TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

School of Business and Governance

Departament of Economics and Finance

Nikita Kuznetsov

e-SPORTS AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE RUSSIAN-

SPEAKING RESIDENTS OF ESTONIA TO e-SPORTS Bachelor Thesis

Supervisor: Associate Professor Tatjana Põlajeva

Tallinn 2017

I declare I have written the bachelor’s thesis independently.

All works and major viewpoints of the other authors, data from other sources of literature and

elsewhere used for writing this paper have been referenced.

Nikita Kuznetsov ……………………………

(Signature, date)

Student’s code: 142631

Student’s e-mail address: nikk780@mail.ru

Supervisor Associate Professor Tatjana Põlajeva

The thesis conforms to the requirements set for the bachelor’s theses

……………………………………………

(Signature, date)

Chairman of defence committee:

Permitted to defence

……………………………………………………………………………………………...........

(Title, name, signature, date)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 4

1. WHAT ARE e-SPORTS? ................................................................................................... 6

1.1. The history of e-Sports ................................................................................................ 7

1.2. Events and prize money ............................................................................................... 9

1.3. e-Sports revenues ....................................................................................................... 12

1.4. Audience of e-Sports ................................................................................................. 14

1.5. Marketing and e-Sports .............................................................................................. 17

1.6. e-Sports in Estonia ..................................................................................................... 19

2. METODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 21

2.1. The structure of questionnaire ................................................................................... 22

2.2. The full review of questionnaire ................................................................................ 22

3. DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................... 28

CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 38

REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 40

APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE WITH COLLECTED DATA ............................................ 43

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ABSTRACT

e-Sports are the type of competition in different disciplines (or games) among gamers

(or gamer teams) from all over the world. Officially recognized and put in one row with

traditional sports like football and basketball in 22 countries of the world, including Russia

and Finland. Today is one of the most popular types of entertainment among young persons.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to understand what is e-Sports, how different brands can

use this enormous market, that e-Sports provides, to advertise their own goods and products to

spectators. And in the end find out how e-Sports fans respond to e-Sports and marketing in

this sphere of business and entertainment and as a result understand will it find it’s audience

in Estonia.

The problem of this research is that e-Sports is a young sphere of entertainment in

comparison with traditional sports, so it can provide many questions about its place on the

market and probable audience. The author hopes to provide more detailed data about attitude

of the Russian-speaking residents of Estonia to e-Sports and as a result will prove that e-

Sports have a potential in Estonia to develop.

The results were very interesting. The author found out that the majority of the Russian-

speaking residents of Estonia know what are e-Sports and are interested in it, so e-Sports can

find it’s place here. Author also found the most interesting e-Sports disciplines among

Russian-speaking residents of Estonia. The most important result was that respondents think,

that e-Sports will provide the effective marketing place for different brands and they are most

likely to be interested in products that will appear on this market.

Keywords: e-Sports, professional player, marketing, hidden advertising, e-Sports events,

sponsorship, brand.

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INTRODUCTION

Our 21st century is a century of technologies, especially computer technologies. These

technologies completely changed the appearance of our world. And we use them not only to

develop further, but these technologies are often used to entertain people, so makes the e-

Sports.

The popularity of e-Sports industry today is growing not only among e-Sports fans,

but also between investors, sponsors and businessman. This sphere of entertainment and

business, that appeared in year 1997, today is one of the most interesting and popular kind of

entertainment. It provides entertainment to millions of fans all over the world in many

different disciplines, so every person can find something interesting. But this sphere provides

not only entertainment to people, but first of all, it is an enormous economics system, that

provides different opportunities for brands to show their goods and services to millions of

potential clients all over the world. So e-Sports bring today a great marketing opportunity for

different brands among with one of the biggest entertainment businesses.

The topic of this bachelor thesis was chosen, because of author’s interests in e-Sports

and marketing fields. The above opening background indicates the connection between e-

Sports and marketing, and author of this bachelor thesis is interested in more deep research

within these two areas.

The problem of this research is that e-Sports is a young sphere of entertainment in

comparison with traditional sports, so it can provide many questions about its place on the

market and probable audience. The author hopes to provide more detailed data about attitude

of the Russian-speaking residents of Estonia to e-Sports and as a result will prove that e-

Sports have a potential in Estonia to develop.

The actuality of this topic indicates the current growth of the e-Sports popularity

among people and businessman. e-Sports today is more than a simple type of entertainment, it

is a very perspective business sphere, that attract more and more brands, people and sponsors

to interact with it. This sphere is only starting its growth on the marketing and business stage,

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so in the future it can develop in one of the most popular entertainment and marketing

advertising spheres.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to understand what is e-Sports, how different brands

can use this enormous market, that e-Sports provides, to advertise their own goods and

products to spectators. And in the end find out how e-Sports fans respond to e-Sports and

marketing in this sphere of business and entertainment and as a result understand will it find

it’s audience in Estonia.

The tasks, that author of this bachelor thesis has fulfilled, and fully described in this

bachelor thesis are:

1) Collect the basic information about eSports, its types, history, disciplines, audience

and revenue;

2) Conduct a survey of Russian-speaking residents of Estonia;

3) Conduct analysis of received data;

4) Make conclusions and proposals for future.

Quantitative method of research was chosen by author to receive most important data

and make most accurate conclusions. Author of this bachelor thesis choose the quantitative

method of research. Author made a questionnaire, that consists of 26 questions in three

different blocks. It was distributed electronically through social medias, such as Facebook,

VK and also through email.

This bachelor thesis is divided into 3 parts. First part is giving the answer on what is e-

Sports, tells the history of e-Sports, shows the prize pools and auditory of e-Sports events,

revenues and marketing opportunities are also shown in the first part. There are shown

different brands that already sponsor the e-Sports events.

The second part is about methods of research, that was chosen by author. It explains all all

author choices of questions and describes all structure of the questionnaire.

Third part contains of data analysis, that was collected during the research, in particular

data, that was collected due to questionnaire, that was provided by author. Also in this part

author explains his vision of received results and makes the proposals for future.

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1. WHAT ARE e-SPORTS?

e-Sports, also known as electronic sports, today are very popular kind of entertainment

among young people and fans, that search of competitive and entertaining amusement. e-

Sports are competition in different disciplines (or games) among gamers (or gamer teams)

from all over the world. Electronic sports in recent 20 years become very popular. Different

competitions unite hundreds of players from all over the world to compete with each other for

money and respect of millions fans, who can watch this competitions, sitting in the big and

well-prepared e-Sports arenas or even from their home through the Internet service.

“e-Sports, short for Electronic Sports, means ‘recreational activity involving

competition using mental and physical abilities in a virtual online environment similar to the

reality’ and includes ‘various competitions and leagues involving network games’. With the

introduction of e-Sports, games have emerged as the new public culture. Also, it has had

positive effects on related industries including game, contents, broadcasting, IT and more.”

(Sang Woo Lee, Jae Woong An, Ji Young Lee, 2016)

In recent years e-Sports and computer games become so popular, that today it has its

own culture, traditions and even language, what is called slang. The culture of e-Sports today

is very diversified. Among fans of different kinds of games and tournaments are popular

different competitions like “cosplay”, what is more closely related to parody, “cosplay” is

popular kind of competition between fans, where the main aim is to recreate a form, costume,

even behavior of existing game character in real life. Fans can choose whatever game

character they like and try to win some prizes too. There are many popular “cosplayers” in the

Internet and sometimes they have the same amount of fans, as pro players. Also popular kinds

of entertainment on tournaments are handmade poster competitions, or predictions on

different themes related to tournaments and so one. e-Sports are like a door to another world,

where every person can find something to do and to participate in.

