The eSports phenomenon: why it has become so popular over the past few years. How small entertainment turned into a huge industry with an audience of millions of people
eSports Statistics in 2021: Industry Size, Growth, and Fun Facts
If until recently computer games were associated only with entertainment or an innocent hobby, today it is a huge industry that has a huge audience, and its income amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars. eSports statistics show that the industry is developing by leaps and bounds and will soon be on a par with football or basketball in terms of profit.
The size of the eSports industry and how fast it is evolving
eSports appeared in the distant 1997 with the advent of the Doom2 multiplayer game. That year, the first eSports competition was held in the United States. Then it was not popular and was perceived as a small tournament held by youth football teams.
Over the past few years, computer technology has taken a huge leap forward and has allowed eSports to evolve. Various games appear every year, attracting millions of fans around the world. Thus, the League of Legends World Championship was watched by the same number of people as the NBA Finals – 1.5 million viewers.
On the financial side, the industry’s earnings are impressive. If in 2016 the revenue of eSports was more than 492 million USD, then by 2023 it is expected that its size will increase to 1.5 billion USD. These numbers only take into account sponsorship programs and ad revenues but do not take into account the profits from sports betting, as they are difficult to track down.
Many companies today strive to do advertising specifically for eSports, since the audience here is huge, and advertising is more effective. More than 40% of surveyed players note that they pay attention to advertising and then buy the offered goods or services. Almost no other media today has such a huge indicator.
As for sponsorship programs, they are aimed at supporting major championships or individual teams/players. A lot of players fold, all money is collected in one general pool, and then players compete for the victory in the tournament.
The coronavirus pandemic has made its adjustments to the lives of esports players. It is worth noting that the gaming industry has not suffered too much. With the introduction of quarantine, many companies have tried to introduce a huge number of new products so that you can have fun at home.
But at the same time, due to quarantine, many events were canceled, which negatively affected the number of ad integrations.
eSport betting
As for bookmakers, online betting for eSports is currently the 7th most popular among all sports disciplines. At the same time, interest in this industry is only growing, so it is expected that the performance will improve as well.
You can find out online results of the latest championships, read analytics about this, or find out which of the bookmakers has the best odds, on the website scores24.live.
This service has a huge number of features. Among them:
- updating the results of the competition in real time;
- a large team of experts in the field of esports works;
- cooperates with bookmakers, thanks to which it gives good bonuses.
Obviously, sports betting is becoming more and more popular, so most bookmakers add various computer games to their list of disciplines, in which world and local major competitions take place.
Before betting on sports, you need to know as much as possible about the upcoming competition and the teams that are taking part in it. This rule works with all sports, including esports. This will increase the likelihood of making a correct forecast. But it is important to remember that in any competition, luck is of the utmost importance.
Who is most often engaged in eSports and in which regions is it very popular?
eSports is a favorite hobby of millennials and buzzers. Studies show that over 60% of all eSports athletes are under 35. Another discovery is the fact that there are a large number of women among the players. For example, 22% of all millennial women are engaged in eSports professionally, while among men this figure is 18% (In Asia and The United States). This is because men are more likely to play for their pleasure, and not aspire to receive world cups in this discipline.
Another interesting fact is that most of the financial investments and viewers are in Asia:
- 37% of profits come from Vietnam;
- 7% – to South Korea;
- 15% – to China;
- 41% to the rest of the world.
A huge amount of investment is observed in North America, and Europe is in third place. It cannot be said that eSports is being monitored in other regions. For example, in Latin America, more attention is paid to tournaments on mobile applications, rather than on computers.
It is worth noting that most experts assure that gradually the direction associated with mobile devices will rapidly develop and begin to enjoy success all over the world. This is due to several factors:
- Modern mobile devices have excellent graphics and great performance, and sometimes their capabilities are not inferior to stationary computers;
- You can play on mobile devices at any convenient place and at any convenient time – they are supposedly accessible and mobile;
- Even the most powerful mobile devices are cheaper than computers;
- Every year a huge number of new games are released, which have two versions – both for mobile and for a computer.
The life of esports athletes is replete with training, which many compare to those conducted by professional athletes from other disciplines. Over the past few years, negotiations have been underway to bring esports to the Olympic sports section.
Despite the fact that esports has appeared relatively recently, it shows really good results and is developing at a tremendous speed. Esports statistics speak for themselves. Whatever discipline you choose, an incredibly bright competition awaits you, which will give you a lot of positive emotions, and if your favorite team wins, you will also get a big prize.