New Nielsen division to offer insight into esports market
Team will provide sponsorship valuation, custom research and more for competitive gaming
Market intelligence firm Nielsen has launched a brand new division dedicated entirely to esports.
Catchily titled Nielsen Esports, the new team will use the company's previous experience in valuation and media consumption to offer deeper insight into the business behind professional competitive gaming.
The division is being guided by an advisory board featuring representatives from ESL, ESPN, Facebook, FIFA, Major League Gaming, NBA 2K League, PlayStation, Twitch, Unilever, YouTube and more.
Its early research shows that nearly one-in-three esports fans began to follow the sector within the past year, which indicates how rapidly the market is growing.
Nielsen has previously developed Esport24, a sponsorship tracking service that will measure brand exposure for sponsors during key tournaments. This will be a core part of Nielsen Esports services going forward.
Esport24 has already recorded sponsorship values of between $75,000 and nearly $17m for major tournaments so far this year.
Nielsen Esports also plans to release global fan insights throughout the year.