Many people are aware of the fact that the esports industry moves a lot of money around, but it may come as a surprise to some that one team in particular is paying big money to boost its entry. The US Navy reportedly paid $2 million to a marketing firm to boost its entry into esports, further adding to the US military esports controversy.
The US Army recently came under fire for censoring mention of war crimes in its Twitch chat, and although their esports teams are mostly separate from the US Navy's, many people associate both groups as being part of the "US Military esports" umbrella. Criticism of the way the US military is handling video game outreach right now is very high, and this new revelation will likely only add fuel to the fire.
The US Navy apparently paid this hefty sum of money to a marketing firm called Young & Rubicam, who promoted the Navy esports team by boosting Navy content on esports-related websites, selling merchandise, and dealing with sponsors, among other things. This is reportedly all part of the Navy's effort to redirect recruitment funding away from TV ads and into esports to recruit young people into the military. The 17-to-28-year-old demographic gravitates toward Twitch and YouTube, and where young people go, military recruitment follows.
The Army's Twitch presence came under fire thanks to fake giveaways, chat censorship, and on-stream racist jokes, leading to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to propose a bill in the US House of Representatives to ban military Twitch recruitment of underage teens. Although the bill was shot down, there's still plenty of resentment from fans, who spammed the US Army's chat with references to war crimes and criticism of the military when the channel returned.
Unfortunately for the US armed forces, factors are combining as such so that many people view them in a negative light, although the esports teams continue to train and plan for competition. The US Navy's contract with Young & Rubicam (now known as VMLY&R) implies that the esports initiative is centered around recruitment of youth, and references the Navy's desire to get teens interested in the military, especially young people who are creative and innovative.
The US Navy is still grappling with the response to a recent stream on its Twitch account where Navy recruiters referenced the n-word and the bombing of Japan in World War 2 in a game of Among Us. Since many people are unhappy with the way the Navy is handling streaming and esports already, it's likely that knowing how much the Navy spent on marketing for recruitment will just make these people more upset with the US military.
Source: Vice