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1.1. The history of e-Sports

The history of e-Sports began in 1980 with first video game official competition,

provided by video game development company, named “Atari”. So named “Space Invaders

Tournament” was held in New York, and attracted over ten thousand participants across the

United States, who compete with each other in arcade game “Space Invaders”. This first

competition and many others in following 10 years gave a great vision of the future for e-

Sports, that we already can see today.

The 1980-1990s were very important years for inceptive e-Sports. It was a time for

console and arcade games, some of them are popular for the present times. Big game

development companies, like “Nintendo” and “Blockbuster” started to provide their own

competitions, so arcade and console games tournaments had become increasingly common

and attracted a lot or players and fans to compete in or support their favorite players.

The 1990-2000 were the years of rising PC gaming. They have brought the true vision

of the e-Sports. The prices become more significant and passion heated. e-Sports become

more attractive and interesting. Appeared new games and disciplines.

“The emergence of eSports as a business factor in youth culture is quite often

described as a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon of worldwide importance. The reality,

however, shows two different gaming cultures separated by eastern and western value

systems.

In the United States and Europe, the history of competitive gaming is usually

associated with the release of networked first person shooting games, in particular the 1993

released game “Doom” and the 1996 follow-up title “Quake” by id software. During that

time, teams of online players, also called “Clans”, started to compete in online tournaments.

By 1997 several professional and semi-professional online gaming leagues had formed, most

noticeably the still influential “Cyberathlete Professional League” whose business concept

was modeled after the major professional sports leagues in the United States.” (Michael G

Wagner, 2006)

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“1997’s Red Annihilation tournament for the first person shooter (FPS) “Quake” is

widely considered to have been the first real instance of eSports, drawing over 2,000

participants. The winner received a Ferrari previously owned by John Carmack, lead

developer for “Quake”.

Just a few weeks after Red Annihilation, the Cyberathlete Professional League, one of

the first major gaming leagues was founded. Later that year, the CPL held its first tournament.

By the next year, it was already offering $15,000 in prize money. The CPL was just one of the

more prominent of many new tournaments and leagues founded during this period.

At this time, most eSports focused on first person shooters, sports games, and arcade-

style games, but the late 90s also saw the release of the breakout real-time strategy (RTS) hit

“StarCraft: Brood War.”

While shooters focus on twitch skills and fast reflexes, RTS games also require careful

thought and long-term planning and have been compared to a modern version of chess. With

its asymmetrically balanced races, each with their own unique troops and abilities, “StarCraft”

offered nearly limitless strategic potential and became one of the driving forces of the eSports

world, though it would not reach the height of its popularity until after the year 2000.” (Tyler,

Edwards, 2013)

From the year 2000 e-Sports become to come into its nowadays form. Games become

more and more interesting, dynamic and realistic. Tournaments are more and more like big

shows. Rewards become really big. Pro players also become more known. All in all, e-Sports

reached the point, where it cannot be underestimated any longer.

“Major League Gaming (MLG) launched in 2002 and is now the largest and most

successful of the eSports leagues, featuring numerous games in a variety of genres – from

shooters to RTS games – and offering lavish prize pools. How lavish? The 2013 Winter

Championships awarded gamers with over a hundred and seventy thousand dollars in prizes.

MLG was also the first tournament to be televised in North America, with a 2006

“Halo 2” series being shown on the USA Network, though it did not succeed in establishing a

major television presence over the long haul.

These days MLG, like most eSports tournaments, is primarily viewed online, though it

draws huge numbers. The 2012 spring championship brought in over four million viewers,

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even beating “real” sporting events, like the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, in certain key

demographics.“ (Tyler, Edwards, 2013)

As a result grown popularity of e-Sports made it interesting not only for players and

fans. Today e-Sports provide a big market, where compete different companies, along with

players. e-Sports provide a space for marketing, trade, advertising, start-ups and more. All in

all among with growing popularity of games e-Sports have gain an attention of sponsors,

companies and businessman of all kinds and sorts.

1.2. Events and prize money

“e-Sports has become a global phenomenon. Recent reports have valued the industry

at more than $612 million, with reach extending from Europe and North America, and to the

developing markets of Asia. It makes eSports an incredibly powerful marketing opportunity

for brands.” (Pat Hong, 2015)

e-Sports are very popular today, along with its popularity in this sphere are a lot of

money. Different sponsors support teams and creators of events with millions and millions of

dollars. The e-Sports events today can be compared with big shows and tours of “stage stars”

or sport events. For example the attendance of League of Legends World Final 2014 in Seoul

was around 45 thousand people, but it is not all, there was more than 27 million online

viewers, who could see all event from opening to closing sitting at home in any place of the

world.

There are many different types on e-Sports events. They main difference is in the

discipline. Different disciplines attract different persons and this gives opportunity to control

the type of audience by changing discipline type and other rules of competitions.

“In 2016, there were 424 esports events with a prize pool above $5000 worldwide.

North America held the most events (28%), followed by Western Europe (26%), and Eastern

Europe (13%). In total, ticket revenues for these events generated $32 million in 2016, up

from $21 million in 2015. North America generated 44% of ticket revenues, followed by

Western Europe with 29%. Globally, ESL, Blizzard, Riot Games, and MLG are the organizers

that hosted the most tournaments last year. The League of Legends World Championship

generated the most ticket revenues, an estimated total of $3 million, followed by The

International Dota 2 championships, and the Mid-Season Invitational.” (Newzoo, 2017)

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Figure 1. Number of major eventss and ticket revenues

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

e-Sports prize funds are very solid. Today they are one of the biggest among all prize

pools, that ever existed. To compare the prize pool of NBA Playoff in 2014 was 13 million

dollars, what is 4.5 times lower than in first big “DOTA 2” event. Starting with the first

International 2013 in history of e-Sports with prize pool almost 3 million of dollars in next

few years it significantly grew. Already next year the prize pool of The International 2014 in

Seattle was 11 million dollars, on The International 2015 it was already 18 million dollars and

on The International 2016 reached the mark of 21 million dollars. This significant growth is

fully related with the growing popularity of e-Sports, because these enormous prize pools are

collected with the founding of “DOTA 2” fans and players. But this is only one example from

the hundreds of major events that are being held. (Source of data: Concluded Tournaments

Stats)

“Total prize money in 2016 reached $93.3 million, up from $61.0 million in 2015, or

+52.9% year on year. Looking only at the major events with prize pools above $5000, total

prize money reached $81.5 million, up from $54.7 million in 2015, or +49.0% year on year.

The largest prize pool was awarded by The International with a record $20.8M, or 22% of the

global total. For the first time, the League of Legends World Championship allowed

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consumer contributions, driving prize money to more than $5 million. Both events were held

in North America, resulting in a 56% share of global prize money generated from this region.”

(Newzoo, 2017)

Figure 2. Major event prize money

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

To collect such big prize pools the sponsors are not enough. The e-Sports use the

system of crowd funding, that allows to create enormous prize pools and make happy the

millions of fans, that became the sponsors of such massive events and for that they receive

their own advantages.

“Crowd funding refers to the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who

network and pool their money and other resources together, to support efforts initiated by

other people or organizations. The purpose of crowd funding varies, from disaster relief to

citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns. Crowd funding

is also used for startup companies. It is sometimes called crowd financing or crowd sourced

capital. An entrepreneur seeking to use crowd funding typically makes use of online

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communities to solicit pledges of small amounts of money from individuals who are typically

not professional financiers.” (Crowd Funding Law and Legal Definition)

So the tendency of previous years show, that the prize pool is quickly growing among

with popularity of games and e-Sports in common. Some people already make forecasts about

prize pool of The International 2017, that will start in August of 2017 in Seattle. And some of

the bravest forecasts are that prize pool with help of crown funding will rise to the mark of

25-30 million dollars. Only time will show the final results.

