports experience.”

Riot Games公司的電競副總裁達斯汀o貝克指出：“我們在體育場裏舉辦的比賽門票全部售光，充分說明了玩家們對電子競技的熱情。另外全球遊戲愛好者也可以通過視頻直播，觀看最頂尖的《英雄聯盟》戰隊在本次世界錦標賽中一決雌雄。這跟全世界球迷在世界盃上支持自己喜歡的球隊沒有什麼區別。玩家的熱情和參與度，爲那些想要接觸這部分觀衆的商業品牌帶來了機會。”

Russell Schwartz, president of theatrical marketing at Relativity said eSports is the new appointment TV, only it’s online.

Relativity公司劇場營銷總裁拉賽爾o施瓦茨表示，電子競技已經發展成一類新的電視節目，只不過是在網絡上播出。

“Outside of sports on TV, which is the only thing people watch live any more, eSports is the best way to reach Millennials,” said Schwartz. “It’s a live experience that people can interact with online. It’s not that it’s a huge business yet, but it’s getting there. Television is so elusive these days, but with eSports we know it’s where male gamers 14 to 35 are watching.”

施瓦茨認爲：“現在電視上的體育競賽差不多是人們唯一還在觀看的直播節目了。除此之外，電子競技是各大品牌接觸年輕人最好的途徑。首先它具有直播的體驗，而且人們可以在網絡上進行互動。雖然電競還不是一項規模特別巨大的業務，但它正朝着這個方向發展。現在電視節目的觀衆羣變得很難追蹤，但是我們知道電競的觀衆主要是14到35歲的男性。”

Major League Gaming and Relativity formed a strategic content and marketing partnership across sports management, television, film and digital media in 2013. The goal of the collaboration was to accelerate MLG’s growth as a mainstream media property, drive appointment viewing to and further strengthen Relativity’s presence in the gaming space.

2013年，美國競技遊戲大聯盟（MLG）與Relativity影業公司達成了一項涵蓋競技管理、電視、電影與數碼媒體等方面的內容與營銷戰略合作。合作的目標是加速美國競技遊戲大聯盟作爲一項主流媒體資產的增長，增加其官網的觀看人數，強化Relativity公司在遊戲領域的分量。

Relativity used to promote this year’s theatrical releases of Kevin Costner’s 3 Days to Kill and Paul Walker’s Brick Mansions. HBO reached out to Riot Games and used the League of Legends online audience to promote the launch of the fourth season of Game of Thrones.

Relativity公司利用推廣了今年的兩部新片，一部是凱文o科斯特納主演的《三日刺殺》，別一部是保羅o沃克的遺作《暴力街區》。HBO也找到Riot Games公司，利用《英雄聯盟》這個平臺向遊戲玩家們推廣第四季《權力的遊戲》。

Earlier this year, Coke Zero kicked off its partnership with Riot Games with the development of the Challenger Series, a series for amateur League of Legend gamers to compete for a spot in the professional league. In essence, it’s a minor league system for players to show their eSports prowess and potentially graduate to the Big Leagues and compete for big money, sponsorship deals and free travel around the globe to compete in tournaments.

今年年初，零度可口可樂（Coke Zero）與Riot Games公司合作發起了挑戰者系列賽，爲業餘《英雄聯盟》玩家進軍職業聯賽提供了一次機會。它實際上是一個比較小的聯賽，讓業餘玩家也有機會一展自己的身手。優勝者有機會晉升到大聯盟，挑戰鉅額獎金、贊助合同，以及在全世界飛來飛去，參加職業比賽。

“We have worked very closely and collaboratively with Riot Games to create a league that delivers true value to the fans and players of the sport, and that begins to build an infrastructure for eSports that mirrors that of the more traditional sports,” said Matt Wolf, Coca-Cola’s global head of gaming. “To help promote the partnership, we recently launched @cokeesports on Twitter as a place for the brand to engage with fans through our activation with League of Legends. Moving through the end of the year, we will have a presence in South Korea for the World Finals in October.”

