“Let’s Game” Charity Streamer Weekend Case Study
By Anna Boyle, Social Media Intern
With a global pandemic that is forcing many people to stay at home to stay safe and healthy, virtual events have replaced most in-person events for the immediate future. One type of virtual event that has seen a spike in interest is virtual gaming or esports. Sports fanatics have turned to esports as a way to engage with one another through gaming while keeping it COVID safe.
It is no surprise that streamers and the online community are notably generous as they like to donate their time and money to important causes. Boston Sports Partners (BSP) wanted to engage with the streamer community as the sports marketing agency was partnering with a well-known Boston-based charity to host their first event, a charity streaming event to support a internationally known hospital that is based in Boston. The streamer weekend event was held Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 1, 2020.
The streamer weekend event was the first time that the charity had hosted an esports-focused event. The weekend event introduced a massive audience of people who play video games to learn more about this Boston-based charity. The viewers were encouraged to make donations to the charity’s Tiltify page to benefit the lifesaving mission of the hospital.
Challenge
The charity is always looking for new and innovative ways to broaden its audience to raise awareness and generate more funds to support cancer research. Due to the COVID outbreak, the charity had to be creative with designing virtual events that will raise awareness for its mission and to secure support from new and existing donors. The charity reached out to Boston Sports Partners with the idea to work together to create an online event centered around esports. After months of research and planning, the two companies collaborated on a weekend-long charity streamer event with professional athletes and well-known streamers.
Our Approach
BSP played an extremely important role as the agency needed to pull together a target list of streamers and professional athletes who competed in esports and might want to participate in the charity stream. After the research was complete, BSP started reaching out to streamers directly, or their agents, to gauge their interest in participating. BSP was able to secure interest from 10 gamers who wanted to donate their time and stream during the weekend fund raising event. While BSP was recruiting streamers, the agency also designed the overall structure of the event as well as the timing and slots for each of the gamers. Each streamer was given a two-hour block to stream and raise as much funds as possible. The streamers played from 4 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET throughout the weekend.
The work continued from there as BSP also reached out to and received interest from HyperX to become a sponsor for the event. The company provided a generous array of peripherals that proved to be of great interest and helped to increase engagement with donors and viewers.
Results
Due to BSP’s thorough planning leading up to the event, a total of $15,712.77 was raised during the streamer weekend. Some of the highlights from the event included:
• BSP secured interest from Los Angeles Chargers’ running back Austin Ekeler who opened the weekend festivities as he hosted a viewing on Friday afternoon with a Rocket League Tournament among his viewers to raise funds.
• BSP secured Out of the Park, who hosted a special event that looked at the greatest Red Sox teams of all time and the agency recruited former MLB player Steve Lyons to cast with OOTP and talk about his experiences on playing in Boston.
• The other streamers who participated in Streamer Weekend included, BBXH, Jacob Fullerton, Melissa Posada, Katie Bedford, MagicalPearl, JonSmiff, and Oxygen Esports streamers FoxA and ILaXInG.
BSP can help your organization create a personalized program to support your business strategies and help you connect with the esports community in the future.
Contact at info@bostonsportspartners.com or visit the website at BostonSportsPartners.com.
