Social Media Tracker: How has Covid-19 affected the popularity of esports and Twitch influencers?

Over the past few months, many of the most popular sporting events in the world were cancelled. This included Wimbledon and the English Premier League just to name a few. This obviously had a large impact on sports betting operators in terms of profit and the content they were creating. Many operators focused their efforts on slots and casino games, but others decided to take a closer look at esports.

Back in 2019, Forbes reported that global esports revenue reached more than $1bn. This industry has been growing rapidly over recent years and many operators are offering bets on these games. Many influencers have large followings on streaming site Twitch and have benefited from the new-found focus on esports. This month, we look at these Twitch influencers and how their followings and social media content has changed since the start of Covid-19.

Why are esports more popular recently?

Igaming operators in the UK and around the world have been adapting the products that they offer for years. esports is by no means a new trend, but it certainly gained a bit more traction as a result of sports cancellations due to Covid-19. Not only has the percentage of people playing video games in quarantine increased by 75% in the US but well-known athletes have also been getting a slice of the action.

Did you know that the Formula 1 Grand Prix was virtual this year? In Finland, the national hockey league play-offs were also migrated to the NHL 20 console game. When you have nationally recognised leagues moving their games to an esports format, it goes without saying that the awareness and popularity of this industry increases.

However, it should be noted that there was also a negative effect on the esports industry as a result of Covid-19. While many people think that esports are all virtual, many of the largest events were scheduled to take place in stadiums. The Overwatch League had to move its event online and the Play! Pokémon international championship was cancelled. Luckily, the number of people betting online increased.

What is a Twitch influencer?

Over the years, as esports have gained traction, the concept of Twitch and YouTube influencers in this industry was born. Now, there are influencers who stream the top games and have millions of followers on platforms like Twitch. These influencers include the likes of Tfue, Myth, Summit1G and Rubius. Tfue has 8.66 million followers on Twitch and over 24K likes on Facebook. This is just one example of a large network of Twitch influencers operating in the esports world.

As a result of Covid-19 and more sports fans switching to esports, these channels have gained popularity and are now earning a lot of money. Below, we are going to look at a Twitch influencer who has been gaining popularity across social media recently.

Case study: Myth

One of the most popular Twitch streamers that operates in the esports industry is Myth. This account currently has 6,662,726 followers on Twitch and a massive 2.1 million followers on Twitter. Myth aims to stream every day at 7pm PST and focuses on a variety of popular esports games including Fortnite and Outlast 2. It has been recently reported that Myth has a net worth of $320K.

While Myth has been a popular streamer for a while now, he has been promoting his video playthroughs across social channels and has been doing very well in recent months. He often tweets announcements of when he will stream, and a recent post received 1.8K likes and 26 retweets. According to TwitchTracker, Myth has seen an increase of 55% in views gained and a 17% increase in followers gained over the past three months. He also saw a 28% increase in the number of hours watched. This is likely a result of sports fans having more time to give esports and streaming a chance.

Interestingly, Myth also uses his platform as an influencer to talk about important topics such as Covid-19. These tweets often get more engagement including a tweet that recently received 6.9K likes. This indicates that having a strong social media presence as well as an active channel is important for Twitch streamers.

Why is this important?

While Twitch streamers might not appear to be extremely important for those operating in the igaming industry, the stats indicate that they should be taken note of. For example, igaming operators who do not offer esports betting must understand that esports influencers and streamers can help to raise awareness of betting markets.

These streamers are doing a great job of promoting esports games and are giving fans an insight into how they work and contributing to the overall popularity. They are active across all social media channels and have been gaining a lot of traction over the past few months.

Operators should consider collaborating with these influencers and how much they are focusing on esports in order to future-proof their business.

Sharon McFarlane is the managing director of Crystal Content – a digital marketing agency that specialises in igaming. She has eight years’ experience in the industry and has contributed regularly to industry magazines and conferences sharing her expertise on all things digital marketing. Her company (www.crystalcontent.co.uk) offers an outsourced solution for igaming businesses when it comes to content marketing, social media, UX design, website design, branding and conversion rate optimisation.