Will Esports get bigger than sports?
The Esports audience is expected to grow to 796 million global viewers by 2024, a nearly 200% increase from present-day numbers.
Overview:
- Esports, which is one of the leading products of the gaming industry, develops and becomes more widespread every year with the increase of participants.
- It has now become prominent with large-scale international competitions, which used to consist of competitions between small groups.
Once upon a time, the notion of "Esports" was virtually absurd; it was a specialized idea limited to the basements of people mocked for their love and the back rooms of gaming businesses. The Esports business is now a titan, a vibrant, varied, and wealthy ecosystem that has grown to be very popular and profitable for players, organizations, and brands making investments in the sector. But is there a chance that Esports will surpass sports in popularity behind all this expansion?
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Does Esports Have A Future?
A worldwide economic crisis is forcing many Esports organizations to make significant cutbacks in 2022. It's a struggle for survival in a continuously developing and exploring field, and it's a collection of conditions that have impacted certain businesses particularly hard. Nevertheless, despite the community's difficulties, the Esports sector is still expected to grow in popularity.
The Esports market revenue is anticipated to increase steadily, according to Statista:
- $996 million in 2020
- $1.13 billion in 2021
- $1.38 billion in 2022
- $1.86 billion in 2025
The platform also examined how the audience as a whole was expanding, focusing on people who were consuming the content:
- 435 million in 2020, including 220.5 million "enthusiasts"
- 499.5 million, including 249.5 million "enthusiasts" in 2021.
- 532.1 million people, 270.9 million "enthusiasts" in 2022
- 640.8 million people, 322.7 million "enthusiasts" in 2025.
There is enough fuel to keep that competitive fire fueled for many years to come, given that there are an estimated 2 billion players around the globe, and in some ways, the gaming business still has a lot of growing to do.
Are People Still Watching Esports Tournaments?
One of the Esports sector's most significant income sources is the live broadcasting of competitions. As time passes, media platforms are paying significantly more for exclusive rights to some of the most major Esports competitions globally since this market is so profitable. Activision Blizzard committed to a $160 million three-year pact with Google in 2020, securing the Overwatch League's affiliation with YouTube.
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It's also crucial to emphasize how rapidly viewing numbers are growing over time. The Call of Duty League and The International both have excellent audience ratings, which continue to rise. According to Escharts, various competitions have shown an incredible rise in viewing in recent years:
- Free Fire World Series 2021: Peak audience of 5.4 million
- 2021 highest audience for League of Legends World Championship: 4.01 million
- League of Legends World Championship 2019: Peak viewership of 3.9 million
- Season 0 high for the PUBG Mobile Global Championship: 3.8 million
- M3 World Championship: 3.1 million high
- PGL Major Stockholm: peak audience of 2.7 million
How engaged broadcasting services like Twitch and YouTube genuinely are is a significant advantage for Esports. Ali Moiz, CEO of Streamlabs, discussed how well the Twitch platform has brought together viewers, producers, and rivals in 2020:
They’ve (Twitch) found a unique way to facilitate real-time reactions between the audience and the creator. No other platform has done this quite as well. It’s exciting for people to donate to their favorite Twitch streamer and hear them call you live on stream in front of thousands of people. That kind of interaction is addicting.
Can Esports Be Bigger Than Sports?
It's difficult to imagine a day when Esports will outpace conventional sports. The Esports industry may reach epic heights, but it will probably never be as large as traditional sports. The human race has relied on sports for millennia as a form of competition, entertainment, and a career that lasts a lifetime for many millions of athletes.
The Esports industry, in contrast, has only been around for a little more than a decade. It's absurd to believe that Esports will replace conventional sports anytime soon, even though the technology is growing more spectacular and competent. We depend on it more and more with each passing day.
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By 2031, the global sports market will be predicted to increase to over $350 billion. The Esports industry is anticipated to be worth about $3.5 billion by the same time, indicating right away that it is only worth 10% of the value of the sports industry. It makes sense that Esports will always play catch-up as time progresses, and both industries grow rapidly.
The most watched athletic events have historically attracted the following number of viewers:
- 4.7 billion for the Olympics
- World Cup of FIFA: 3.5 billion
- 3.4 billion for the Tour de France
- World Rugby Cup: 857 million
- Super Bowl attendance: 114.4%
Now contrast that with the approximate 500 million-person global Esports viewership. The highest-paid sportsperson in 2021 made almost $130 million, whereas Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein, the highest-paid Esports player, only made $7 million throughout his career.
Ultimately, we should emphasize that we are tackling this issue globally. For instance, certain specialized sports cannot even compete with some Esports titles, and in other places, Esports dominate conventional sports. Esports won't replace sports, however, on a worldwide scale.
Why Can Esports Not Compete Against Sports?
