Las Vegas once again serves as center stage for the world of esports this weekend as DreamHack Masters hits the city for a CS:GO clash that will see 16 teams battle for a $450,000 championship taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The stop marks the newest home for a swelling DreamHack lineup that includes additional North American stops on Atlanta, Austin, Montreal and Denver this year.
As the world’s largest computer festival continues its upward trajectory, Cynopsis caught up with Sara Lieser, Head of Sales, North America at DreamHack to talk about the arrival to Las Vegas, the company’s expansion, and lessons in sponsor activation.
On growth: If you go back to the beginning of DreamHack 23 years ago, it started in Europe and as we increased our broadcasts and streams, the bulk of our viewership just under 30% – comes from the US. That has been a trend for years and because of that, it was a natural decision to extend our footprint with festivals to the US. This past year, the top in Austin marked our first festival in the US and it was a wildly successful event form a lot of different engagement levels. From an attendance perspective, we had nearly 25,000 people come through the event during its two days. Based on that success, we decided to explore other cities including Las Vegas.
On the success of DreamHack festivals: There are a few things that have made us stand out. First of all, one word people use to describe DreamHack events is grassroots. It’s been an organic growth throughout our history and the people who have attended our events are extremely loyal so that has created a community. Those people live and breathe the DreamHack brand, which makes it believable and they know we aren’t in the scene because the industry is suddenly hot.
On opportunities for brands: There is something for everybody at DreamHack, it isn’t just esports. We are pulling in a lot of people that have interests that aren’t just esports, cosplay or technology. That’s where the opportunity lies. Brands want to reach out to consumers beyond just gaming and a lot of our gamers are also athletes or food enthusiasts or love to travel. Their interests are vast and partners have opportunities to activate beyond game brands.
On the keys to successful activation: Authenticity is the key. The biggest thing is connecting with our audience. You can’t just tune in to a DreamHack event and slap your brand or logo onto a banner. You have to think of it in more of a value-proposition way with the audience that’s there. While Geico has not partnered with DreamHack yet, they have done a really good job connecting to games that speak to the community. At DreamHack, meanwhile, FOX Studios was looking to market one of their new movies and created a whole set within the festival in Sweden that mimicked the movie that they were branding. They activated on a number of fronts, but if you came to their set, you would get a coupon to attend the premier screening of their new movie. It ended up being extremely successful. What doesn’t do well are brands that push their brand without connecting to our audience. There are certain brands
On the company’s commitment to the city: We are making a long-term commitment to the US as a whole and there are so many things about Las Vegas that are aligned with who Dreamhack is from an entertainment standpoint. Las Vegas is making a huge investment into the esports community and we got in early and look forward to a long partnership with the city.
