The second edition of the Esports Business Days took place between March 31 and April 1 at the Rimini Fair, resulting in a large participation of companies and players in a sector in overwhelming growth all over the world, but which in Italy has yet to fully mature. In any case, in the B2B event promoted by the Italian Esports Observatory and by Italian Exhibition Group, there were over twenty companies that animated the stage and the business lounge, with the fintech REPX title sponsor of the event.
New trends in Esports and Gaming
Companies, teams, Federations, sports clubs, agencies, law firms, media centers and professionals were able to share experiences and business opportunities on an industry in great turmoil. Figc, Lega Pro, Bologna FC and AC Monza represented the world of football, while companies such as Porsche, TIM, Eolo, BetClic, Panini, Acer, TotalEnergies, Flowe, Euronics, Rcs, Tua Assicurazioni, BeeBad and Friends & Partners took part. . Gazzetta dello Sport, Everyeye.it, Touch Point and Jamma acted as media partners. On the stage there were the interventions of the experts of the sector to share case histories, data, trends and testimonies, all told in TED style, about Esports and Gaming, but also about the themes that constitute the frontier of this market, such as NFT, blockchain and metaverse, and Web 3. In addition to this, the event was also an opportunity for many startups in the sector to present themselves to potential investors (in particular on 1 April). There is also room for law firms that have been trying for some time to shed light on current industry regulations.
I promotori
“Thinking of replicating our most important event so close to the previous edition might seem like a gamble – commented Luigi Caputo and Gelfi Enrico, co-founder of OIES – but the massive adhesion of the brands and their very high prestige, confirmed us once again that the formula we are proposing finds confirmation and appreciation. The Esports market is expanding and there is a desire to increase skills and broaden knowledge ». The Italian Esports Observatory is a spin-off project of Sport Digital House, a digital agency focused on the sports sector that develops innovative funnel marketing strategies for companies using its network of athletes and Esports teams.
Research
YouGov Italia, former monitoring partner of OIES, presented a preview research on new trends in the sector and on the degree of satisfaction of gamers for the most famous brands in Italy. The analysis started from the isolation of a specific sample of gaming enthusiasts, i.e. those who play video games at least 14 hours a week on any device, then hinged the results on three guidelines: 1) Word of mouth – i.e. the amount of citations found in every type of discussion, both on and off-line; 2) Impression – the best impression Gamers have of the brands they have come into contact with; 3) Purchase Consideration – the brands deemed most suitable to be purchased by the interviewees.
Well, on the basis of this it was possible to draw up the ranking of the brands preferred by gamers in Italy and it was discovered, for example, that Gucci, Burger King and Mercedes are, respectively, the most cited in the discussions dedicated to the “Fashion” categories, “Dining” and “Automotive”. «We are not surprised that these three brands are at the top of the rankings of their respective categories in the“ Word on mouth ”section – declared Daniele Abbate, Associate Director of YouGov. In fact, these are two brands historically very close to gamers and on which an above-average word of mouth is usually generated on this target ».