Should you invest in eSports?

Once played for fun, video games are no longer in the status of simple entertainment. It is a sustainable industry with an impressive potential. Huge prize pools of eSports competitions are the hot topics in the social media, whereas professional video gaming is growing exponentially.

The mass character of the interest of people in eSports all over the world is attracting more and more investment. The decision to invest in eSports can be lucrative, so why not to get your piece of the pie? Let’s try to answer this question.

Substantial revenues

Perhaps the first solid argument that comes to our mind is the rapidly growing eSports market. According to the Newzoo Global eSports Market Report 2017 analysed by TopEsportsBettingSites.com, the total eSports economy is going to reach around $696 million with an annual growth rate of approximately 41,3%.

A big part of this figure stems from the brand investment. That is $516,000,000, to be precise. In turn, we get $266,000,000 of global sponsorship, around $155,000,000 on advertising and of course $95,000,000 on the media rights. On a side note, various eSports championships attract thousands of people to visit the live events in order to watch pro teams going toe-to-toe. As the result, nearly $63,000,000 comes from the fans’ spending on the tickets to tournaments and merchandise. Sounds quite compelling, but this is not the end of the story. The total number of revenues will almost double by the end of the year 2020, possibly hitting the $1,500,000,000, which is nearly one-third of the current Forex industry size.

Rise in the eSports audience around the globe

Another significant factor that affects the development of eSports industry is a constantly increasing audience. Newzoo tells that the worldwide eSports audience is heading towards 385 million in the year 2017. This number can be broken down into two figures: 194 million stands for occasional viewers, whilst 191 make the wide community of eSports enthusiasts.

Newzoo has made quite pleasing predictions for the growth of eSports audience further. The market researchers believe that the global eSports audience will expand to more than 670 million by 2020.

How is eSports promoted on all levels?

The fabulous prize pools of the tournaments are just the tip of an iceberg when it comes to the reasons for eSports popularity. There are other essential aspects of the vigorous development of this industry.

First of all, eSports-related content gets enormous viewership on such platforms like Youtube and Twitch. Streamers attract tens of thousands of people to show their playing skills in exchange for views and munificent donations.

Secondly, eSports betting also played a crucial role. More and more sportsbooks are adding eSports odds on their websites, so the bettors can predict the performance of their beloved teams in any preferable manner.

Last but not the least important component of eSports promotion is the recognition of eSports as a full-fledged discipline. The national competitions, official leagues and regulatory institutions transform eSports into an equal counterpart to the traditional sports.