After getting the infomercial treatment {link no longer active} (complete with Jack Black as the owner of the company) in last year’s Hollywood movie, Sex Tape, adult entertainment company YouPorn is investing in eSports. The company is sponsoring Spanish eSports team Play2Win, which has been renamed TeamYP, and hopes to further capitalize on the ability for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers to directly access pornography through their consoles. Brad Burns, vice president of YouPorn, explains how his adult entertainment company is marketing to millennials through eSports in this exclusive interview.
Why did you decide to enter eSports?
The eSports scene has seen tremendous growth and we really wanted to be a part of that. We think we can help contribute to the growth of the industry in 2015 and beyond. When an opportunity in a billion dollar industry presents itself, we’d be silly not to jump on it. This was the perfect time for us to enter the market.
“We think we can help contribute to the growth of the industry in 2015 and beyond. When an opportunity in a billion dollar industry presents itself, we’d be silly not to jump on it.”
What type of marketing will you employ aimed at the Millennial gaming audience that follows eSports?
The intention of our sponsorship was to attract those of age with interest in adult entertainment. We really want Team YP to market themselves through their play. We want our team to gain recognition as a top competitor on the gaming circuit. Their success is our top priority, and we are looking forward to the splashes Team YP will make all year long.
Are there any similarities between having YouPorn featured in the Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz Sex Tape movie and what you can accomplish in eSports?
The YouPorn feature in Sex Tape was awesome. It spurred a ton of activity to our site. That feature just goes to show how much we’ve grown since our inception. It demonstrates our popularity. I mean if we can bring YouPorn to the big screen, just imagine what we can help the eSports industry do.
How did you choose your eSports team?
We had various teams across the world reach out to us asking for sponsorship. We wanted to find a team that would put their all in every trip to the battlefield, and a team that we could help gain success and exposure. We found that in Play2Win (team name before the YP sponsorship), a group of great guys who have set off to achieve great things
What opportunities do you see for YouPorn for teams and sponsorships outside of Spain?
We’re excited to have begun with Play2Win, now Team YP, and are really looking forward to all the successes they’ll achieve. That said, we’re always actively looking at future opportunities to expand our potential reach within the gaming community.
How do you see your company working with League of Legends, Call of Duty or other eSports teams moving forward?
We are extremely excited for these relationships moving forward. League of Legends, Call of Duty and eSports, in general, have massive followings/fans and so do we. If we can intertwine those two, the relationship possibilities moving forward are endless.
“League of Legends, Call of Duty and eSports, in general, have massive followings/fans and so do we. If we can intertwine those two, the relationship possibilities moving forward are endless.”
How have you seen the negative stigma of “porn” evolve over the years, especially with the eSports and gaming crowd?
Porn has always carried a negative stigma with it. We’ve been dealing with that since our inception. We fully recognize and understand it. We are just excited to break into the gaming industry and field a successful team who will do their talking on the battlefield.
How have you seen video games, and gaming livestreams, impact the adult entertainment industry over the last few years?
Everything has impacted porn over the last few years. It’s constantly changing, morphing and evolving. That’s what makes it unique and fun to market. We can capitalize on these changes and better market ourselves.
What have the Internet capabilities of the latest consoles opened up for gamers accessing your site?
It’s revolutionized accessibility options for our viewers. They are now able to view our sites via their gaming consoles, and that only looks to increase in popularity in 2015 and beyond.
How does the demographic for YouPorn compare to the eSports gaming audience?
They are very similar. Gamers are typically tech savvy young adults. And those individuals are a large part of the audience that access our sites. They are an integral part of our audience moving forward, and appealing to them outside strictly porn is awesome. We’ve been able to broaden our reach and impact industries outside just adult entertainment.