1.3. e-Sports revenues

e-Sports economy is continuously growing for all years of its existing and this

tendency, according to predictions, will be continued in the future. Revenues are growing

very fast for the few last years. Revenue growth connected to very quick popularity growth of

this direction in economy and among people in the last time.

Figure 3. Revenues per stream. Global 2017

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

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“The coming year will see the Esports Economy grow to $696 million, a year-on-year

growth of 41.3%. Brands are expected to spend $517 million, broken down into $155 million

on advertising, $266 million on sponsorship, and a further $95 million on media rights.

Consumer spending this year on merchandise and tickets will amount to $64 million. The

remaining $116 million is the total investment that game publishers will make into esports,

the share that is not directly recouped by any of the other revenue streams. It illustrates that,

for most game publishers, esports is currently not a profitable business. However their

investment is justified by the positive impact on game revenues and the future potential of

their esports activities as a stand-alone business.” (Newzoo, 2017)

Looking at all in all picture, this revenue growth is very positive. So different

companies and sponsors are already looking for different paths to integrate their own

companies with e-Sector, because this directions seems today very promising. And in the

future it can be a very interesting sector for advertising and sales businesses.

Figure 4. e-Sports revenue growth

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

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“Revenues will grow with a CAGR (2015-2020) of +35.6% to reach $1488 million by

2020. Sponsorship is the largest revenue stream and will grow to $655 million by 2020. New

brands, especially non-endemic brands, entering esports will drive the growth in sponsorship

revenues in the coming years. Advertising generates the second most revenues and will grow

to $224 million by 2020.

Game publisher fees will see the slowest growth. As the esports economy becomes

increasingly self-sufficient, it will no longer require investments by game publishers. The

fastest-growing revenue stream is media rights, which will generate $340 million by 2020, up

from $95 million this year. Exclusive content deals, as seen in traditional sports, will drive

this growth.” (Newzoo, 2017)

Today it is hard to compere e-Sports with traditional sports. Electronic sports is a

young direction comparing to its traditional brothers, but its start already seems very positive

and it is giving some space for good future forecasts. In time, when traditional sports become

less popular and people start looking for something fresh e-Sports may attract very big groups

of young people and in future the whole new generation can grew up on this type of

competitions. So this fact will rise the popularity of e-Sports among brands and companies,

who already become to sponsor this events. For example today as a sponsors of e-Sports stand

out such popular brands as “RedBull”, “Monster”, “SteelSeries”, “Razer”, “Intel”, “G2A”,

“IGN”, “Twitch”, “Gamestop”, “Nerdist”, “YouTube”, “Google”, “Microsoft”, “Sony”,

“Coca-Cola”, “Doritos” and so on. So these brands already believe in the great business future

of e-Sports.

1.4. Audience of e-Sports

Today e-Sports are the entertainment of the young people. More old persons are not so

much interested in computer technologies as younger ones. Today not many people can

actually move in one leg with fast developing technologies and our generation seems to deal

with it more effectively, comparing with our parents.

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But e-Sports welcomes persons of all kinds and ages, so everybody can find something

interesting in it. Today e-Sports has a massive audience and it will grew up even more in the

future, because e-Sports are spreading among our planet with a good speed.

Figure 5. e-Sports revenue growth

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

“The global esports audience will reach 385.5 million in 2017, made up of 191 million

Esports Enthusiasts and a further 194 million Occasional Viewers. The number of Enthusiasts

is expected to grow by 50% toward 2020, totaling 286 million. Growth in emerging regions,

such as Southeast Asia and Middle East & Africa, increased viewership from TV broadcasts,

and new franchises like FIFA and Overwatch are the main drivers of global esports

viewership growth.

Global esports awareness will reach 1.3 billion in 2017, up from 1.1 billion in 2016.

Awareness is estimated to approach 1.8 billion by 2020. This growth will be aided by game

publishers incorporating esports into their game clients and other communication channels,

along with increased coverage of esports in the media. The number of esports participants

globally will reach 58.4 million this year, up from 49.8 million in 2016.” (Newzoo, 2017)

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According to this forecasts the auditory of e-Sports will significantly grew up by the

year 2020, what means that it will also attract new sponsors and other business companies and

e-Sports sector will become more attractive for marketing companies, that can advertise their

products through it all across the world.

The e-Sports are interesting and popular among persons of all kinds and ages, so

marketing companies have unique opportunity to attract new customers to their products and

to e-Sports too.

Figure 6. e-Sports audience

Source: (Newzoo, 2017)

“The Esports Enthusiast audience skews young and male, with half of them aged

between 21-35 and 71% men. The majority of Enthusiasts are in full-time employment and

enjoy a good income. This makes them a very desirable target group for different parties,

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especially big brands. Esports Enthusiasts are digital natives, and are more likely to be

consuming content online than through traditional media outlets.” (Newzoo, 2017)

So this auditory of young, but full-time employed persons are very attractive for

different brands all across the world. It is so, because thay are interested in different

technology devices and other stuff, that will help them to feel themselves as a pro players. So

the brands that operate with this products must bring attention in e-Sports sector.

1.5. Marketing and e-Sports

“While the phenomenon of eSports is still in its infancy, it already promises an

unprecedented marketing potential. In July 2012, the Electronic Sports League (ESL)reported

more than 3.6 million unique registered users in Europe alone (ESL, 2012).According to

Adamus (2012), in South Korea, a major hub of eSports in Asia, there are more than 430

professional gamers, that is, ‘players who practice eSports as a form of work and earn their

living from it’ (p. 480). Furthermore, various national (e.g. Korean eSports Association) and

international (e.g. International eSports Federation) governing bodies have been established to

oversee the rules and practice of professional computer gaming, and the World Cyber Games

(WCG), an eSports tournament comparable to the Olympic Games for traditional sports, is

held internationally each year. These few facts suggest that competitive computer gaming has

become an important aspect of contemporary virtual-world consumption. Furthermore,

eSports is a fast-growing consumer segment, involving multiple on-and offline interactions

among and between consumers, companies, and other stakeholders. However, with few

previous studies exploring the consumption of computer games, no attempts were made to

understand the aspects of eSports within the marketing discipline.” (Yuri Seo, 2013)

„Recently In-game advertising (IGA) is getting more popular in video gaming

industry. In IGA, the advertisements are displayed along with video games. Unlike normal

advertisements, the advertisements can be changed from remote locations. In-game

advertising on next-generation gaming systems is expected to grow to $852 million by 2011,

fueled largely by connectivity enhancements in the consoles. The projection is part of a

forecast released by ABI Research [10]. “The growth and interest in this generation [of game

consoles] is in part because the numbers of connected consoles are much, much greater,” says

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Michael Wolf, research director, digital home, at ABI Research. Connected consoles create

more opportunities for dynamic in-game advertising, where ad-placements can be updated

with new campaigns and advertisers. It also allows advertisers to commit to a particular title

closer to release date, or even after a game is in stores.” (Laxmisha Rai, Gao Yan, 2009)

Marketing within e-Sports is already well-developed sphere. There are many different

brands and businesses introduced on e-Sports arenas, events and competitions. The sponsors

of e-events are already found for themselves beautiful market for advertising their own

services and products. For example you can easily find brand marks on the t-shorts of pro

players who are playing on different e-Sports events. On the tables for pro gamers you can see

top tier computers and other devices from very popular brands. Pro players during the

competition drink different drinks of all kinds: energy drinks, water and other products of

very known brands. All this is so named “hidden advertising”.

