Video game companies often partner with professional sport organizations to use a team’s branding and players’ likenesses in sport video games, such as “NBA 2K” and “Madden NFL.”
In recent years, sports teams have also ventured into esports, where professional gamers compete in virtual leagues playing sport video games.
These esports leagues are considered “brand extensions” from which professional sport organizations can see revenue increases and encourage more consumers to connect to their teams.
Professor Beth Cianfrone co-authored a study with CEHD alum Glynn McGehee (Ph.D. ’19) and doctoral student Jackson Sears to analyze one NBA franchise’s esports brand extension.
The NBA team they studied sent the researchers’ survey to a list of consumers and shared the survey via social media. Cianfrone, McGehee and Sears also shared the survey on their social media accounts and with esports college clubs.
One-hundred ninety-five survey participants answered questions about the team’s NBA 2K esports brand extension, their awareness of and connection to the NBA team, their video game consumption and other variables.
The study’s results, published in the Journal of Applied Sport Management, identified four groups of survey participants and their connections to the team and esports brand extension:
- Gamers: Those who are fans of esports and video games as a whole, but who are less connected to a specific team.
- Traditional NBA Team Fans: Those who identify with a specific NBA team but aren’t connected to the NBA 2K league or esports.
- Crossover Fans: Those who consider themselves fans of the NBA, the NBA 2K league and esports as a whole.
- Low-Consumers: Those who are not connected to the NBA team, the NBA 2K league or esports.
The researchers found that all four groups gave the NBA team’s esports brand extension moderate to high scores in most areas, including its authenticity, quality and innovativeness, with the crossover fans giving the highest scores across the board. However, gamers, traditional NBA team fans and low-consumers did not rate the brand extension highly in the awareness category.
From here, the NBA team in this study can work to improve awareness for its esports brand extension. The team could also plan gamer nights at specific games or host gaming tournaments to encourage crossover fans and gamers to get even more involved.
“Overall, our data suggested there are two groupings of consumers who evaluate the NBA esports extensions most favorably – gamers and crossover fans – which is beneficial for an NBA organization wishing to extend its brand,” the researchers wrote. “These two segments represent the type of consumer that is the most likely to be influenced by their crossover marketing.”
And even though low-consumers didn’t show much interest in the team or its brand extension, they can be a barometer for teams trying to measure their branding across different groups of people.
“NBA teams are interested in their perceptions of their brand overall because there may always be potential to establish new consumers or impact the community,” they wrote.
About the Researchers
Beth Cianfrone
Department of Kinesiology and Health
Professor Beth Cianfrone’s research focuses on sport marketing communications and consumer behavior. She is a current member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), Sport Marketing Association (SMA), and the Atlanta Chapter of Women in Sports and Events (WISE). She previously held positions on the NASSM Executive Council and SMA Executive Board. She was named a NASSM Research Fellow in 2015, the SMA’s 2019 Stotlar Award and 2022 Sutton Award recipient, and a National Academy of Kinesiology Fellow in 2022. In 2023, she received the College of Education & Human Development’s Outstanding Faculty Research Award.
Glynn McGehee (Ph.D. ’19)
CEHD alum
Glynn McGehee earned his Ph.D. from the College of Education & Human Development in 2019. His research expertise includes brand communication, sport and public policy, and esports. He currently works in operations for Play On! Sports, a high school sports media and technology company.
Jackson Sears
Kinesiology doctoral student
Jackson Sears is a Ph.D. student and Dean’s Doctoral Fellow in the College of Education & Human Development’s Department of Kinesiology and Health. He has published research in several journals, presented research at conferences and volunteered at the 2023 PGA Tour Championship.
Citation
McGehee, G. M., Cianfrone, B. A.; and Sears, J. "Brand Extension Evaluation in Esports: A Case Study of the NBA and NBA2K League." Journal of Applied Sport Management, Vol. 15: Iss. 2. https://doi.org/10.7290/jasm-2023-V15-I2-5584.