My Xbox-obsessed 10-year-old doesn’t subscribe to The Grocer and is unlikely to read this, so it should be safe for me to talk about the world of professional videogame playing.

You’d be forgiven for wondering what connection there can be between the grocery industry and teams of players who spend their lives digitally driving, shooting and strategising (in a few cases, reportedly making $500k a year doing so).

The connection between grocery and gaming is the huge marketing potential for fmcg brands.

When my son isn’t playing Xbox (and I haven’t dragged him screaming into the real world), his other big love is watching YouTube videos of people playing videogames. You read that right – he will spend hours (if allowed) watching people play videogames. And he is far from alone. According to Riot Games, publishers of the League of Legends games in which teams of five players slug it out to control a battlefield, 32 million people watched the final of its 2013 World Championship.

Brands are seeing such viewing figures and deciding they would like a piece of the action. And last week, The Grocer reported that British razor brand King of Shaves had splashed out a six-figure sum to sponsor gaming team Fnatic, which claims to have five million fans.

It has followed in the footsteps of Coca-Cola, which recently announced Coke Zero would sponsor League of Legends activity. (An announcement that included the statement: “Coke Zero will promote an active approach to game training and educate and encourage players on ways to improve their physical and mental fitness.”)

And Coke isn’t the only business behemoth to have embraced esports – Nissan and American Express have got involved, for example.

“In return for sponsorship a brand will receive exposure on all streams; the matches are played live, and the matches are broadcast online professionally with full commentary and production,” says Josh Ling, community manager at UK-based online tournament organiser Multiplay. “Anyone at home can follow the broadcast live, or watch the recording later on.”

Soft drinks brands – particularly energy drinks – have long recognised the value of the games market. PepsiCo pushes Mountain Dew as ‘Game Fuel’ and the logos of various energy drink brands adorn the pages of esports teams. But there are opportunities for other types of product, suggests Ling.

“Energy drinks are already strongly associated with and purchased by gamers, but we believe there’s no reason this couldn’t be expanded to a range of food and drink products,” he says. “We’re working with companies who have a much more universal, family-orientated background in preparation for our next event.”

But games sponsorship is not for everyone, warns Simon Green, marketing director at Global Brands, whose Kick energy drink has a long association with gaming. “A brand needs to be relevant to gamers and understand a gamer’s needs – so snacks and some types of food could work. However, if a big brand that lacked relevance tried to buy its way into the gaming community then players would see through that.”

But get it right, and the benefits could be substantial.

“Gamers are spenders, and they’re difficult to target via the normal routes,” says Ling. “They are an audience that don’t respond well to traditional advertising; many members of our community don’t watch live television but choose to consume their content online via streams and downloads.”

It is a fascinating phenomenon and one I’ll be keeping my eye on. While praying my 10-year-old doesn’t discover he can make £500k a year zapping aliens.

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