Hero Esports CEO Showcases the Allure of Esports at Cannes Lions

Hero Esports Co-founder and CEO Danny Tang took the stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to highlight how esports has emerged as a key platform for brands, investors, and media entities.

On June 25, during the LIONS Sport segment, Danny delivered a keynote address before joining ESL FACEIT Group CEO Niccolò Maisto and esports psychologist Tongyu Liu for a panel discussion focused on the future of the esports landscape.

In a WeChat post, Hero Esports shared that Danny emphasized how esports is transforming the attention economy and enhancing fan engagement, particularly regarding audience growth, commercialization, and its influence on popular culture.

“Currently, 640 million people worldwide watch esports events. That is only the visible audience,” Danny stated. “Additionally, 1.4 billion people engage with gaming content on social media, and 3.6 billion people play video games daily. Esports reaches not only its fans but also the mainstream of global culture.”

This appearance coincided with the release of a whitepaper titled The Esports Generation: Who They Are, and Why They Spend, produced by Niko Partners, Hero Esports, and ESL FACEIT Group. Based on a May 2026 survey of 8,000 Gen Z esports fans, the report estimates the global Gen Z esports audience could be as high as 400 million.

The whitepaper also positions esports as an increasingly appealing platform for brand partnerships, estimating the global esports audience at around 640 million fans and annual industry revenue at approximately $3 billion, encompassing broadcast and streaming, sponsorships, advertising, media rights, ticket sales, licensing fees, and merchandise.

Danny also spotlighted the 2025 King Pro League Grand Finals during her Cannes presentation, an event produced by Hero Esports at Beijing’s National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest. The finals attracted 62,196 live attendees, setting a Guinness World Record for esports events in major sports venues.

During her talk, Danny unveiled the trailer for Bird’s Nest: The Peak of Esports, a documentary chronicling the production of the 2025 KPL Grand Finals. According to Hero Esports, the film details the journey from creative planning to execution at the National Stadium, highlighting the company’s broader initiative to transform esports events and related intellectual property into entertainment formats that extend beyond a single tournament.

This strategy addresses a significant commercial challenge for esports operators. While live tournaments can create high-engagement moments, their revenue potential is often linked to event cycles, publisher relationships, and production costs. Documentaries, scripted series, and other entertainment formats provide a way to enhance the value of esports IP over time.

Danny cited You Are My Glory, a 30-episode esports-themed romance drama co-produced with Tencent in 2021, as a successful example of this approach. Hero Esports reported that the series garnered over 4 billion views in its first year, reinforcing the idea that esports can serve not only as competitive entertainment but also as a foundation for broader pop-culture narratives.

For Hero Esports, the Cannes appearance was both a statement to the industry and a pitch for business development. The company is positioning esports as more than just live competition; it aims to establish it as a comprehensive media and entertainment category that resonates with young audiences, social distribution, and brand engagement.

The whitepaper includes various case studies to support this vision. One example highlights Hisense’s partnership with the KPL Grand Finals, which generated over 328 million Weibo topic views, a top-11 ranking on Weibo searches, and a staggering 9,419.28% increase in media-platform interactions. Hisense’s involvement is particularly noteworthy as the company is also a FIFA World Cup sponsor, aligning KPL with one of the most valuable sports marketing platforms globally.

The report and Danny also contend that esports audiences extend beyond traditional stereotypes of young male gamers. While the survey sample remains predominantly male, with 68.3% men and 31.7% women, it noted that female attendance at KPL live events surpassed 50%, and DreamHack Birmingham 2026 recorded 41% female fan attendance.

Danny framed this demographic shift as a reason for brands to reconsider outdated assumptions about gaming audiences. “Contrary to old stereotypes, esports has a powerful female audience,” she remarked. This trend is particularly evident in China’s mobile esports scene, where female attendance at live events can significantly exceed the overall survey average, reaching nearly 90% for top competitions like the Peacekeeper Elite League (PEL).

This demographic evolution is also crucial for consumer brands. The report cites MAC Cosmetics’ collaboration with Honor of Kings as an example, where a limited-edition campaign tied to the Tencent title generated nearly 700 million Weibo reads, 27.69 million campaign-page participants, and 262,000 limited-edition products sold.

Danny concluded by asserting that esports is gaining cultural and institutional legitimacy. “Offline, we have filled dual-Olympic venues. Online, half the world is participating in or watching games and esports. Institutionally, esports is gaining recognition at the highest levels,” she stated. “Esports is no longer just a trend. It has become part of cultural life.”

The pressing question remains whether esports companies can translate this scale into sustainable revenue. The industry has consistently shown its ability to capture attention, especially among younger audiences, but profitability varies across teams, tournament operators, and event businesses. Hero Esports’ message at Cannes reflects one potential solution: framing esports as a youth-culture platform for global brands rather than merely a tournament-centric business.