TORONTO — When it comes to grabbing the attention of sports or esports fans, television is, by far, the top platform for advertisers, according to a new study from Vividata’s custom market research arm, Vivintel.
While one in three followers of sports/esports say they are very likely or somewhat likely to notice sponsors, 40% of them say they have seen sponsors’ ads on television, according to the study. This compares to 19% saying they noticed sponsors’ ads at arenas or venues, 17% saying they remembered seeing out-of-home advertising, and 15% saying social media platforms are where they had seen ads. Newspapers, sports websites and radio where cited as other noticeable advertising platforms by 12%, 11% and 10% of respondents, respectively.
When sports/esports followers were asked to list the sources they used to watch live sports events, 43% of respondents said they streamed live sports online via a streaming website, not through an official provider, according to the study. Watching live sports on an app was cited by 37% of respondents, while viewing at home through the Internet using someone else’s sports package login (with their permission) was listed by 34% of respondents. Streaming sports online via social media (for example, through Facebook Live) was cited by 33% of those surveyed. Finally, only 28% of respondents said they used a pay-per-view service online or on television to watch live sports events.
In terms of esports, 5.9 million Canadians have followed esports within the past year, according to the study. The top three streaming websites used by esports followers are YouTube Gaming, Twitch and sports broadcaster websites (e.g. TSN.ca), according to Vivintel.
Vintel’s 2020 Sports & eSports Study is linked to Vividata’s Spring 2020 Survey of the Canadian Consumer, which is based on research conducted in field for 12 months ending December 2019.
