Professional video gaming has reshaped how game designers approach their ideas; I don’t think anyone could disagree with that sentiment. Companies that can piece together a game that taps into the broad appeal that eSports can offer can boost engagement and attract more attention to their game.
Motorsports covers the whole scope of F1, its smaller divisions and leagues, MotoGP, and NASCAR. All these organizations have a big following. While plenty of engagement isn’t tied to eSports or video gaming, today, we will focus on the section of it and how it helps the wider industry generate even more interest online.
How the Top Games Cultivate Engagement Online
Motorsports might be on the fringes of mainstream sports and eSports, but some games can generate consistent interest and engagement every year. The obvious example here is the annual F1 game, which has the might of EA Sports behind it.
This alone helps it to generate engagement, and while F1 eSports might not have the same level of interest as more established video gaming titles, the global appeal of F1 ensures that EA Sports is more than happy to plow millions into the design and development of their landmark game every year. It’s a hotly anticipated game, often picked up and dissected by some of the leading game reviewers and reviewed by globally renowned media publications, which spark plenty of engagement even on their own.
When professional video gaming initially started to present itself as a possible eSports league, many within the industry believed that the games had enormous potential. Racing games involve direct one-on-one competition and a range of additional accessories, like racing wheels and pedals. Still, it’s fair to say that the eSports leagues for F1 and other motorsports games have fallen behind some bigger sports games, like EA Sports FC and Street Fighter.
The Rise of Betting On Professional Video Gaming
The rise of professional video gaming has been impressive, to say the least. Still, eSports have been able to use a variety of factors to concoct an almost unstoppable upward trend of success. One of the many key components that have helped it realize its true market potential has been the implementation of betting markets and the continued interest in this subsidiary market, which helps to boost engagement on social media and via search engines.
The number of bettors seeking out niche eSports betting markets has grown over the last decade, and the process is made much easier by applying betting odds and the same structures established for more traditional professional sports. As detailed by the experts at askgamblers.com, odds formats usually fall into three distinct categories: decimal, fractional, and moneyline.
While the nature of the competitions might veer significantly from conventional professional sports markets, the betting method remains the same. Keeping this familiarity and combining markets where those who bet on other sports are intrigued by eSports, while simultaneously bringing new people into the market who want to find the best eSports betting market, adds another positive component to the broader market.
Other Factors Driving Engagement
Unlike mega eSports leagues like League of Legends and Valorant, where a significant chunk of the engagement is driven by professional video gaming, motorsports needs to tap into other areas to maximize its reach and reach as much of the potential audience as possible.
It depends on which angle you look at this from—not being overly reliant on eSports, or any individual factor, shows that they have a more varied audience and product on offer. Netflix has recently announced a series that details the iconic rivalry between Prost and Senna.
Still, motorsports continues to capture a wider audience, including comedic blockbuster films like Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby and figureheads for F1, like Max Verstappen, alongside some of the highest earners in professional sports. So, while some video games might eclipse motorsports from an eSports perspective, their overall brand has a much thinner appeal to a broader, mainstream audience.
Is Professional Video Gaming Impactful on Motorsports Engagement?
It is, to a certain extent. Any game that can bottle up the excitement and scope of the current professional video gaming circuit inevitably feels the secondhand benefit. However, with specific eSports tournaments and competitions selling out stadiums, generating tens of millions of dollars in prizes, and millions of people tuning in on Twitch and YouTube, they rely much more on eSports to generate their engagement.
As discussed in the previous section, motorsports engagement is derived from many other routes. So, no, overall, professional video gaming is not a seminal part of motorsports engagement. Still, it makes up a piece of the pie that is big enough for those in the industry to consistently monitor the value and audience within professional video gaming and motorsports.
Final Thoughts
Given that motorsports has a presence that stretches much further back in time and predates both eSports and the rise of the Internet, it isn’t as overly reliant on online engagement in the same way that some of the top video games are. Ultimately, they operate on different plains. The top eSports and games that cultivate the most engagement have used social media to elevate themselves into global recognition. They’ve leveraged Twitch and social media advertising to such an extent that it’s integral to their success.
Motorsports games don’t need that. They can draw on a more traditional audience to generate social media engagement. While they have definitely moved with the times and into a digital age, the quality of motorsports video games doesn’t have the same sort of importance placed on it. This point is most applicable to F1, given that it is the biggest motorsports market, but it branches into smaller markets, too—including NASCAR and MotoGP.
There’s a clear influence between eSports and motorsports engagement, but the most important takeaway is that eSports are not the main driving force behind engagement. If eSports disappeared from motorsports, it wouldn’t have as much of a dent in it as it would with other industries that are heavily reliant on their eSports tournaments to advertise and keep their brands visible.
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