No one shows directly their advertisement during e-Sports events. You will never be

called to watch on advertisements, nobody will show directly to you their services and

products. But the advertising is literally everywhere: on the t-shorts of players, on the screens

in the sponsor lists, on the posters, technical devices and in many places all over the e-Sports

arena or on the screens of online viewers. And these brands who could early recognized the

opportunity for business and marketing in e-Sports today are very known in the world.

“For Red Bull, eSports has been no exception. The energy drink maker has been

sponsoring and working with professional video game players since 2006. They clearly

understand the media consumption patterns of today’s consumer and execute accordingly

knowing that it’s about context-rich experiences first and content second. Most importantly

they recognize that it is a marathon, not a sprint getting into the consideration set of their

consumers.

In June 2006, Red Bull announced their very first eSports athlete sponsorship when

they signed Halo legend David “Walshy” Walsh, marking one of their first forays into the

world of eSports. A few years later in 2011, Red Bull took their commitment to the next level:

organizing their own Red Bull LAN events. The LAN was the perfect test bed for Red Bull

events and was a big success, delivering high production and competitive value which helped

them grow their brand equity in the community. Red Bull LAN established the framework

upon which the energy drink maker built an authentic connection within gaming. Allowing

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them to reach more eSports fans in order to generate a bigger interest in their brand.” (Craig

Keller, 2015)

So starting with one pro player RedBull continued to capture the e-Sports market and

as a result rising their own popularity and even finding new clients. So sponsorship through

the e-Sports brought RedBull to the top in the e-Sports market. So other businesses and

brands can easily follow the steps of RedBull great success for example here, in Estonia,

where e-Sports sphere is only starting to show its opportunities.

1.6. e-Sports in Estonia

Already many years our government presents Estonia as a country with well-

developed e-Sector. We have the pretty fast Internet connection, that can be found all along

our country. We have well-working e-Banking, that allows us to pay our debts, taxes and

make other payments very easy and fast. We have the e-School system, that allows parents to

see their children successes at school. All this represents our country as a country with well-

developed e-Sector, that allows us to be proud of being the part of this today. e-Sports in

Estonia already have their certain place and it develops along with others e-Sectors.

For example even Tallinn University of Technologies sometimes holds its own e-

Sports competitions with different prize pools from sponsors and even from University itself.

The popular disciplines in TUT are “DOTA 2”, “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive”,

“Hearthstone” and some others. Every person, who is interested in taking participation in

tournament can join it if he can fulfill some demands like having a team of 5 members, or

having the official copy of the game. These demands are different for different kinds of

tournaments and they can be easily be fulfilled.

But on the World Arena Estonia has not so many experience as others countries like

United States, European countries or Russian Federation. In history of e-Sports Estonia is

well known only due to Dota 2 player Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, who has of the most

interesting careers in e-Sports today. He was a captain in Na’Vi, the Ukraine team and the

team Secret, witch is European team. He participated in the Grand Finals of three

International tournaments, and two Dota 2 Major Championships, even more he is the only

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Dota 2 player, who won the International and Major championships as a captain of a team, but

the name of Estonia was never associated with teams in witch Clement Ivanov was a captain,

the reason of it is that in Estonia e-Sports are not officially recognized, so Estonia is not

presented on World e-Sports arena. Others players from Estonia not only in this discipline,

but in all others too, are not so well known as he is.

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2. METODOLOGY

Author of this bachelor thesis decided to find out how people react on advertising

through the e-Sports. For this reasons author choose the quantitative method of research,

because it will show the most correct results, that author was hoping to receive reach the goals

of this bachelor thesis.

For this purpose author created an questionnaire, that consists of 26 questions divided

in three groups. It was made to improve the structure of questionnaire and make it more easier

to respondents to response. This questionnaire was distributed through the Internet and in

particular through social media as Facebook, VK, email and others. The language of

questionnaire was Russian. It was so, because author lives in Russian-speaking town and this

language is spread among respondents.

First of all, there was 58 men and 44 women, who have answered on this

questionnaire. That equals to 56,9% of men and 43,1% of women. Talking about the age of

respondents author can say, that the biggest group of respondents refers to the 21-30 years old

group, where was 60 respondents. The second big group refers to the 31-40 years old group,

where was 17 respondents. After it comes the below 20 years old group, where was 13

respondents. Two last groups 41-50 and above 51 years old consists of the least people, 7 and

5 respectively.

Author received responses from all over Estonia: Tallinn (61), Narva (19), Tartu (7),

Rakvere (4), Keila (3), Narva-Jõessu (2), Sillamäe (1), Rapla (1), Viru (1), Kohtla-Järve (1),

Puru (1) and Maardu (1).

Author of this bachelor thesis by creating this questionnaire was hoping, that it will

attract the respondents, who is interested in e-Sports, but also will be interesting for people

who do not know what it is or are not interested in e-Sports. After receiving the data, author

of this bachelor thesis was glad, that his hopes were true and he received a big respondents

group with different views on this topic.

22

2.1. The structure of questionnaire

The first group of questions that consists of 4 questions was so named “personal

questions”. The author was interested to find out what kinds of person will answer on his

questionnaire. So author asked about gender, age, hometown and the last question of this

block was “Do you know what are the e-Sports?”. All this questions will give to author the

information about respondents.

The second block was only about e-Sports and consists of 13 questions. This part of

questionnaire was created by author to find out what represent thinks about e-Sports, what is

his attitude to legalizing of e-Sports, what respondent knows about e-Sports in Estonia an so

one. The aim of this block for author is simple. Author wants to find out the attitude of

represents to e-Sports, and know the issues of this attitude.

The third block of questionnaire was concentrated on marketing and advertising

through e-Sports and consisted of 9 questions. The questions were about respondent attitude

to advertising through the e-Sports, the knowledge of represented brands on e-Sports events,

and the effectiveness of hidden advertisement on e-Sports events. This block was the most

important for author of this bachelor thesis and the results of this block will fully influence on

the conclusions of this bachelor thesis.

2.2. The full review of questionnaire

The questionnaire starts with author’s appeal to respondents. To be sure that every

respondent will understand what to do and to show author’s gratitude to every respondent.

The full author’s appeal was in Russian language, as the whole questionnaire and can be

translated so: “Dear respondent, author of this questionnaire asks you to answer the following

questions on the topic “e-Sports as a marketing opportunity for brands”, putting where

needed a mark or answering by the whole sentence. Questions, that need to be obligatorily

answered are marked by red asterisk. The full response will take a few minutes. This

23

questionnaire will provide the author with data, needed to write the thesis. Author expresses

his gratitude for your response.”.

After this introductions starts the block, that consists of 4 questions. All this questions

relate to information about respondent. Author wanted to find out who is answering on the

questionnaire, without asking the names of respondents. So the questionnaire was absolutely

anonymous. This four questions were:

1. What is your gender?

There were only two options: “Male” and “Female”

2. What is your age?

Author decided to put all ages in range, so there were five different options: “below 20”,

“21-30”, “31-40”, “41-50” and “51 and above”

3. In what town do you live?

There author asked the respondents to write the town by themselves. For example: Narva,

Tallinn etc.

4. Do you know what are e-Sports?

There were only three options to choose. Respondent must choose one of them: “Yes”,

“No” and “Maybe”. This was very important question in this block, because the data,

collected from respondents will show to the author how many people know what are the e-

Sports and it will show how the knowledges about the e-Sports are spread among

respondents.

The fourth question of this block “Do you know what are e-Sports?” was added by author

to find out how many respondents knew what it is, and for those who don’t author brings the

definition of e-Sports in the second block. To make sure, that all respondents understand what

is this questionnaire about.