可口可樂全球遊戲總監馬特o沃爾夫表示：“我們與Riot Games公司進行了非常密切的合作，以建立一個能爲粉絲和玩家帶來真正價值的聯賽。首先要做的是要爲電競搭建一個類似傳統體育競技的基礎平臺。爲了促進兩家的合作，我們最近還在Twitter上建立了@cokeesports官方賬號，作爲我們品牌與《英雄聯盟》愛好者交流的陣地。到今年年底之前，我們在韓國的比賽和十月的全球總決賽中都將佔據一席之地。”

League of Legends is currently the most popular eSports game in the world with over 85 million players across the globe. As a result, those playing the game professionally are working with some big brands. Erich Marx, director of Interactive & Social Media Marketing at Nissan North America, partnered with League of Legends Team Curse because he and many people on his team are gamers, technologists and fans of eSports and they believe in its potential.

《英雄聯盟》是當下全球最火的電競遊戲，玩家超過8500萬人。因此，《英雄聯盟》的專業玩家紛紛與各大品牌簽約。日產（Nissan）北美公司互動與社交媒體營銷總監埃裏希o馬爾克斯就選擇與《英雄聯盟》的Curse戰隊合作，因爲馬爾克斯和他的團隊裏的許多成員都是電競玩家或愛好者，而且他們也非常看好電競的發展前景。

“Our job is to find audiences that are apt to engage with us and who will appreciate our content and hopefully share it with friends and beyond,” said Marx. “ESports are very innovative, and that fits perfectly not only with Nissan products, but our marketing strategy.” Nissan is using the huge social networking reach of Team Curse pro gamers to raise awareness of some of its online campaigns.

馬爾克斯表示：“我們的工作就是找到那些傾向於和我們互動並且欣賞我們的內容、希望與朋友進行分享的觀衆。電競是創新性很強的項目，因此它不僅非常適合日產的產品，也非常適合我們的營銷戰略。”目前日產就正在利用Curse戰隊知名玩家的社交網絡影響來推廣它的一些在線廣告。

Red Bull has embraced eSports over the past three years, focusing first on Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft 2 and adding Dota 2 to the mix. The energy drink hosts its own eSports events around the country with top players and invites fans to watch live and online. The company also sponsors pro gamers and treats them the same way they treat real athletes, complete with health and nutrition tips to enable peak performance when training and playing in virtual competitions.

紅牛（Red Bull）過去三年一直在積極擁抱電子競技，一開始它把重點放在暴雪公司（Blizzard Entertainment）的《星際爭霸2》上，後來又加入了《Dota 2》。該公司還自行舉辦了幾場電競比賽，邀請美國國內的頂尖選手參加，並且邀請遊戲愛好者觀看在線視頻直播。另外該公司贊助和獎勵電競選手的方式也和他們對待其他體育項目的運動員別無二致，並且還向選手提供了保健和營養方案，以確保他們在訓練和競技中能保持頂尖的表現。

“A huge organization like Red Bull getting involved in eSports makes other big organizations pay attention and attract other big organizations,” said Jimmy “DeMoN” Ho, a Dota 2 pro gamer on Team Liquid. “McDonald’s recently sponsored an event.”

《Dota 2》戰隊的專業選手“惡魔”吉米o何表示：“像紅牛這樣的大企業參與電子競技，使得其他大企業也開始關注這個領域。比如麥當勞（McDonald’s）最近也贊助了一場電競比賽。”

Also blurring the line between sports and eSports is the fact that traditional Red Bull extreme athletes were competing at X-Games Austin in June for the exact same medals that Call of Duty Ghosts teams were playing for. ESPN covered the first-ever video game competition, which was hosted through MLG, along with the skateboarding and other extreme sports.

除此之外，還有一個例子能夠說明傳統體育競技和電子競技的界限正在漸漸模糊。今年六月在X-Games極限運動的奧斯汀站上，舉辦了一場由八支電競隊伍參加的《使命的召喚：幽靈》邀請賽。電競選手們獲得的獎牌，與紅牛的極限運動選手在本站爭奪的獎牌是一模一樣的。

“This is another example of the maturity of eSports,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, general manager of Logitech’s gaming business. “We believe that eSports helps keep the X-Games relevant. ESports already has greater viewership online via streaming than many sports today, including the X-Games and many NBA and NHL games. It is not if, but when will eSports become the most popular sport in the world.”

