Due to the spread of the pandemic, sporting events have been suspended or canceled, entire competitive seasons have been upset, interrupting events, revolutionizing calendars, and eliminating revenues. While traditional sports have undergone a period of arrest, the data show how, on the other hand, the following of events of an export nature has increased on streaming platforms such as Twitch. Consequently, it is not surprising how - never as now - traditional sport has approached digital, discovering new ways of entertainment. This paper tries to understand what can be, once esports is introduced into the business strategies of sports clubs, the opportunities for growth of the latter in terms of fan engagement, brand awareness, and brand loyalty. In this regard, the work presents the results of qualitative-qualitative research characterized by two phases: the first, focused on a series of interviews with privileged witnesses in the federal environment, is aimed at identifying brand policies and strategies for marketing defined by sports organizations; the second focuses on a quantitative analysis aimed at estimating the engagement, awareness and loyalty rates generated by the esports initiatives carried out by the Federations. This is in order to verify the impact of esports in terms of brand identity and their impact on possible future scenarios for the development of sports entertainment.
A causa della diffusione della pandemia le manifestazioni sportive sono state sospese o cancellate, sono state stravolte intere stagioni agonistiche, interrompendo eventi, rivoluzionando calendari e azzerando ricavi. Mentre gli sport tradizionali hanno subito un periodo arresto, i dati evidenziano come, di contro, sia incrementato il seguito di eventi di carattere esportivo sulle piattaforme di streaming come Twitch. Di conseguenza, non stupisce come - mai come in questo momento - lo sport tradizionale si sia avvicinato al digitale, scoprendo nuovi modi d'intrattenimento. Questo paper prova a comprendere quali possono essere, una volta introdotti gli esports nelle strategie di business delle società sportive, le opportunità di crescita di queste ultime in termini di fan engagement, brand awareness e brand loyalty. A tale proposito, il lavoro presenta i risultati di una ricerca di natura quali-qualitativa caratterizzata da due fasi: la prima, incentrata su una serie di interviste a testimoni privilegiati in ambiente federale, è finalizzata a individuare le politiche di brand e le strategie di marketing definite dalle organizzazioni sportive; la seconda, si concentra su un’analisi quantitativa finalizzata a stimare i tassi di engagement, awareness e loyalty generati dalle iniziative di esports realizzate dalle Federazioni. Ciò al fine di verificare l’impatto degli esports in termini di brand identity e la loro incidenza su possibili scenari futuri di sviluppo dell’intrattenimento sportivo.
Calcio e eSports: un connubio ideale / Mazza, B.; De Martini, A.. - In: ERACLE. - ISSN 2611-6693. - 4:1(2021), pp. 36-53.
Calcio e eSports: un connubio ideale
Mazza B.
;
2021
Abstract
Due to the spread of the pandemic, sporting events have been suspended or canceled, entire competitive seasons have been upset, interrupting events, revolutionizing calendars, and eliminating revenues. While traditional sports have undergone a period of arrest, the data show how, on the other hand, the following of events of an export nature has increased on streaming platforms such as Twitch. Consequently, it is not surprising how - never as now - traditional sport has approached digital, discovering new ways of entertainment. This paper tries to understand what can be, once esports is introduced into the business strategies of sports clubs, the opportunities for growth of the latter in terms of fan engagement, brand awareness, and brand loyalty. In this regard, the work presents the results of qualitative-qualitative research characterized by two phases: the first, focused on a series of interviews with privileged witnesses in the federal environment, is aimed at identifying brand policies and strategies for marketing defined by sports organizations; the second focuses on a quantitative analysis aimed at estimating the engagement, awareness and loyalty rates generated by the esports initiatives carried out by the Federations. This is in order to verify the impact of esports in terms of brand identity and their impact on possible future scenarios for the development of sports entertainment.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.