Winning and strategic collabs can boost Pinoy ESports into mainstream

August 23 ------ Filipino ESports players are some of the best in the region, a total of five first place wins in tournaments like the 2019 SEA Games and the 2020 Razer SEA Invitational are proof of that. For some game titles, like say DOTA 2, Filipino ESports players can compete with the best in the world. Bottomline is that the Philippines is home to some seriously good gamers and yet, support and recognition can be somewhat lacking. But as with every other sport out there, winning solves everything, and Filipino ESports athletes have been doing a lot of winning lately.

"I always think that winning has always been one of the proven factors to gain support from different brands. So, yes it can," Philippine Federation representative and SEA Games ESports Competition Manager Joebert Yu said when asked if recent wins by Philippine teams can open up sustainable support for players. "There are a lot of well-known brands that want to be associated with esports not only because of the success our esport athletes are experiencing but also because of the popularity of the games as well. But focusing on the success alone, the Philippines has already proven itself to be one of those countries that usually competes for the top rankings of various esport titles such as DOTA 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, NBA 2K, Starcraft 2 and Tekken 7," he added.

ESports is certainly booming in popularity and it's not short on great players. But for the sport and its athletes to truly reach the mainstream, well-known brands could play a crucial role and it's already a trend that' is starting around the world. Just this year, BMW got into ESports, signing five teams back in April. Paris Saint-Germain also has its ESports teams.

A similar set up in the Philippines where big brands or teams adopting their own ESports teams will certainly help drive mainstream attention. "When I see ESports-related news not only in the country but around the world, I kinda noticed that people seem to take interest about well-known brands or sports clubs doing collaboration or partnerships," Yu said. "I would probably see the same scenario in the country where if well-known local mainstream brands do partnerships with our local ESport athletes and organizations, that would drive mainstream attention especially if the mainstream brands are non-endemic and will do the partnership for the very first time," he added.

Source: sports.abs-cbn.com/esports