羅技公司（Logitech）遊戲業務總經理艾蒂沙姆o拉巴妮指出：“這是電子競技走向成熟的另一個例子。我們相信電子競技有助於保持X-Games極限運動的關注度。當前電子競技通過視頻直播，在網絡上已經擁有了比許多體育項目更龐大的觀衆羣，甚至超過了X-Games和不少NBA、NHL的比賽。電子競技成爲全球最受歡迎的運動只是時間早晚的問題。”

Even the NFL has taken notice of eSports. St. Louis Rams offensive lineman Rodger Saffold is an avid gamer who attended his first MLG competition in Anaheim in 2013. He liked eSports so much he bought Call of Duty Ghosts team Rise Nation Gaming, which was one of the teams that competed at X-Games Austin a few months after the Activision and Xbox $1 Million Call of Duty Championship in Los Angeles.

就連全美橄欖球聯盟也開始關注電子競技了。聖路易斯公羊隊的進攻內鋒羅傑o薩福德就是一名熱心玩家，他還參加了2013年在阿納海姆市舉辦的MLG電競比賽。由於非常醉心於電子競技，他甚至買下了《使命的召喚：幽靈》的Rise Nation Gaming戰隊。這支戰隊也正是幾個月前剛剛參加了奧斯汀X-Games邀請賽的八支戰隊之一，此前該戰隊還參加了美國動視（Activision）和Xbox在洛杉磯舉辦的《使命的召喚》冠軍賽，這場比賽的獎金爲100萬美元。

“I didn’t even know about eSports until last year, but I just enjoyed playing Call of Duty so much, and I was always online,” said Saffold, who recently signed a five-year, $31.7 million contract extension with the Rams. “I love the bragging rights. And now here I am. I finally see everything for the first time from a first-person view instead of on a computer screen. It’s all good for these kids. It shows that video games can bring you some money now. It’s not always a waste of time.”

薩福特最近與公羊隊簽訂了一份五年3170萬美元的續約合同。他表示：“直到去年，我還一點不瞭解電子競技，我就是非常喜歡《使命的召喚》，而且總是在網上玩這個遊戲。我喜歡耀武揚威的感覺，於是我買下了這支戰隊。終於我能以第一視角看所有東西，而不是通過一塊電腦屏幕。電競對這些孩子也是好事，它說明玩網遊現在也能賺錢了，並非總是在浪費時間。”

ESports is definitely not a waste of time for big sponsors. Intel has been sponsoring eSports for over 10 years now. George Woo, who heads up the Intel Extreme Masters global eSports tournament, said the company entered the space to establish a marketing platform to promote its gaming processor online and offline to make it the preferred and recommended processor brand by enthusiasts and to drive purchase intent for all of its gaming products.

對於大讚助商們來說，電子競技絕對不是浪費時間。英特爾公司（Intel）贊助電子競技已經有十年的歷史了。全球電競賽事英特爾極限大師賽的負責人喬治o吳表示，英特爾之所以贊助電競比賽，就是要建立一個營銷平臺，在線上和線下推廣它的遊戲處理器，使其成爲遊戲愛好者青睞和推薦的品牌，並且推動對旗下所有遊戲產品的購買意圖。

“Attendance to Intel Extreme Masters events has grown 10X with us filling up sport stadiums, where we have visitors lining up to get a seat to watch the competition,” said Woo. “Online it has grown 100X, where we now get more viewers watching livestreams for a single event than we’d have tune in for an entire season in the past.”

喬治o吳表示：“到現場觀看英特爾極限大師賽的觀衆已經增長了10倍，觀衆們爲了買一張門票不得不排起長隊。而在網絡上，這項賽事的觀衆已經增長了100倍，現在觀看一場比賽的視頻直播觀衆，要比以往一個賽季的觀衆都多。”