So the second block of the questionnaire starts with definition of e-Sports: “e-Sports are a

competition in the virtual space, which are modeled by computer technology.” Author was

hoping that this definition will help to those, who do not know what are e-Sports to answer

the next 13 questions of the block and the following 9 of the third block. But in the second

24

block all questions were connected to e-Sports and were asking about respondents attitude to

it. This questions were:

1. Are you interested in e-Sports?

It was binding question and there were only three options: “Yes”, “No” and “Maybe”.

Respondents choose one of them.

2. Could you say, why it is so?

This question was connected to previous one (Are you interested in e-Sports?). Here

respondents had a chance to explain the purposes of their attitude to e-Sports. It was an

optional question were the purpose of answering was in giving an additional information on

the subject. The respondents were asked to write what they think on this thesis by themselves.

3. Do you ever watched e-Sports events?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”.

4. If you watched, in what regime it was?

This question was connected to the previous one (Do you ever watched e-Sports events?).

And it was binding for those, whose answer was “Yes” or “Maybe”. There were four options

with multiple choice opportunity. The options were: “Online broadcast”, “The broadcast’s

record”, “In real life” and the option with free answer, that respondent could write by himself.

5. If you had an opportunity to visit the e-Sports event in real life, will you capture it?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Absolutely yes”, “No, no

matter what type of event it is” and “Maybe, depends on event type”.

6. How do you think, must e-Sports become an official kind of sports as it is in Russia,

Finland and some others countries?

This question was followed by phrase, that already 22 countries in the world made the e-

Sports an official type of competitions. There were three options, with one to choose: “Yes”,

“No” and “Maybe. It was binding question for all respondents.

7. Please justify your answer.

25

This question was connected to the previous one (How do you think, must e-Sports

become an official kind of sports as it is in Russia, Finland and some others countries?) and

was binding to all respondents and respondents must write their opinion by themselves. The

purpose of this question was in collecting respondent’s opinions on this topic., so they can

show more exact picture of personal attitude.

8. Do you ever heard about e-Sports events in Estonia?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”.

9. Please rete the development level of e-Sports in Estonia on a 5 point scale.

There respondents were asked to rate the development level of e-Sports in Estonia. So

author was hoping to find out the development ratings of e-Sports in Estonia. It was binding

question.

10. Must Estonia pay more attention to e-Sports development?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”.

11. What e-Sports disciplines are you interested in?

There was the whole list of different disciplines on e-Sports events. So respondent could

choose multiple variants. The purpose of this questions was to find out what discipline is most

popular among respondents. The list consists of Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,

Legue of Legends, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, Overwatch, Street Fighter V, Super Smash

Bros., Call of Duty, Warcraft III, FIFA, World of Tanks, Heroes of the Storm, Mortal Kombat

X, SMITE and the opportunity to add something by themselves.

12. Do you follow the e-Sports news?

Another binding question with four options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No”, “Maybe”

and an opportunity to add something by themselves.

13. Do you know what is hidden advertising?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”.

26

The last question of the second block was added by author to find out how many

respondents know what is hidden advertising, because it is the most developed method of

advertising through the e-Sports, and for those, who don’t knew it, author brings the

definition of the “hidden advertising” in the beginning of the third block. “Hidden advertising

is the advertising that has hidden impact on potential client’s perception, that is not realized

by the customer. For example, the use or demonstration of different products, that exist in real

life, of different brands in films, television, radio and so on is a hidden advertising”.

The third block of questions was connected to marketing and advertising through the e-

Sports. As already was said, it started with the definition of the “hidden advertisement” term.

And was followed by most important questions in this questionnaire. The third block was

filled with 9 questions:

1. How do you think, are e-Sports an effective area for advertising?

Another binding question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”. This question was very important, because it shows respondent’s attitude to

advertising and shows if advertising through e-Sports is effective.

2. Please justify your answer.

This question was connected to previous one (How do you think, are e-Sports an effective

area for advertising?). Here respondents had a chance to explain why do they think as they

think. It was an binding question were the purpose of answering was in giving an additional

information on the subject. The respondents were asked to write what they think on this thesis

by themselves.

3. Do you ever noticed the hidden advertisement during the e-Sports events?

Another binding question for those who had ever watched the e-Sports event. A question

with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and “Maybe”.

4. Please rate the obsession of hidden advertising during e-Sports events on the 5 point

scale.

Another question with a scale. It was important for author to find out how obvious is

hidden advertising through the e-Sports and how much it annoys people. It was a question for

those, who ever noticed the hidden advertising through the e-Sports.

27

5. Can you list some brands that already advertise through the e-Sports?

An optional open question, that was added by author to find out what brads were noticed

on e-Sports events.

6. Companies often use the pro players to advertise their products. Do you ever had the

feeling, for example, to use the same devices, that are used by the pro players?

Another optional question with three options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No” and

“Maybe”.

7. How you can explain the appearance of this feeling?

It was an optional question for those who answered “Yes” or “Maybe” with multiple

choice opportunities. The options were: “The feeling of trust to professional player”, “The

feeling of trust to brand”, “The advertised devices are better than mine”, “Spontaneous

feeling”, “The feeling of envy towards professional players” and an opportunity to add

something by themselves.

8. How do you think, are the advertising of products by pro players and teams an

indicator of the products quality?

Another binding question with four options and one to choose: “Yes”, “No”, “Maybe”

and an opportunity to add something by themselves.

9. Will you buy the product if it will be advertised by your favorite pro player?

Last optional question with one choice from the list. The options were: “Yes, absolutely”,

“Yes, if the product or service is needed to me”, “No, never” and “I’m not sure”.

On this question the questionnaire ends. All this questions were very important for the

author, because every one of them was created to fulfill the purpose. So all answers were

important and were counted in the last part of the bachelor thesis.

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3. DATA ANALYSIS

In this part of bachelor thesis author will analyze the received data from his

questionnaire. To analyze the received data author of this bachelor thesis used graphs, figures

and averages. All this were analyzed by author in Microsoft Excel program. As a result of

distributing the questionnaire author received 102 answers on his topic. Author hoped to

receive more answers, but this is already pretty good quantity or respondents. As already was

said author used social media and email to distribute questionnaire.

First of all, there was 58 men and 44 women, who have answered on this questionnaire.

That equals to 56,9% of men and 43,1% of women. Talking about the age of respondents

author can say, that the biggest group of respondents refers to the 21-30 years old group,

where was 60 respondents. The second big group refers to the 31-40 years old group, where

was 17 respondents. After it comes the below 20 years old group, where was 13 respondents.

Two last groups 41-50 and above 51 years old consists of the least people, 7 and 5

respectively. This results were actually reasonable for the author, because the age 21-30 is the

age of independence, when people already studying at the universities or even working, and at

the same time many people play computer games at the same time. So for the e-Sports it is the

ideal age. And received data completely identical to the Newzoo, 2017 GLOBAL ESPORTS

MARKET REPORT, where this age also takes the first place among e-Sports fans and

viewers.

29

Figure 7. The age and gender of respondents.

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

The next question was about the town where the respondent lives. Author of this

bachelor thesis put all town in one line, starting with more popular answer Tallinn (61), Narva

(19), Tartu (7), Rakvere (4), Keila (3), Narva-Jõessu (2), Sillamäe (1), Rapla (1), Viru (1),

Kohtla-Järve (1), Puru (1) and Maardu (1). The 59,8% of respondents lives in Tallinn and

18,6% in Narva, then 6,9% in Tartu. This is again reasonable, Tallinn is the capital of Estonia

and author was sure, that it will bring most of answers.

