Secondary research - Generalized public opinion and the average Esports viewer

Public opinion and growing relevancy is an important part to consider when it comes to Esports, along with this comes the burning question that usually sits on everyone's mind especially after explaining what Esports is 'Is it an actual sport?' Obviously this question will be featured as it's own piece of research further into my project with more in depth explanations however this part needs to be roughly explored as often public opinion draws from the idea that it either should or shouldn't be considered as such. Due to this comparison often it's popularity and opinions formed often end up being compared to the bigger sport organisations.

I wanted to find if anybody had decided to do trusted and reliable research on the topic, so like my previous research I decided to check google with hopes of finding detailed research so I decided to search 'generalized public opinion of Esports in the UK' i found an article by the BEA (a source that i had used previously) that references two sources of research, one of those mentioned was from a survey group called YouGov that had it's own sports division which according to the BEA found that 'The report states that four million people in Britain have watched Esports, though awareness of competitive gaming is low compared to other territories.' and also referenced that 'of those four million (7% of British adults) 57% are keen to do so again.' along with some other interesting research numbers however when going to read the article from YouGov i found that the original research and could not be found in it's entirety through the site link and therefore i found that the source would not be a good fit to use as it seems unreliable since i can not find the original research.

But the article from the BEA featured a second article made by Nielsen holdings an American, information, data and market measurement firm. Using surveys and analysing the data they had gathered in the U.S, Germany, U.K and France as to maximise the investments by understanding the fans.

nielsen-esports-playbook-1.pdf

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This download link will give you a PDF of the handbook to look through to find the data referenced. (All images given are screenshots from the PDF)

The first section focuses on an audience snapshot which will be the main section i focus on possibly returning to this research later if appropriate. The report states that their 'new research narrows in on the 13 to 40 year old E-sports audience, who have proven to be reliably knowledgeable about and engaged in the Esports sector – and in turn, provide the most valuable insight into this passionate fan base.'

It also states that with this subsection of fans, they distinguish themselves against not only the broader established sport fan base but even fans of a global sport - Soccer/football (i will be referring to it as football however it is referenced as soccer in the report).

According to Nielsen there are younger within the age band stating that '(an average age of 26, vs. 28 for both broader sports and football), and much more definitively male (71% vs. 61% for broader sports and 59% for football).'

On the next page we see that they will be presenting theories (Basically the questions they ask themselves when they do research) and then their results with the next page presenting the theory 'Esports is for anyone looking to reach millennial males'

The report states that 7 out of 10 Esports fans are male and that males have a tendency to Live stream

Esports content more frequently than their female counterparts. However the report states that characterizing all Esports fans as millennial males is too simple as nearly 1 in 4 female fans still stream at least weekly

Source Evaluation: As a source it was very useful, I found the information that I had used was very detailed, it gave a detailed insight into Esports fans and what they are like, along with this there is tons of extra information that could be used later in my project. The Nielsen group is as quoted by their website 'a global leader in audience insights, data and analytics, shaping the future of media' the Nielsen group is a UX consultant meaning that helps companies improve their product's overall usability and optimize expenses by implementing the right UX processes, methods, and tools.

I feel because of this they can be a trustworthy source, as their research is responsible for companies investments and improvements. If they weren't a trustworthy source and company i believe companies wouldn't place importance on them