Queen’s Gambit Turns Fictitious Drama Into Real Action With Tangible Implications For Sponsorships
BY ADAM GROSSMAN
The fact that a series based on chess is now Netflix’s most-watched scripted limited series to date is surprising. However, The Queen’s Gambit fictitious program’s ability to drive real-world action by spurring an increase in people playing is both even more extraordinary and has significant implications for those working in the sponsorship industry.
The Queen’s Gambit is based on a novel with a similar name. It follows the main character Beth Harmon’s journey from child chess prodigy learning the game in the basement of an orphanage to world champion at the age of 20.
While Beth deals with many significant personal challenges during her life, the series spends a good portion of its time focusing on the strategy and execution involved in chess. In fact, some of the most compelling portions of the series are scenes focused on the practicing and strategizing before matches occur.
The idea that we are talking about match preparation as compelling content would make former NBA point guard Allen Iverson shake his head in disgust given his famous tirade against practice. The fact that a limited series on chess would be the inspiration for thousands of people to start playing the game would seem unthinkable.
Yet, that is exactly what happened with The Queen’s Gambit. According to The Front Office Sports AM newsletter on November 30th:
Sales of chess sets in the U.S. have grown by 87% since the show’s premiere.
Sales of books related to chess strategy have risen 603% over the same period.
Chess.com has seen daily user registration spikes of more than 30,000, compared to around 6,000 per day earlier in October.
A Beth Harmon bot on Chess.com is on pace to be played by more than 100,000 Americans this month.
While this success is impressive, one could argue that we should not be surprised. More specifically, The Queen’s Gambit is paying off on a bet that companies have been making with sports companies for a significant period of time and increasing more during the pandemic.
In previous posts, we have discussed how companies are making big bets on sports content to drive action. For example, gambling companies including Penn National Gaming, DraftKings, and FanDuel are partnering with sports organization to leverage content as one critical way to acquire new customers particularly as more states legalize sports betting.
Gambling is not the only industry to benefit from sports content this year. According to MarketWatch and research firm Cowan, “Nike Inc.'s Jordan brand of basketball shoes has gotten a bump in interest and sales thanks to ‘The Last Dance’” that included adding “added incremental interest in vintage Jordan styles, particularly Jordan V.” This sales increase was particularly impactful to Nike which has dealt with closures of physical retail stores due to COVID-19.
The fact that The Queen’s Gambit is not unique in sports content driving consumer action is good news for those working in the sponsorship industry. In particular, one question we often see is how do lifts in brand metrics cause lifts in performance metrics. More specifically, does high engagement with content lead to action by fans that consume sports.
Our past research that leverages our Social Sentiment Analysis Platform (SAP) and Corporate Asset Valuation Model (CAV) shows that this answer is yes. More specifically, the way that Block Six Analytics (B6A) measures multivariate lifts in brand sentiment, engagement, and awareness shows a strong and statistically significant correlation to lifts in revenue growth.
These examples make our research more tangible across multiple use cases. More specifically, they show that engaging content can clearly drive actions for older games (such as chess), vintage styles (such as with the Jordan brand), or for newly legalized activities (such as betting).
That does not mean that all sports content will have this impact or that all companies will benefit from sports partnerships. The Queen’s Gambit shows, however, that sports content can drive action in ways that may at first appear to be unexpected.