Black Panther-inspired Lexus.

The Esports Awards scores luxury advertiser Lexus as a sponsor

Brands are moving fast into esports to chase the rich and young audiences. A case in point: the luxury automobile brand Lexus announced it will be a sponsor for The Esports Awards event this week in Texas.

The Esports Awards takes place at 6:15 p.m. on November 16 at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas. And the athletes and celebrities will show up at the fourth-annual event in their luxury cars from Lexus. As I noted at the recent Esports BAR Miami conference, getting big brands to participate is a major goal for the esports industry, as it could generate the revenues needed to help it revenue catch up with traditional sports. And so it is interesting to see those brands start to engage with esports events, even though the data on return-on-investment is still pretty nascent.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X!
Join now to enjoy our free and premium membership perks.
Already a member? Sign in

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.