Shikenso Analytics: Worlds 2023 Generated $144.5M in Total Media Value

Worlds 2023 Total Media Value Revealed. Credit: Riot Games

Shikenso Analytics this week released data and infographics highlighting that its analysis of the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds 2023) held in South Korea in October, generated approximately €133M in media value.

According to its analysis—which was created using Shikenso’s Esports Radar platform—the total media value generated by all event sponsors across official broadcasts and co-streams reached €133M (roughly $144.5M USD). shikenso said this is above and beyond analysis of other recent esports competitions, such as this year’s Blast Paris Major and MSI London, which clocked in at €46M ($49.6M USD) and €66M ($71.2M USD), respectively. Shikenso’s data also revealed that approximately 45% of that total media value was generated via co-streams.

The big winners of this media value were Amazon Web Services (AWS) generating an estimated €22.6M ($24.4M USD), followed by luxury car maker Mercedes Benz , and Red Bull. Shikenso did not provide financial figures on Mercedes Benz, Red Bull, or other brands that were part of the Worlds 2023 broadcast, but did note that these numbers are based on the exposure of “various sponsorship assets including banners, sponsored statistics, and game breakdowns.”

Other data from Shikenso related to Worlds 2023: Over 90% of viewers were 18-years-old or older and 8.6% were under the age of 19, with the audience skewing male (88.2%). Approximately 11.8% of the audience was female.

So how does Shikenso come to these conclusions on media value? Generally speaking, the company defines media value as the “potential cost of media buying for brands.”  Using its AI-powered platform the company detects “brand exposure on a frame-by-frame basis at every second of the stream.” It also evaluates other factors, such as the “quantity, quality and location of placements, the visibility of the brand, the duration of exposure, and even the audience’s geographic location.”

Shikenso Analytics is one of the most visible companies in the space when it comes to the analysis of media sponsorships; the company currently has partnerships with Gentle Mates, M80, Fnatic, INSIGHT,  Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP Group),  KRÜ Esports,  FURIA, Turtle Beach, Pinnacle, G2 Esports, GAIMIN Gladiators, Berlin-based BIG, and Portugal-based Saw.gg.

While Shikenso has generated a lot of media Buzz in 2023 for its partnerships, other platforms exist in the space that do similar analysis, such as EsportsCharts.