I’m not sure if the mainstreaming of gaming, or esports, can get any more of a “traditional” boost than it is getting from the NBA 2K launch. From virtual fans on the opening night stream to now a much needed season long reality show (the first, not the last) on MSG Network hosted by Knicks Gaming coach Jerry Ferrara, to the virtual signage of traditional brands during NBA 2K games, there is little a casual sports fan would not understand when dropping in to view the goings on at first blush. Coupled with the fact that the league is launching and can be cross promoted at the height of NBA interest, during the playoffs, and you have a runway of success that is great planning, a little luck and chock full of what esports and gaming needs, mainstream, understandable storytelling which fans can get behind and a narrative that can be presented to brands can be melded.
One great case in point is in Washington, where grocery chain Giant Food of Landover, Md., reached an agreement to make the Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain a sponsor of Wizards District Gaming, beginning with its inaugural 2018 season as a member of the NBA 2K League. That deal also makes Giant Food the first grocery sponsor of a gaming platform in any form of gaming or esports in the US.
Under the deal, Giant Food will be the official grocer, and its sister company Peapod will be the official online grocery delivery service, of Wizards District Gaming. Giant Food’s logo will appear on in-game on-court signage, around player accounts and at the Wizards District Gaming practice facility. Further, the grocer will be highlighted as a sponsor in various in-game virtual assets, and Giant Food will exclusively own several streamed practice sessions and games throughout the season.
Given the fact that Giant Food operates 166 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, and employs about 20,000 associates, the spillover effect for recognition and the recognition by casual fans is pretty impressive. Take that down one level, where in-store brands could even tie in marketing dollars that go into co-op programs; dollars the store spends to augment what brands spend with them in advertising and marketing, and the potential for new dollars flowing into Monumental Sports and Entertainment could be pretty impressive, and mark a first where something is tried in a fringe or emerging property, and could come back to maybe tie in with those mainstreams properties of today like the Wizards, Mystic and Capitals down the line.
Now to be sure these sponsorships and the engagement happening now is not at sustainable dollars for the long term, but the buzz being generated by all the NBA is doing to drive fun attention to NBA 2K is going to be an entrée into all sorts of gaming opts for brands who are watching but not understanding yet. Giant is a great example of that entry point test. Perhaps even more important is that the NBA, a league which fully understands both the value and has the means to market personalities and tell stories, has now, as Commissioner Adam Silver said at the introductory press conference for NBA 2K, treating gaming as its “fourth league.”
Those ancillary benefits should not be overlooked, and can and should be replicated, as esports in general looks to gain that mainstream foothold it craves going forward. Games and groceries, a good pairing to watch.
