Millenials and esports: a natural alliance Played in the living room, alone or with the family, the video game has become a favorite entertainment practice almost everywhere in the world. It is also becoming an activity in which competitions are flourishing and which, consequently, is becoming more professional. Like sports nutrition, «driven» by the search for physical performance (strength or endurance) and or better recovery, an «esport» nutrition market is taking shape, with its own codes and dedicated brands. he Pringles potato chip brand (Kel- 2020 among 4,072 Internet users). 71% play occa- logg’s group) signed a partnership sionally (i.e. at least once in the past year). Out of agreement in 2017 with the ESL network, the the entire French population, 52% of us play regu- world’s leading esport network -it organizes one larly - one adult out of three plays every day - the of the biggest gaming and esport events- which majority (53%) being men. gathers (gathered before the pandemic) the best There is a difference between gaming and esport. teams in the world and the greatest players (total Between the «simple» players of all types of games amount of prizes: $1,000,000). and those for whom the video game can only be The same year (2017), Volvic the natural mine- battles, confrontations, etc.. And therefore in fine ral water brand (Danone group) had partnered 68% a competition. A France Esports survey (5,551 In- with Team Vitality, one of the best French teams ternet users over 15 years old, interviewed from playing on various must-have titles (FIFA, Call of August 27 to September 24, 2020) reveals that 7.8 Duty, Gears of War, etc). And in June 2020, Volvicof French people play million Internet users over 15 years old (16%) are made a long-term commitment to the German video games. either esport consumers (i.e., who watch video team BIG (Berlin International Gaming), one of game competitions) or esport practitioners (i.e., the best German esports teams and the first to who play ranked games and/or sign up for video have won the European Masters (League of Le-gends). 39 game competitions). Among these people, 4.5million are exclusively consumers (9%), 2.1 mil- Such partnerships are true indicators of the scope lion are consumers AND practitioners (4%), and and global development of this sport. The fact thatyears old. Average age1.3 million are exclusively practitioners (3%) («Es- of regular players in brands like Pringles and Volvic (but also BMW, France portifs Amateurs» according to France Esports, SAP, Adidas to name but a few in other fields) are strongly committed to their practice, with more «diving» into the world of professional gaming 1/3 than 5 hours / week). These are the 3.4 million confirms the expansion of esport. It is no longer a people who take part in competitions. And they trend from Asia, but a market in its own right with are the target of the communication in esports. its own players, sports leagues, business models More than a third of And they are the ones who belong to the mille- and marketing plans. players play online. nials generation. The global esport audience counted about 443 It is this community that has its own codes, its million addicts in 2019. With the confinement of own competitions, its own champions. A side 2020 having passed, it is a safe bet that the num-ber of players has «exploded». 94%note: the income of professional gamers has no-thing to envy to those of high-level sportsmen or to those of some artists. Some examples? Tyler FROM GAMING TO ESPORT of amateur gamers Blevins, aka Ninja, would have received in 2019 (competitions with Who is a gamer? You, me, almost everyone. Ac- ranking) are men. nearly 17 million dollars thanks to his contracts cording to the SELL (Syndicats des Editeurs de with Microsoft, Red Bull, the North American Na- Logiciels de Loisirs), there are some 36 million tional Football League, the distributor Walmart, video game players in France - 88% of whom are the equipment manufacturer Adidas. His popu- adults (survey conducted from September 1 to 24, larity is such that the developers of Fortnite (one stekraM — séhcraM- 41 -