
Sport in lockdown: Why brands are looking online for answers
With traditional live sporting events on hold during the coronavirus crisis, action-starved fans are turning to esports for their competitive fix. Now sponsors and broadcasters are taking note.
Back in the 1990s during Italian football’s golden age, AC Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi told a journalist that “football is the most important of the least important things in life”.
Of course, Sacchi could just as easily have been talking about basketball, tennis or athletics. Sport is a hugely important part of our social fabric, a vital way of disconnecting from life’s harsh realities.
The postponement of domestic sports leagues around the world, the Grand National, Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has left fans with a huge gap in their lives right at the moment when they needed sport the most.
One sector that has seen a huge upswing in interest is esports.