From audiences to participants
The first transformation is perhaps the most fundamental: esports changes the relationship between a brand and its audience. In the E-CAN qualification programme, Digital Virgo designed and operated a pan-African esports tournament across Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and Senegal. Rather than limiting engagement to spectatorship, the activation created a structured competitive journey that turned football fans into active participants.
The results illustrate the potential of this model, with 532 participants and 45,619 viewers across the active markets and competition time zones. The lesson for telcos is significant: digital entertainment can become an acquisition and engagement journey, rather than simply another communication channel.
A well-designed esports activation creates multiple points of interaction, from registration and competition to live streaming, leaderboards, community management and post-event content. The brand is no longer positioned outside the experience. It becomes part of the infrastructure that enables it.
The platform matters as much as the tournament
This evolution also changes the role of technology. An esports activation may look like an event from the outside, but behind the scenes, it requires an infrastructure capable of managing registrations, player journeys, scoring, moderation, content and live experiences. In the E-CAN programme, Digital Virgo operated as a central control tower, managing recurring qualification rounds, player management, logistics, Twitch streaming and professional casting across markets.
The same principle is visible in Tunisia, where Orange Esport Arena was positioned as the single entry point for PXG registrations and online qualifications before players moved to the offline finals.
This online-to-offline journey is particularly important. It demonstrates that an esports platform can act as the connective layer between digital acquisition and physical experiences: communication drives users to the platform, the platform manages participation, and the strongest players ultimately move into a live event.
That creates something more valuable than a one-day activation: a measurable user journey.
From entertainment to talent development
Perhaps the most compelling evolution is happening in Morocco. For Orange Esport Talents 2026, four EA SPORTS FC 26 qualification tournaments were organised on Orange Arena. More than 256 players registered, with more than 120 matches played and over 150 unique players joining the dedicated Discord community. But the ultimate prize went beyond a tournament trophy.
The eight best players qualified for a Grand Final in Casablanca, where the winner had the opportunity to join Team xProjekt with a professional contract. This model introduces a new dimension to branded esports.
The platform is not only facilitating competition. It can become a gateway for talent identification, connecting players from a digital qualification process to tangible opportunities within the professional esports ecosystem.
For telcos looking to build relevance among younger audiences, this distinction matters. Supporting gaming communities does not necessarily have to stop at entertainment. It can also mean creating pathways for participation, recognition and progression.
Building communities, not one-off events
Another important shift is the move away from event-based engagement. The E-CAN programme already points towards this ambition: the objective is to move from individual activations towards long-term, self-sustaining digital communities.
The mechanics behind the different activations support that approach.
In Morocco, the qualification tournaments generated an active Discord community alongside the competition itself. In Tunisia, the PXG format combines multiple gaming communities, online qualifications, live competition, creators, casting and physical experiences. The value therefore extends beyond the event calendar.
A successful esports platform can create a persistent relationship between the operator and a community, with tournaments becoming recurring moments within a broader ecosystem rather than isolated campaigns.
Why this matters for African telcos
Africa’s digital entertainment landscape is evolving rapidly, and telecom operators are increasingly competing for attention in an environment where younger audiences consume content differently, participate in communities and expect more interactive experiences.
Esports sits at the intersection of several of these dynamics:
- Entertainment, through competitive gaming and live content;
- Community, through platforms such as Discord and gaming communities;
- Acquisition, through registration-driven digital journeys;
- Content, through streaming, casting and creator ecosystems;
- Physical experiences, through LAN events and live finals;
- Talent development, through competitive pathways and professional opportunities.
The opportunity is therefore not simply to sponsor esports.
It is to build experiences around esports.
And that requires more than visibility. It requires the right digital infrastructure, operational capabilities and understanding of the communities themselves.
The next chapter: from sponsorship to ecosystem building
The evolution of Digital Virgo’s esports activations with Orange points towards a broader model for telecom engagement.
The E-CAN demonstrated how a competitive format can scale across multiple African markets. Morocco showed how digital qualifications can connect emerging players with professional opportunities. Tunisia illustrates how a platform can bridge online competition with a live, multi-title experience.
Together, these models point to a new role for esports in the telco ecosystem.
The question is no longer simply how a telecom brand can be visible within gaming. The bigger question is how it can create the infrastructure and experiences that allow gaming communities to grow.
That is where the next opportunity lies: moving from sponsorship to participation, from events to communities, and from audiences to ecosystems.