And the last question in this block. “Do you know what are e-Sports?” – was the most

interesting question there, and the answers were predictable 74,5% of respondents know what

it is (76 persons), 15,7% do not know what are e-Sports (16 persons) and 9,8% were not sure

about it (10 persons). Author was glad to receive such positive answers on that question. It

already shows that the majority of Russian speaking residents of Estonia know what are e-

Sports.

The second block starts with the question: “Are you interested in e-Sports?”. Answer

on this question could give to author important data about respondents attitude to the e-Sports.

The 47% of respondents are interested in e-Sports (48 persons), while 30,4% are not sure

about that (31 person) and 22,5% are completely not interested in e-Sports. So author could

absolutely exactly say that Russian-speaking residents of Estonia are interested in e-Sports,

because data analysis showed that 74,5% of respondents know what are e-Sports and 47% of

respondents, that is the majority, are interested in it.

6 7

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32

3

14

52 2 3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male

Below 20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51 and above

30

Next question was asking to justify the opinion on previous question. This question

was optional for all, but author received some interesting answers on it. And the most

valuable answer could be translated as: “e-Sports like any other sports is an opportunity to

show your skills, as well as develop them through trainings, even if this skills can’t bring

something interesting to you in real life (like endurance or speed), but they can help you to

receive success, fame and money. That is the aim of any kind of sports”. And it is very

interesting idea, because every sports aim is to be first in something, so why it can’t be a

computer game, when it is what you love to do and it brings you to you aim. This idea is very

similar to authors mindset, so author is glad, that there are people, who think the same.

The third question of this block was: “Do you ever watched e-Sports events?”. Author

was sure, that the majority of respondents watched them and the collected data showed, that

68,6% were (70 persons), while 26,5% weren’t (27 persons) and the least 4,9% were not sure

(5 persons). This was positive result for authors work.

The fourth question was only to these 75 persons, that were ever watching or maybe

watched this events and the results showed, that 85,9% were watching online broadcasts,

78,2% ever watched record of broadcast and only 9% were on the live show. That speaks that

the online broadcasts and records of them are more popular in Estonia in compare with live

shows. This is truly understandable, because life shows in Estonia are rarity.

The fifth question of this block was: “If you had an opportunity to visit the e-Sports

event in real life, will you capture it?”. This question was interesting in authors opinion

because it shows the attraction of visiting live e-Sports show. And author was hoping to

receive positive answers. Collected data shows that 63,7% were not sure about visiting e-

Sports event and for them the decision depends on type of event (65 persons), 23,5% were

absolutely sure, that they will visit such event, if there was an option (24 persons) and the

11,8% said that they refuse this opportunity (12). But there was one more person, who

decided to give his own answer and wrote “Not sure, but there is a chance” (1%). All in all

positive answers were more than negative and this is already the good news.

The sixth question was: “How do you think, must e-Sports become an official kind of

sports as it is in Russia, Finland and some others countries?” it was very important for author

question, because it shows the attitude of people to making e-Sports an official type of

competition and put it in one row with traditional sports. The results were positive. 50%

31

answered, that it must become an official kind of sports (51 person), 39,2% answered

“Maybe” (40 persons) and 10,8% said “No” (11 persons). It was very interesting to author to

receive the positive answer on this question.

Next question was very interesting too, because it was connected to previous one and

was asking to explain the respondent position. The most interesting answer could be

translated as: “e-Sports is a discipline on one leg with chess. The sort of cooperation, tactics,

physical and morale trainings and certainly follows exact rules. In e-Sports luck almost never

plays the significant role and only the skill of players is important, so operating this criterions

we can put e-Sports with traditional sports”. This idea seems very reasonable and author

thinks that it is important.

The following question was: “Do you ever heard about e-Sports events in Estonia?”.

Author was sure, that some of respondents must been heard something about them and as a

result 58,8% were (60 persons), 34,3% weren’t (35 persons) and only 6,9% (7 persons) were

not sure about it. This was a surprise, because author was not expecting such big numbers.

Next question was the first with a scale. Author wanted respondents to rate the

development level of e-Sports in Estonia on a 5 point scale. The results were next: 27 persons

were absolutely sure, that e-Sports in Estonia are not developed at all (26,5%), 50 persons and

the majority chose the number “2”, that means that e-Sports in Estonia is developed on very

low level (49%). 23 persons choose number “3” what is a golden mean. And only 2 persons

choose “4”, what means pretty good developed e-Sport in Estonia. On authors opinion the

majority was right. In Estonia we have not so well-developed e-Sports sector. And the

majority of people know about it, because in Estonia e-Sports are not officially recognized

and all competitions in this sphere are held by companies or third persons. 75,5% chose

numbers “1” and “2” that means “absolutely not developed” and “developed pretty bad”.

32

Figure 8. “Please rate the development level of e-Sports in Estonia on a 5 point scale?”

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

Tenths question was: “Must Estonia pay more attention to e-Sports development?”

and was the continue of the previous one. So the results are reasonable, according to previous

question data. So 60,8% think that Estonia must pay more attention to e-Sports (62 persons),

34,3% are not sure (35 persons) and 4,9% are absolutely against it (5 persons). This results

show that many people will support the Estonia in developing e-Sports here.

Next question was about e-Sports disciplines in witch respondents are interested in.

There was 85 answers, that means that persons, who was not interested in e-Sports chose

some titles from the list. It could be as a mistake, or a change of mind. Author brought big list

of e-Sports disciplines and on the leading positions are: Dota 2 with 62,4%, then Counter-

Strike: Global Offensive with 61,2% and the third place took Legue of Legends with 40%.

Below author brings the full table of collected data.

27

50

23

2

0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Not developed at all (1)

Very low level of development (2)

Normal (3)

Pretty good developed (4)

Very good level of development (5)

33

Figure 9. “What e-Sports disciplines are you interested in?”

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

The twelfth question was about e-Sports news and exactly: “Do you follow the e-

Sports news?”. This question was added to understand the role of e-Sports news in

respondent’s lives. The collected data showed, that 50% of respondents (51 person) are not

following the e-Sports news, other 30,4% are following them (30 persons), 15,7% are not sure

(16 persons) and the other 3 persons gave their own answers. They were: “I’m following

certain games, but not in Estonian news”, “Today I have no time on this, but when I was

studying in the university I was following”, “Sometimes” and “I am not following it, it

follows me”. The last answer is pretty interesting, but the meaning of it is simple, person

follows the new. But all in all the majority is not following the e-Sports news, it can be

connected with reason, that we have not so many e-Sport news in Estonia, and a huge amount

of them are on the other languages.

The last question of the second block is: “Do you know what is hidden advertising?”.

It was brought here by author as a connection with third part of questionnaire. The results are

predictable: 77,5% know what it is (79 persons), 11,8% do not know (12 persons) and other

10,8% are not sure (11 persons). Author was expecting these results on this question.

The third part of the questionnaire starts with the question, that sounds like: “How do

you think, are e-Sports an effective area for advertising?”. This question is very significant in

this questionnaire, so the data that was collected will affect the whole research. 71,6% are

34

agreed with this statement (76 people), 26,5% are not sure (27 persons) and only 2% are

against (2 persons). So that means that people see in e-Sports a great opportunity for

advertising and marketing.

Figure 10. “How do you think, are e-Sports an effective area for advertising?”

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

The second question of the third block was connected to the previous one and was

asking to justify the respondent opinion. Most of answers were similar like: “Very big

audience”, “Many viewers all across the world”, “Advertisements always in front of eyes”.

But most important and interesting answer was: “Advertising for the future is very risky.

People on e-Sports events are mostly aged below 30, most of them are students of universities

and schools. Therefore, the buying activity grows every year, as the main audience grew up”

and this is true, we are affected by hidden advertisements and our buying ability is growing

with us, so we probable will buy something that we are interested in.

