According to a study, oil companies, petrostates, airlines and car manufacturers are among the biggest polluters that bombard the e-sports industry with advertising.
E-sports is short for electronic sports and includes competitive video games played in front of an audience. Multiplayer games such as League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2 reach millions of viewers at peak times.
The campaign group Badvertising counted at least 33 large-scale deals that carbon-intensive companies have concluded with the booming industry since 2017.
Most of the deals identified by the researchers were with automakers. Another five were with fossil fuel companies, three with airlines, two with oil states and two with the U.S. military.
“Our research shows that polluting companies, under increasing pressure to move away from fossil fuels, are doubling down on esports sponsorships to maintain their influence,” said Andrew Simms, co-founder of Badvertising.
The inaugural Esports World Cup concludes in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The oil-rich kingdom will host the first Olympic Esports Games next year, the International Olympic Committee announced last month.
According to Simms, it would be game over for the industry if such incidents were used to make polluters more acceptable.
Climate-damaging companies have long tried to improve their public image by sponsoring sporting events. They are now also turning their attention to the fast-growing e-sports industry, which has an estimated half a billion viewers and is particularly popular with young people.
Simms compared the companies and governments to “griefers” – gamers who go to great lengths to harm others – and their sponsorship of e-sports to “cheesing,” a form of abuse of a game’s mechanics that falls just short of cheating.
The oil company Shell has come under criticism from climate activists for collaborating with players of Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular video games, to present its “ultimate road trips” campaign.
The campaign is based on a virtual Shell-branded island and includes statements such as “Fill up with Shell V-Power NiTRO+ premium petrol at Shell and feel the roar of your engine” and “Share your coolest screenshots with #ShellRoadTrips and get featured by your favourite gamers”.
Saudi Arabia founded the Saudi Esports Federation with sponsorship from its national oil company Aramco. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar followed with the Dubai Esports and Gaming Festival and a partnership between Qatar-based Quest Esports and French football club Paris Saint-Germain, sponsored by state-owned Qatar Airways.
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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last year that he did not care about allegations that he was “sportswashing” his country’s human rights abuses by investing in sport.
“If sportswashing increases my GDP by 1%, then I will continue doing it,” Prince Mohammed told Fox News.
According to a study by audience analytics firm Nielsen, brand sponsorship of sporting events is one of the most trusted advertising channels, ranking ahead of television, social media and influencer advertising.
In June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticized the fossil fuel industry’s disinformation campaigns and called for a ban on their advertising.
