The industry of eSports is growing tremendously and is getting even bigger with each new tournament and league. In the leagues, professional gamers participate to win prize pools over $1 million. Other few events break the $200 million thresholds. According to data from Newzoo, the eSports industry may hit serious growth in 2018.
The researcher is predicting annual revenue of $905 million a rise by 38% from 2017. Moreover, brand investment is estimated to make a significant change by 48% increase. By 2020 the industry’s revenue will be $1.5 billion with major global brand spending on the dollar ads. The industry is surely exploding.
Some studies show that by 2020 the industry of eSports could be participating in the Olympics. The industry is fast growing by leaps due to the following factors.
More Numbers of Leagues and Competition Venues
Most popular eSports has the professional leagues going on. The leagues include: DOTA 2, Overwatch, Call of Duty, League of Leagues and many others. There are other top sites to bet on Dota 2 matches. Various tournaments are held each year all over the world for each league to compete. Not only are the professional leagues rising but also the collegiate teams too.
For instance, a lot of varsities in North America have teams who are given the opportunity to compete in various tournaments. Although scholarships are also provided just like in the traditional sports, they are not as popular but are also rising in numbers.
The eSports Platforms
Many platforms such as Mixer and Twitch offer exposure to eSports. However, more platforms are expected to emerge due to the high growth of the industry. It’s probable that even TV stations are started solely for eSports events.
With the emerging more streamers and platforms more people will be drawn to eSports. Twitch only has more than 15 million people active daily spending an average of 106 minutes per day viewing their content. There is a potential market demand for more engaging content and high-quality content.
There is no Major Difference between Regular Sports and eSports
The line between the natural sports and eSports is blurring with time. Just like regular sports, professional players possess their sponsors and jerseys. What’s more, the job is seen as fulltime or parttime. Furthermore, some schools teach eSports techniques and even offer scholarship positions.
Also, there is a high probability that eSports will one day get into Olympic events. What’s more, is that this emerging sport is here to stay.
International Brands Investing in eSports
Major international brands such as Mercedes Benz, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, BMW, among others tend to realize eSports is the future. They see Esport as an opportunity to reach a demographic that is not easy to reach. That is the ages between 21 years to 35 years. Brands that will give out dollar ads have an advantage over their customers by rewarding them with a stronger degree of loyalty.
Sponsorship revenue was estimated to be about $266 billion in the year 2017 compared to $1.25 billion for football when viewed regarding dollars. The advertisers who were able to enter early and establish their positions would largely benefit as the industry expands.
Future of eSports
Financial institutions have started taking note of eSports. For instance, Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and estimated that the market would grow by 22% annually if compounded to about $1 billion. Numerous statistics back the demonstration of potential massive earning in the industry.
For example, to illustrate the market value, potential revenue and market growth, consider the Swedish media company Modern Times acquiring Turtle Entertainment by $87 million. Moreover, youtube as made a bigger investment by signing with Faceit to stream its eSports.
How then will eSport advertisers capitalize? There could be a potential challenge for eSports since its demographics include young, male-dominated, digital first and passionate people. This group of people live online and on social media and rarely watch traditional TV or rather conventional advertising.
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