LOS ANGELES—All it took to set off a firestorm of interest and objection was a simple tweet by YouPorn on Friday asking followers, “Do we have any competitive '[League of Legends],' 'DOTA2,' or 'HeartStone' players following us? What do you think about YouPorn sponsoring a team?"
The reference is to eSports, or professional gaming, which CNBC’s Chris Morris noted today has “exploded onto the pop culture scene in the past three years. The field gathers the top players in the world in games that range from Activision's ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm’ to Nintendo's ‘Super Smash Bros.’
“Although the idea of watching people play video games may sound dull,” he continued, “the speed and efficiency at which some of these players compete is on par with the NBA or NFL. And the fan base is rabidly enthusiastic. Last year's League of Legends finals sold out the 15,000 seat Staples Center in Los Angeles (home of the L.A. Lakers) in under an hour. (Scalpers commanded prices of up to $2,000 per seat, having paid somewhere between $45 and $100 originally.)”
No wonder the people at YouPorn find potential in the activity. Spokesperson Matt Blake explained, "We've often thought that there are parallels between our business and gaming. We figured now was a great time to try and wet our feet and join the gaming world."
He added, "We've been overwhelmed by the number of responses we've received—we're definitely doing a bunch of research right now.”
According to Morris, the YouPorn tweet querying members about a possible sponsorship “spurred a flurry of replies from fans, with most encouraging the site to do so, and a few pro gamers inquiring about how they could be considered candidates for that sponsorship.”
But Morris also noted that the immediate flurry of interest also caught the attention of “eSports organizations [that] organize the tournaments that sometimes draw thousands of spectators.
“Although Red Bull eSports, Major League Gaming, Riot Games (the makers of the ‘League of Legends’ game) and other groups all declined to comment on the record,” he added that “several indicated any team sponsored by the company could risk violating policies that prohibit any advertising content promoting sites or products of a sexual nature.”
That hesitation, he surmised, may be because “eSports are relatively new, [and] the larger bodies in the field are seeking legitimacy with a mainstream audience, something that might be harder to obtain if there is an apparent tie-in with the adult entertainment industry.”
YouPorn’s Blake responded to that diplomatically, telling the network, "We'd like to think we'll be received with open arms, but the reality is that's not always the case. We're hoping that people will be able to see the positives which we'd like to think will outweigh any negative connotations. We're doing this ultimately because of requests we've received in the past, and generally just think now's a great time to get into this arena."
