Esports is one of the biggest entertainment industries,which provides jobs for many players. Gamers all over the world are attracted to compete in various tournaments and championships with the promise of a sizable profit. As the tournaments have grown, the gambling site of e-sports also has grown, like how the bet for e-sports is being provided in https://smartbettingguide.com/.
In 2017, the combined annual worldwide esports prize pool totaled US$121.1 million. Merchandise and tickets only account for a small part of the esports market revenue. The majority of the global revenue that the industry generates comes from sponsorship. In 2020, leading brands spent an estimated US$1.2 billion on esports sponsorship and advertising, up from US$517 million in 2017.
Esports Beat The Traditional Sport Industry
One of the most popular entertainment industries is traditional sports, like basketball, football, and ice hockey. However, compared to esports, the financial condition of traditional sports has been greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Because perhaps three quarters of their revenue comes from media rights and sponsorship, while the esports fan base and audience is not negatively affected by fully online competition.
On the other hand, due to its immense complexity, traditional sports organizations require their players to take pay cuts to retain their key employees. For example, the richest football club in the world, FC Barcelona, ??earned 203 million euros less than projected in 2020. Although FC Barcelona’s revenue is as large as the revenue of the entire esports industry, the decline this year has been greater than the growth of the esports industry’s revenue.
How Esports Beat Other Industry For Investment
From an investment perspective, although esports revolves around competitive gaming, it is ultimately a digital entertainment and media investment opportunity. The challenges and opportunities ahead involve monetizing this user base and audience, which is still in its infancy. For investors, esports offers access to a fast-growing industry filled with young people. As for esports companies, the presence of investors with their expertise and business credibility can support the development of esports companies in terms of short-term and long-term capital.
The Growth Of Esports Viewers
Overall, people’s understanding of esports continues to grow from year to year. One study says that in 2015 around 809 million people knew the term and its connotations. In 2019, more than 1.57 billion people around the world were aware of the existence of esports. Esports fans worldwide watched a total of 2.4 billion hours of esports video content in 2013, and this figure increased to 6.6 billion hours in 2018.
According to Newzoo in Q3 2020 as the pandemic unfolded, esports fans watched more than 7.46 billion hours of content across all live streaming platforms, slightly down from 7.71 billion hours of Q2 2020. YouTube Gaming experienced the most growth for hours watched with an increase of 156 million hours from Q2 to Q3, and for the first time, during the pandemic Facebook Gaming was watched by over 1 billion hours.
The esports genre is difficult to distinguish clearly, but it is generally divided into seven genres. First, MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), examples are League of Legends, DotA (Defense of the Ancients; DOTA), PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valor (AoV); FPS (First Person Shooter), examples are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO); MMOA (Massively Multiplayer Online Action Game) or also called MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that can involve thousands or even millions of players. Examples are World of Warcraft (WoW); OCCG (Online Collectible Card Game), is like a regular card game, with the difference that it is played online and the cards are not physical but of course, also owned online. Examples are Hearthstone;vRTS (Real-Time Strategy), examples are StarCraft; Fighting Games (FG) is a “fighting” game where players can choose a character, with various skills and abilities, from a variety of options, then challenge other players and their respective characters. Examples are Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Bros; Simulator, for example FIFA.
The Growth Of Esports In Social Media
The most dominating social media is Instagram, followed by Youtube and Tiktok. Esports fans are highly engaged, averaging 100 minutes of viewing per session. Interestingly, only about half of the audience actually plays the games they watch. In addition, 60% of esports fans generally join the online game player/fan community in the city where they live.
When we look at esports, we may immediately be reminded of the rise of social media. As users adopt social media, companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat each look attractive (as does esports) but don’t come up with effective monetization strategies until later. Today, as we know, these companies are now worth billions of US dollars.
Disclaimer:
- As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
- Land-based casinos are legalized, with certain guidelines, in Goa and Daman, as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976
- Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
- Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
- Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
- This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or any of its staff.