Esports is growing – but it’s not as big as other gaming markets Esports generates around $892m each year, and that’s a huge number.
The lead arbiter of high school athletics says esports is a sport.
Some estimates pegged it as a $493 million industry in 2016, others said it was nearly twice as big.
Amazon bought …
A lot higher.Many of the recent technological advances that have helped enable the rapid growth in esports have also affected traditional sports, as well (think goal cams).Advances in technology accelerated the growth in esports, from the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in the mid-80s to the proliferation of PC gaming which, with a little help from the Internet, allowed gamers to compete without being in the same location.The esports industry appears to be entering an exciting stage of its development.
One thing that many esports fans take note of is the viewership when compared to that of traditional sporting events.
Darts players and snooker players don’t have to move much either.
How big that is, though, is hard to say.
Revenue through eSports is generated through a number of avenues including sponsorship and advertising which is designed to cater to viewers and players all over the world. Most esports organizations are being treated as startups that make money through investment rounds, not in actual revenue.For many people, their trepidation is welcomed. There is no doubt that NCAA involvement would immediately catapult that number much higher.Another key comparison point is scholarships. In addition, Valve keeps in-house staff incredibly small so the company makes money hand over fist. I just donât know, but I am excited for whatever comes next.Dota 2âs largest esports event of the year, The International, saw an incredible 1.1 million peak concurrent viewers on Twitch during the finals. Due to competing in so many different esports, there is a possibility that esports organizations could one day eclipse their traditional sports counterparts, but don’t expect that for a couple of decades at least.For years, Dota 2 far and away was the highest prize pool and skewed the data on the rest of the esports industry. Although itâs yet to see which video game will reach those numbers first.Newzoo estimates that by 2022, the number of esports viewers globally will grow to 645 million, with âoccasional viewersâ and âesports enthusiastsâ growing from 222 million to 347 million and 173 million to 297 million, respectively, between 2018 and 2022.Esports events and streams are often measured by their peak concurrent viewership counts and hours watched total, whereas traditional sporting events only offer their total viewership numbers. In the run-up to the event, Epic will be hosting weekly competitions with $1,000,000 spread out in prizes. Instead of betting on every available game, the best esports bettors will focus their attention on a particular game (and even a specific market) to try and get an edge over the bookmaker. As more universities get on board for collegiate esports and the space become more developed, this number will only keep rising.That is the timeline esports has been operating on and the history of the industry is littered with games that never took off or fell apart along the way.