First, we don't want to imply that Esports cannot rival more conventional sports. On the contrary, because of the numerous parallels between the two businesses, Esports is always in competition with sports. The two businesses are nearly equivalent in everything from sponsorship opportunities to training methods for athletes to tournament formats to broadcasting techniques.
The population is the only area where the two industries diverge. The Esports industry has historically been more popular with younger, mainly male spectators interested in technology and has a closer relationship with the games. However, the sports sector appeals to a considerably broader audience, drawing viewers from all walks of life and with various interests.
Premier League Governance Manager Matt Segal addressed the following in 2019:
It has a lot to do with problems with attracting 18 to 26-year-olds. Traditional sports, especially sports clubs, are beginning to embrace Esports as they realize that Esports may play a crucial role in capturing this market.
Before the Esports sector can effectively compete with the sports industry, it must overcome several terrible obstacles and difficulties. For instance, as we just discussed, there is no chance of attracting a spectator into the video game sector if they are not interested in the genre. When it comes to the games themselves, the Esports sector is quite tricky, especially when it comes to knowing precisely what you're looking at.
For instance, someone unfamiliar with League of Legends who watched a tournament for the first time would be completely bewildered. In comparison, someone watching a soccer match for the first time may not be familiar with the game's more specific laws and regulations. Still, the framework of Team A vs. Team B is immediately recognizable and astonishingly simple to follow. Similar to traditional betting, Esports gamblers won't wager on a competition they are unfamiliar with since they just don't understand it.
Sports usually take center stage on the main sites and channels for broadcasting. Esports, on the other hand, are mostly restricted to YouTube or Twitch. While sponsorship and endorsement opportunities are widely accessible for participants in conventional sports, Esports organizations have fewer options when it comes to the marketing perspective. While it may be argued that the sports sector readily promotes itself, many Esports organizations are forced to depend on extensive content production efforts to increase their following.
The Opportunity With Esports Betting
The Esports betting market is one of the most lucrative segments of the Esports business outside of viewership, competitions, and sponsorship agreements. Due to the almost limitless betting opportunities in Esports, the Esports sector may be gaining an advantage over the sports industry in this area. Matches are happening right now that everyone may watch for free anywhere around the globe. Even if a bettor has no prior knowledge of the Esports sector, there is the opportunity to tune in for the princely sum of nothing and learn more about it.
Esports betting is becoming a profitable and well-established industry as technology progresses. For instance, the Esports and cryptocurrency businesses have combined in recent years. Nowadays, many Esports betting websites feature cryptocurrency integrations that let tech-savvy people wager on Esports competitions using cryptocurrency money.
Here is an illustration of how the value of the Esports betting industry has increased, according to Business of Esports:
- $12.6 billion in value by 2020
- Value in 2027: $20.7 billion
- CAGR - 13.1% throughout the anticipated time frame
Esports emerged online during the COVID-19 epidemic when conventional sports suffered enormously. Millions of gamblers and spectators rushed to watch these competitions and use them to put their bets. Esports will quickly return to the top if sports are banned again, largely thanks to the betting aspect.
Is It Worth Investing In Esports At All?
It's vital to emphasize that this research is not intended to be a strike against the Esports sector, despite what some people may believe. The Esports business is now seeing an incredible explosion of possibilities, and it is expanding at an astounding pace on a worldwide level. Even if it presently lagged behind the conventional sports business by leagues, the Esports industry is growing, with stadiums and companies being listed on the NASDAQ.
Ultimately, it's important to emphasize that the Esports sector doesn't need to compete with the sports industry. While it's unlikely to overtake conventional sports in popularity anytime soon, it's doing well for itself, attracting millions of spectators and rising with each passing year. According to reports, younger viewers are becoming less interested in conventional sports, especially as the Esports business grows and the value it offers the younger competitor becomes more apparent.
Carlos Rodriguez, the CEO of G2 Esports, addressed the claim that many businesses are oblivious to the expanding value of gaming with a statement:
There has to be a transformation if established businesses fail to comprehend why video games now represent the world's most extensive entertainment sector.
He continued by pointing out that "conventional sports" are too dependent on big names and famous personalities.
You wouldn't need to produce any information about your club if LeBron James joined it as a player tomorrow. Millions of jerseys will automatically be sold by you. Period. We are often compared to regular sports teams, and in my opinion, such comparison distorts the true nature of what an Esports organization stands for.
Most businesses in the sector know that the Esports industry is still in its infancy. Could it eventually overtake sports as the world's most popular form of entertainment if we let it unravel for as long as it has?
You can also download the Tournafest app from Google Play or App Store to play Esports Tournaments & Scrims games like BGMI, Free Fire MAX, Call of Duty, CS: GO, Valorant, Pokemon Unite & win exciting rewards! You may also organize Tournaments & fetch unmatched perks.
Until next time,
#liveitforgaming