The third question was: “Do you ever noticed the hidden advertisement during the e-

Sports events?”. The results were interesting, the hidden advertising was noticed by 73,6% of

respondents (64 persons), 13,8% are not sure (12 persons) and 12,6% (11 persons) weren’t

noticed any of it.

73

2

27

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Yes No Maybe

35

The fourth question was the second in questionnaire with a scale: “Please rate the

obsession of hidden advertising during e-Sports events on the 5 point scale.” The numbers

were next:

Figure 11. “Please rate the obsession of hidden advertising during e-Sports events on the 5 point

scale?”

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

Where number “1” was “Not obsessed at all”, “2” was “Visible, but not obsessed”, “3”

was “Standard”, “4” was “A little bit obsessed” and “5” - “Very obsessed”. As a result we can

see, that “2” and “3” have the same popularity, so we can make conclusion that the

advertisement during e-Sports events do not disturb viewers.

The fifth question of this block was: “Can you list some brands that already advertise

through the e-Sports?”, so answers on it could give data about respondents knowledge of

brands and sponsors, which are represented on e-Sport events. The results were very similar,

the majority have named at least on name from this list: “RedBull”, “Monster”, “SteelSeries”,

“Razer”, “Intel”, “G2A”, “IGN”, “Twitch”, “Gamestop”, “Nerdist”, “YouTube”, “Google”,

“Microsoft”, “Sony”, “Coca-Cola”, “Doritos” and so on. Most popular names were:

“RedBull”, “Monster”, “Razer”, “SteelSeries” and “Intel”. So author can say, that the

majority knows exactly some bands and sponsors of the e-Sports sector. Only 44 persons

skipped this question, but we must remember, that 27 of them never looked the e-Sports

events

36

The sixth question of the questionnaire was: “Companies often use the pro players to

advertise their products. Do you ever had the feeling, for example, to use the same devices,

that are used by the pro players?” and the results were positive. The 40,5% answered “Yes”,

33,3% “Maybe” and 26,2% “No”. What was 34, 28 and 22 persons respectively.

Next question with multiple choice opportunity: “How you can explain the appearance

of this feeling?”, where 59,2% chose “The feeling of trust to professional player”, 52,1%

“The feeling of trust to brand”, 49,3% “The advertised devices are better than mine”, 42,3%

“Spontaneous feeling”, 15,5% “The feeling of envy towards professional players” and an

opportunity to add something by themselves chose 5 persons, was interesting for author.

The following question was: “How do you think, are the advertising of products by

pro players and teams an indicator of the products quality?”, where the majority of 62,3%

answered “Maybe”, “No” was chosen by 18,9% and 14,7% answered yes. 3 persons took the

opportunity to write something by themselves and 7 respondents skipped this question.

Author is glad to see, that not so many persons are blindly trust to pro players and advertising.

Figure 12. “How do you think, are the advertising of products by pro players and teams an indicator of

the products quality?

Source: composed by the author from the results of quiest.

The last question was: “Will you buy the product if it will be advertised by your

favorite pro player?” where only 1 person answered “Yes”, 2 persons “No, never”, 22 “Not

60

18

14

3

Maybe No Yes Other

37

sure” and 70, the majority “Yes, if this product or service is needed to me”. So it indicates,

that the majority of respondents trusts to pro players and if they need this product, they will

find it and buy.

38

CONCLUSIONS

e-Sports is a very interesting field for business and especially marketing. It has a lot of

audience all over the world. This audience is interested in computer technologies and has a

growing buying potential in the following years. So from the side of marketing the auditory of

e-Sports, is ideal for marketing purposes.

As a result or the research author sees, that e-Sports today has a great opportunities for

the marketing, especially here, in Estonia. The reason of it is, that e-Sports in Estonia are only

on the stage of origin, so these brands, who will support the development of e-Sports in

Estonia will control this enormous market in resent future, as it was in others countries, where

e-Sports today is on the leading positions.

Also as a matter of fact, here in Estonia e-Sports already have a great number of

followers and fans, who are interested in it. They will support the initiative to start develop

the e-Sports in Estonia and will give an enormous support to the e-Sports business. Russian-

speaking residents of Estonia, who were the respondents of the authors bachelor thesis

questionnaire are very interested in developing of this sector, and think that e-Sports sector

will provide the decent opportunities for making new business and marketing through this

new sector of economics. The results of the thesis show that Russian-speaking residents of

Estonia know well the brands that are presented on e-Sports events as a sponsors or

advertisers, it shows that the advertising throw e-Sports can easily reach the auditory.

As a conclusion of this bachelor thesis author can say that he has achieved all the

goals, that he put in the beginning of this thesis and now can say, that e-Sports will find it’s

auditory here, in Estonia, at least among Russian-speaking residents, because, as the result of

the thesis author found that the majority of the Russian-speaking residents of Estonia know

what are e-Sports and are interested in it. The majority also will visit the e-Sports event, if it

will be connected with their favorite discipline. Also author received the data about most

popular disciplines of e-Sports among the Russian-speaking residents of Estonia, they are:

Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the third place took Legue of Legends.

39

All in all author of this bachelor thesis can say, that this research can be interesting for

people, who involved in developing e-Sports in Estonia, or is planning to become a sponsor of

e-Sports events. Because here interested person could find data about probable audience of

the e-Sports in Estonia, as well as, the data about effectiveness of advertising through this

sector and the examples of already existing brands and sponsors who support e-Sports in

others countries as Russia, Finland, USA and many others. These brands could become a

great example of successful businesses, that develop e-Sports and believe, that in the future

this sphere become one of the biggest and important for businesses and sponsors from all over

the world.

Author also recommends this topic for the future researches, because this field is

developing very fast. New disciplines add to e-Sports more and more popularity, and here in

Estonia, where e-Sports only starts it’s way these researches will be very interesting and

promising. And according to authors choice of respondent type, the next researches on this

topic may observe an attitude to the e-Sports of others, not only Russian-speaking residents of

Estonia and find differences and similarities between these groups of people.

40

REFERENCES

Brett Hutchins. (2008). Signs of meta-change in second modernity: the growth of e-sport and

the World Cyber Games. Monash University, Australia.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1461444808096248 (07.05.2017)

Concluded Tournaments Stats

http://dota2.prizetrac.kr/ (07.05.2017)

Craig Keller. (2015). Getting ‘it’: What Brands Can Learn from Red Bull about marketing in

eSports – Article

https://www.digitalsurgeons.com/thoughts/strategy/getting-it-what-brands-can-learn-from-

red-bull-about-marketing-in-esports/ (07.05.2017)

Crowd Funding Law and Legal Definition

https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/crowd-funding/ (07.05.2017)

Ian Bogost. (2010). Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. MIT Press

(MA).

Jas Purewal, Peter Lewin. (2016). Esports Predictions: Great Growth in 2016, Storm Clouds

for 2017.– Article

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-12-15-esports-predictions-great-growth-in-2016-

storm-clouds-for-2017 (07.05.2017)

Juho Hamari, Max Sjöblom. (2017) What is eSports and why do people watch it?. Game

Research Lab, School of Information Sciences, University of Tampere

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2686182 (07.05.2017)

Julian Heinz, Anton Ströh. (2017). The eSports Market and eSports Sponsoring. Tectum

Wissenschaftsverlag.

