Esport is expected to grow from 540 million fans to 640 million fans by 2025.
There’s a great debate raging about the future of eSports. Rather than forecasting how large the industry will grow or which games will be the focus of future leagues, analysts are zeroing in on the intersection of eSports and traditional professional sports. Worldwide, the lines are blurred between traditional and virtual athletes.
A lot of this falls back on the rise of eSports. In the mid-2010s, eSports were still considered a fringe interest. It wasn’t until traditional sports began investing and steering the industry that it took off globally. Even then, there was a lot of interest piggybacking on traditional leagues. For example, association football in Europe began to dabble in FIFA video games as a way to onboard new fans.
The idea was simple: bridge interest in FIFA and the actual league. It worked, helping to unite fans and their real-life home team. Even in non-sporting industries, this outlook rings true. Movements like these introduced traditional sports fans to a new form of competition that could hold their attention. For example, think back to the popularity of live poker in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Even though poker had little to do with sports, broadcasting groups like ESPN started to show live poker action at main events in the WSOP. Poker was a hit with sports fans, leading to co-sponsorship deals between poker groups and major league sports. Oddly enough, many of these crossover poker-sports fans were also gamers. Today, fans of Texas Hold’em and Omaha can play straight from a console with a controller on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo devices.
This interrelationship between fans of sports, games, and general competition is the first hint that eSports are now heading into a more stable and traditional territory. As the industry continues to evolve, here are five additional signs that eSports will continue to fare well with fans obsessed with sports teams from Man City to the LA Lakers.
If You Build It, They Will Come
Video games and sports have one huge characteristic in common: a competitive spirit. The phrase ‘if you build it, they will come’ harkens back to a popular film about professional baseball in the US. It’s a laconic way of saying that people gravitate toward sports and, more generally, hard-fought competition.
Put simply, eSports will continue to grow in recognizable ways because video games were developed to be highly competitive—and especially hit titles like League of Legends, Call of Duty, and Free Fire. Even those who don’t consider themselves sports fans will tune in for some parts of major events like the Olympics. Esports, though still in its infancy, has that same appeal.
A Spectator Sport
In recent years, adults worldwide have had to ask… why do eSports fans like to watch players live-stream their gaming sessions? After all, what’s so pleasing about watching a video game play out? The answer is very simple—and one that can be posed to football, basketball, or hockey fans: why do you enjoy watching the sport when you could play it?
For the same reason that hockey fans like watching Conor McDavid or basketball fans like watching LeBron, Counter-Strike fans would pay huge sums to watch S1imple play live. And with live events like the PGL Stockholm Major drawing in millions of viewers and thousands of live attendees, eSports closely resemble pro leagues.
Follow the Money
Financial publications, in particular, have zeroed in on eSports as a potential replacement for traditional sports. This comes down to a ballooning fanbase and millions in sponsorship and investment dollars. In terms of the former, eSports already have a larger fanbase than American football with 540 million fans worldwide—which some groups think could grow to 640 million by 2025. Put simply, eSports are now big business.
Spreading into the Mainstream
Ten years ago, not many average consumers would have understood what the term ‘eSports’ meant. Today, even the most casual participant in pop culture would likely know to associate eSports with video games.
But for younger generations, the coverage of eSports in popular media means that they’re growing up with it. And it’s not necessarily ‘eSports’ to all groups. In fact, ‘playing sports’ and being an ‘athlete’ can now have a dual meaning for either a traditional footballer or a MOBA jungle.
Recruiting a Rookie Class
So far, we’ve covered eSports as a new approach to the competition, a focus of big business, and even a characteristic of entertainment for younger generations. Above, we also pointed out how traditional sports have helped steer and foster eSports. One of the clearest signs that eSports are heading into the traditional territory is how players are signed onto teams and even recruited.
Just like promising athletes can train their skills at a pro academy, up-and-coming eSports gamers are able to cut their teeth with semi-pro and rookie organizations. These are designed to help them launch a pro career one day, and are one of the key signs that eSports won’t be going anywhere soon.
As competitive video games continue to integrate into popular culture, global investors, brands, and media outlets are all paying attention. This article is good read for beginners.