E-sports begin to get support from sponsors in Ecuador

Electronic sports or e-sports are becoming more and more powerful in the world and that is beginning to attract the attention of many companies. Although this activity is very incipient in the country, it is already beginning to be observed how it is growing.

At the recent ComicCon Ecuador, representatives of the Pony Malta brand located a gamer truck that sought to attract young people interested in this technological activity. Jean Pierre Falconí, brand manager of Pony Malta comments that they have realized the potential that exists in the country and have opted to support some players to grow within this activity.

“Gamers need a lot of energy for when they have these long and exhausting games. Other beverages also offer energy, but we do it in a more natural way since we obtain it from malt and thus contribute both to the development of the activity and to the health of the children ”, says Falconí.

Andrés Milan, competitive player of the fighting genre and player of the E-Sports Skullcracker team also participated in this event. He is 29 years old but started very young in the gaming activity. He tells that he plays from 4 to 6 hours a day to stay prepared for the competitions and that part of his training is based on not only playing long hours but also talking and interacting with other players to define strategies and better understand the game. “This is a science and you have to understand it,” says Milan.

Andrés confesses that it is still very difficult to make a living from this activity but conditions are improving. Although he must have his own freelance job, he belongs to the Skullcracker team that gives him facilities such as contacting interested brands to sponsor his activity. “I know that in other countries players even get psychologists to improve their performance. I haven’t needed that yet ”, he laughs.

And there comes a time when “real” sports meet virtual ones. This is the case of Allan Suárez, professional e-sports player from Barcelona Sporting Club. He plays Fifa for PlayStation and has already participated in international tournaments. He says that he cannot dedicate himself 100% to games either but that he has a business with his wife that allows him to have a family income and continue competing in the area of ​​e-sports. “It has been fulfilling a dream for me that a big club like Barcelona is supporting me,” says Allan.

Since the pandemic began, the tournaments have been completely virtual, which has allowed him to practice more and earn more points, but note that prior to this time only the preliminaries were done in this way and the final instances were already done in person to what is also needed support for mobilization and other items that this represents.

The truth is that the number of e-sports players and teams are increasing in a representative way in the country and this has clearly attracted the attention of national and international brands.

“The Dominican Republic, Argentina, Peru and others have strong leagues and receive a lot of support. We hope to eventually get to that ”, concludes Andrés Milan. (I)