The Massive growing eSports Industry

2 decades after the initial eSports tournament, there have been a lot of improvements. These tournaments attract large audiences almost identical to the traditional sports. Giants from the business world such as Nissan and Coke are offering sponsorships. The numbers show increasing popularity and that eSports is growing considerably with each day.

Research firm Newzoo revealed around 205 million people who viewed or participated in an eSports tournament in 2014. While most of these crowds were from Asia, there was a visible participation of Europe and North America with 28 million fans. These fans are growing by as much as 21 percent each year.
Twitch, an essential for eSports growth, is a video streaming website with users approximating to 55 million. It has offered itself as a streaming platform for numerous gaming tournaments and has attracted considerable audiences.

The most interesting fact about these fans is that they differ from stereotyped gamers. More than 50% viewers are people who’re full time employed. Around 44% of the viewers are parents. It is true that it is an interest for young people and that is evident from only 28% of the viewership coming from people aged more than 35. Nonetheless, these digits offer an amazing platform to sponsors and advertisers across the globe.

Some of the biggest tournaments of eSports compete amazingly with traditional sports viewers. eSports tournaments have managed to sell out Staples Center in 2013. They managed to sell out the Seoul World Cup Stadium and have even managed to get 27 million online viewers.  The only category with more followers than gaming on YouTube is Music with a difference of only 6 million viewers.

With prize pools increasing by 580% from the 2012 values, there are going to be lots of earning opportunities in the future. With the increasing popularity and the money involved, it won’t be unexpected to see eSports become an industry focus by marketing giants in the near future.

 

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