Menu
In-Depth

Trends to watch, numbers to know in esports

Esports viewership

ELeague

Telecasts Average viewers
Season 1 (Spring 2016) 10 247,000
Season 2 (Fall 2016) 6 257,000

ELeague Major drew 228,000 viewers Jan. 29, 2017.

Heroes of the Dorm

Grand finale on ESPN2 drew 106,000 viewers on April 10.

Streaming

Viewership
ELeague Season 1 25 million live video streams on Twitch for live-event coverage
ELeague Major 1.026 million concurrents for final.*
For the seven-day major, there were 60 million video streams across Twitch, YouTube and GOTV

* Record for Twitch for a single stream; first to break 1 million
Source: Austin Karp, SportsBusiness Daily

Importance in watching esports

Sports fans who have watched and/or played esports were asked for the top reasons for watching. There was no limit on the number of factors they could name.

Reason to watch
Game being played 50.3%
Quality of the event presentation 44.4%
Quality of the event commentators 43.0%
Size/importance of the tournament or event 41.8%
Team or players competing 40.2%
Number of gamers currently watching or who have watched 39.6%
Fact that the broadcast is live 37.9%
Size of the prize pool 36.0%

Source: Simmons Research “Sports Fan and Engagement Study,” 2016

Snapshots from the esports market from intelligence firm Newzoo

The media rights trade in esports is becoming a serious business and is expected to grow from $50 million in 2016 to close to $340 million in 2020. Further, even more major nonendemic brands will close big sponsorship deals with teams, leagues and events. Nike, Adidas and Under Armour will battle it out for jerseys in 2017.

Recent consolidations in the media space that are expected to affect esports: 
- AT&T acquired Time Warner (Turner, part of Time Warner, operates the ELeague, a “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” league broadcast on TBS, Twitch, and YouTube Gaming.)
- Time Warner acquired Machinima, the digital programming platform focused on fandom and gamer culture. Machinima is an active player in the development and sale of content formats around esports.

The esports economy is projected to generate $696 million in 2017, a year-over-year growth rate of 41.3 percent. Revenue will grow with a compound annual growth rate (2015-20) of 35.6 percent to reach $1.49 billion in 2020.

Stream 2017 2020
Sponsorship $266 million $655 million
Media rights $95 million $340 million
Advertising $155 million $224 million
Merchandise and tickets $64 million $135 million
Game publisher fees $116 million $133 million
Avg. annual spend per “Enthusiast”* $3.64 $5.20

The number of esports participants globally will reach 58.4 million this year, up from 49.8 million in 2016.

The Esports Enthusiast audience, defined as “frequent viewers and active participants,” skews young and male. Half of them are ages 21-35 and 71 percent of them are men.

Total prize money in 2016 reached $93.7 million, up from $65.9 million in 2015, or an increase of 42 percent. The largest prize pool was awarded by The International with a record $20.8 million, or 22 percent of the global total. For the first time, the League of Legends World Championship allowed consumer contributions, driving prize money to more than $5 million. Both events were held in North America, resulting in a 56 percent share of global prize money generated from this region.

Source: Newzoo’s 2017 Global Esports Market Report

How esports fans watch traditional sports

Esports fans are heavy cross-platform consumers of traditional sports, especially viewing on PC or smartphones in addition to TV. 
Presented here are the responses from that fan base when asked, “Through which of the following do you watch or view traditional sports events?”

Platform used to watch traditional sports Traditional sports fans Esports fans who are avid traditional sports fans
Cable/satellite TV 79% 64%
Desktop/laptop computer 28% 49%
Smartphone 18% 33%
Streaming media player 12% 20%
Tablet 10% 24%
Gaming console 6% 20%

Drivers of future esports engagement — esports fans

Fans continue to seek simplicity and accessibility in esports, with the desire for more live and social media-related interactivity on the rise. Presented here are the responses from that fan base when asked, “Which of the following do you feel would make you engage with esports more in the future?”

Simpler/easier to access 43%
More accessible via mainstream media 40%
Ability to participate/compete 33%
More live events/ interactions 32%
More social interactions 31%
More games involved/featured 32%
More prominent part of pop culture 31%
More betting/fantasy offerings 17%

Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer.
Source: Nielsen eSports Report

 

As of press time, three events in 2017 have already had a total prize pool of at least $200,000.

Eleague Major

Pool: $1 million
Location: Fox Theatre, Atlanta
Game: “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive”

Madden Bowl Live Finals

Pool: $250,000
Location: ESPN Wide World of Sports (Kissimmee, Fla.) and George R. Brown Convention Center (Houston)
Game: “Madden NFL 17”

CWL Atlanta Open

Pool: $200,000
Location: Georgia World Congress Center (Atlanta)
Game: “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare”


Source: esportsearnings.com; SBJ research


SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/27/In-Depth/Research.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/27/In-Depth/Research.aspx

CLOSE