41

http://download.e-bookshelf.de/download/0008/5871/55/L-G-0008587155-0018076515.pdf

(07.05.2017)

Laxmisha Rai, Gao Yan. (2009). Future Perspectives on Next Generation e-Sports

Infrastructure and Exploring Their Benefits - International Journal of Sports Science and

Engineering

Marcel Martončik. (2015). e-Sports: Playing just for fun or playing to satisfy life goals? -

Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Presov University in Presov, Ul. 17. novembra 1, 080

01 Prešov, Slovakia

Michael Borowy, Dal Yong Jin. (2013). Pioneering E-Sport: The Experience Economy and

the Marketing of Early 1980s Arcade Gaming Contests. Simon Fraser University

http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2296/999 (07.05.2017)

Michael G Wagner. (2006). On the Scientific Relevance of eSports. DBLP

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220968200 (13.05.2017)

Mike Saren, Tracy Harwood, Janet Ward & Alladi Venkatesh. (2013). Marketing beyond the

frontier? Researching the new marketing landscape of virtual worlds. Journal of Marketing

Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2013.833776 (13.05.2017)

Newzoo. (2017). 2017 GLOBAL ESPORTS MARKET REPORT- Journal

http://strivesponsorship.com/wp-

content/uploads/2017/02/Newzoo_Free_2017_Global_Esports_Market_Report.pdf

(07.05.2017)

Nick Wingfield. (2014). In E-Sports, Video Gamers Draw Real Crowds and Big Money.

International New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/technology/esports-explosion-brings-opportunity-riches-

for-video-gamers.html (13.05.2017)

Pat Hong. (2015). Why eSports Is A Huge Marketing Opportunity For Brands. - Article

https://www.linkdex.com/en-us/inked/esports-marketing/ (07.05.2017)

42

Roland Li. (2016). Good Luck Have Fun: The Rise of eSports. Skyhorse Publishing.

Sang Woo Lee, Jae Woong An, Ji Young Lee. (2016). The Relationship between e-Sports

Viewing Motives and Satisfaction: The Case of League of Legends.

Taylor T. L. (2015). Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer

Gaming. MIT Press (MA).

Tyler F.M. Edwards. (2013). ESPORTS: A BRIEF HISTORY- Article

http://adanai.com/esports/

Yuri Seo. (2013). Electronic sports: A new marketing landscape of the experience economy -

Article in Journal of Marketing Management– Article

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265250765_Electronic_sports_A_new_marketing_l

andscape_of_the_experience_economy (07.05.2017)

43

APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE WITH COLLECTED

DATA

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 1/6

Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

Уважаемый респондент, прошу ответить на приведённые ниже вопросы на тему "Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга", поставив где нужно знак или ответив полным предложением. Вопросы, требующие обязательного ответа, отмечены звёздочкой. Заполнение анкеты займёт несколько минут.

Данная анкета предоставит автору материал для написания дипломной работы.

Автор выражает свою благодарнось за вашу отзывчивость.

* Обязательно

1. Пол *Отметьте только один овал.

 Мужской

 Женский

2. Возраст *Отметьте только один овал.

 до 20

 21­30

 31­40

 41­50

 51 и выше

3. В каком городе вы проживаете? *

4. Знаете ли вы что такое киберспорт *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

Киберспорт­ это вид спорта, представляющий собой соревнования в виртуальном пространстве, которые моделируются компьютерными технологиями. 

5. Интересен ли вам киберспорт? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 2/6

6. Могли бы вы сказать почему?Вопрос относится к предыдущему пункту и не является обязательным, однако ответ нанего позволит автору получить более точные данные. 

 

 

 

 

7. Смотрели ли вы когда­нибудь киберспотртивные мероприятия? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

8. Если смотрели, то в каком режиме это происходило?Вопрос для респондентов, ответивших "Да" или "Возможно" на предыдущий вопросОтметьте все подходящие варианты.

 Онлайн трансляция

 Запись трансляции

 В живую, на месте проведения мероприятия

 Другое: 

9. Если бы у вас была возможность в живую посетить киберспортивное мероприятие,воспользовались бы вы такой возможностью? *

Отметьте только один овал.

 Безусловно

 Нет, вне зависимости от типа мероприятия

 Возможно, зависит от типа мероприятия

 Другое: 

10. Считаете ли вы, что киберспорт должен стать официальным видом спорта, как,например, в России, Финляндии и других странах? *

На данный момент киберспорт признан официальным видом спорта в 22 странах мира.Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

11. Пожалуйста обоснуйте свой ответ на предыдущий вопрос * 

 

 

 

 

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 3/6

12. Слышали ли вы о киберспортивных мероприятиях в Эстонии? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

13. Оцените по 5­ти бальной шкале, насколько, по вашему мнению, на данный моментразвит киберспорт в Эстонии? *

Отметьте только один овал.

1 2 3 4 5

Совершенно не развит Очень хорошо развит

14. Стоит ли Эстонии уделять больше внимания развитию киберспортивного сектора? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

15. Какие киберпортивные дисциплины вам интересны?Только для респондентов, выбравших вариант "Да" или "Возможно" в предыдущемвопросеОтметьте все подходящие варианты.

 Dota 2

 Counter­Strike: Global Offensive

 Legue of Legends

 Heartstone

 StarCraft II

 Overwatch

 Street Fighter V

 Super Smash Bros.

 Call of Duty

 Warcraft III

 FIFA

 World of Tanks

 Heroes of the Stoem

 Mortal Kombat X

 SMITE

 Другое: 

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 4/6

16. Следите ли вы за новостями в киберспортивной среде? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

 Другое: 

17. Знаете ли вы что такое "скрытая реклама"? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

Киберспорт и маркетингСкрытая реклама ­ это реклама, которая оказывает не осознаваемое потребителем воздействие на его восприятие. Например использование или демонстрация продуктов различных брендов в фильмах или на телевидинии и тд. 

18. Как вы считаете, является ли киберспорт эффективной площадкой для рекламы? *Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

19. Пожалуйста, обоснуйте свой ответ на предыдущий вопрос * 

 

 

 

 

20. Замечали ли вы скрытую реламу во время просмотра киберспортивныхмероприятий?

Вопрос для респондентов, смотревших когда­либо киберспортивные мероприятия.Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

21. Оцените навязчивость скрытой рекламы в киберспорте по 5­ти бальной шкале.Вопрос для респондентов, замечавших когда­либо скрытую рекламу во времякиберспортивных мероприятий.Отметьте только один овал.

1 2 3 4 5

Абсолютно не навязчива Черезвычайно навязчива

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 5/6

На платформе

22. Можете ли вы назвать некоторые брэнды или компании, которые уже используюткиберспорт в качестве площадки для рекламы?

 

 

 

 

 

23. Компании зачастую используют профессиональных игроков для рекламы своихтоваров. Возникало ли у вас желание использовать, к примеру, те же девайсы, что и

профессиональные игроки?

Вопрос для респондентов, смотревших когда­либо киберспортивные мероприятия.Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

24. С чем, по вашему мнению связано появление данного чувства?Только для респондентов, ответивших "Да" или "Возможно" на предыдущий вопрос.Отметьте все подходящие варианты.

 Чувство доверия к профессиональному мнению

 Чувство доверия к бренду

 Рекламируемые девайсы значительно лучше, чем мои

 Спонтанное чувство

 Зависть по отношению к профессиональным игрокам

 Другое: 

25. Как вы считаете, является ли то, что профессиональные игроки или командырекламируют различные товары, показателем качества этих товаров?

Отметьте только один овал.

 Да

 Нет

 Возможно

 Другое: 

26. Вы бы приобрели товар или услугу, если бы её прорекламировал ваш любимыйигрок?

Отметьте только один овал.

 Да, безусловно

 Да, если товар/услуга была бы мне необходима

 Нет, ни за что

 Не уверен

07.05.2017 Киберспорт как возможность для маркетинга

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TRwqaXybQT­weR5oBakdy16_9_qn­7ybirUvFC3­AD4/edit 6/6