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Global Gaming Entertainment Focus on Esports
A decade ago, almost no one could have imagined how massive the competitive video game scene would become and what an impact it would have on the global industry. With the rise of its popularity, the esports scene has become so mainstream it is nearly impossible to miss. So it’s not too hard to understand why the entertainment and online betting industries have fallen in love with esports as a new source of content.
Esport viewership growing in millions
Esports events began just over a decade ago, albeit at a much smaller scale to what we are used to seeing today. At the time, the competitions were nothing more than an organized pastime for gamers who gathered to compete and watch others play the game of their liking.
Fast-forward to 2020; the esports events are now being marketed as a professional sport, hosted on stadium-based venues. Its viewership not only competes with, but in some cases even surpasses, some of the most significant sporting events in the world. Check any major sportsbook and you will see lines for games just like you see them for any of the major sports.
Even though esports is an umbrella term for several video games played competitively, the industry has mostly evolved around only a couple of titles. The most popular esports titles include Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Dota 2, and while those are some of the top-grossing titles, viewership varies for each game depending on the region.
The current most-watched global esports tournament in history was the 2020 League of Legends World Championship with 23.04 million average minute audience, 1,051,871,885 hours of watch time throughout the tournament, and 45.95 million peak concurrent viewers tuning in for the grand final match between Suning and DAMWON Gaming.
And it’s not only Riot Games’ MOBA title that reaches millions of viewers for their events. CS:GO’s IEM Katowice 2020 saw 1,002,132 people tune in for the grand finals between Natus Vincere and G2 Esports; Dota 2’s The International 2019 peaked at 1.97 million viewers, while the Fortnite World Cup 2019 Finals reached 2.33 million viewers.
It’s hard to grasp how fast the esports industry is growing, but it’s easy to understand why its rapid rise attracts investors and broadcasters eager to gain viewers. With more money pouring into the esports scene, many high-profile titles are now played at some of the biggest venues in the world, including the Copper Box Arena and Wembley Arena in London, KeyArena in Seattle, Staples Centre in Los Angeles, Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, San Jose SAP Centre and more.
Too good to ignore for the entertainment industry
It’s not like the esports industry has been showing any signs of stopping before, but the COVID-20 pandemic surely helped it gain more viewers and better recognition. Due to the pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on live sports programming, television networks started to scramble to fill in the programming void. While the replays of significant sporting events, sport-themed documentaries, and movies can be interesting for a while, broadcasters had to find something new and fresh to offer, which is where esports stepped in.
Seeing esports on cable and broadcast networks, however, is nothing new. ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, and even DysneyXD have all before aired esports events, but it was not until 2020 when even more esports contests started appearing on our TV screens.
On April 5, 2020, ESPN created a branded ESPN Esports Day, which included 12 consecutive hours of programming, where viewers got to see games from Formula 1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix, Madden NFL20, Rocket League, and the NBA 2k20. Fox Sports decided for a similar move on their networks in March by hosting a Madden NFL 20 tournament featuring former quarterback Michael Vick and other prominent names from the sport.
ESPN and Fox, however, are only two of many TV broadcasters who have decided to start offering esports content. One of the most recent additions to the list is a German broadcaster, Sport1, who announced a new pan-European esports channel eSportsOne, which will feature content from ESL, NBA 2K League, and Rocket League competitions.
Only the tip of the iceberg
Even though Fox, ESPN brought esports closer to the audience that is not invested in the world of competitive video gaming, their current offer is only a tip of the iceberg of what esports has to offer. It remains to be seen whether more esports will appear on our TV screens, however, since most esports fans prefer watching their favorite game online via one of many streaming platforms.
Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook (Facebook Gaming) have all reported a significant increase with online viewership in 2020, which is an ongoing trend from previous years. Amazon’s Twitch reached 4.74 billion hours watched in the third quarter of 2020; YouTube reported 1.68 billion hours watched, whereas Facebook reached 1.04 million hours.
We don’t need to see those numbers to know 2020 was a transformational year for esports, which became one of the most valuable global entertainment assets – eclipsing even sports. With the ever-increasing interest in esports, we will also see more esports stories in the mainstream media and further investments from broadcasters, publishers, and OTT, as a move to stay relevant in the industry.
Before long, we might find ourselves watching esports regularly. While some might still prefer traditional sports over virtual competitions, there will be plenty of opportunities to switch over and enjoy one of many esports titles the competitive video gaming scene has to offer.
