Esports Market

The global esports market was valued at USD 1.48 billion in 2020 and is projected to expand at a substantial CAGR during the forecast period, 2021 – 2028. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing engagement activities along with audience reach, live streaming of competitive gaming, rising of aggressive investments, and the expanding infrastructure for the league championships.
 

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Esports, or more commonly known as electronic sports, are virtual gaming tournaments that allow multiplayers to compete globally for various grand prizes. Gaming players are generally bifurcated into two categories as casual and professional. Casual gamers are players who play games as a leisure activity while professional gamers are more serious competitive players. Professional gamers play video games as a full-time job. As the video gaming is becoming immensely popular and many gamers want to be professional players, several universities especially in the US such as Virginia’s Shenandoah University, Ohio State University, and Becker College in Massachusetts have all started offering esports degree course for the professional players.

Offering attractive and grand prizes allowing the participation across the globe, most of these major esports games are organized for world championships or tournament once every year sponsored by tech companies like HP, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, DHL, and SAP. For these types of competitions, only the professional gamers compete to claim for lavish prizes. The rising popularity of global electronic sports is directly proportional to the technological advancements in the information technology industry. With the introduction of swift and agile technology and are being implemented in the gaming, many companies are investing a large capital for drawing the attention of players worldwide. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the market at a large extent that many esports championships and local area network (LAN) tournaments had to be called off. According to a source, 26% of the global live gaming events had to be postponed, 8% had to be cancelled, and only 13% took place on schedule time. The remaining 53% of events were taken place online.

Market Trends, Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

• Rising interest for competitive video gaming especially from teenagers and increasing use of smart devices for playing games are key drivers expected to boost the market expansion.
• Robust structure for selection process such as regional qualifiers and league matches to the final championships act as a major driver of the esports market.
• Increasing capital investments and organizing several global tournaments with lucrative prize offers are other major factors boosting the market.
• Growing awareness due to high access to social media platforms like YouTube and Twitch TV have made the gamers to easily learn and practice their favorite games. This is another key factor fueling the market growth.
• Increasing shift from stadium audience to online viewership have reduced a large amount of revenue generation from several sources including seat tickets, snacks & beverages, minted collectables, and other merchandises. This acts as a restraining factor that can hamper the global esports market expansion.

Scope of the Report

The report on the global esports market includes an assessment of the market, trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.

Global Esports Market Segment Insights

Sponsorship segment is expected to represent a key market share
On the basis of revenue sources, the global esports market is segmented into sponsorship, advertising, merchandise & tickets, publishers’ fees, and media rights. The sponsorship segment is expected to represent a key market share in the coming years owing to wide participation of tech giants in sponsoring the global level esports competitions and tournaments. Some of the key sponsors for the gaming include Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, DELL Technologies, and HP. Apart from financial assistance, these tech giants usually develop several innovative technology including the graphic cards and the motherboard, monitor chips, and gaming interface to ensure smooth handling of gaming devices or equipment. Apart from big tech companies, local brands also involve in sponsoring local casual players for the advertisements of their live streams or promoting products and services. Several companies such as Volkswagen Group, McDonald’s Corporation, Daimler AG, Vivo Communication Technology Co. Ltd., and Tinder are actively engaged in sponsoring live events as a part of the promotion of their brands.
 

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North America is anticipated to dominate the market
On the basis of regions, the global esports market is categorized as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. North America held more than 35% of the global market share in 2020 and is anticipated to dominate the market in the coming years owing to wide popularity of the video gaming among a large section of teenage population in the region. PC gaming was firstly introduced in North America and since then, this region has been dominating the esports market. Allocation of huge prize money for tournaments is a key driving factor for the regional market growth. One of the most popular games of MOBA, League of Legends’ championship is organized every year with a prize pool worth USD 15 million.

Segments

Segments Covered in the Report
The global esports market has been segmented in terms of

Revenue Sources

• Sponsorship
• Advertising
• Merchandise & Tickets
• Publisher Fees
• Media Rights

Regions

• Asia Pacific
• North America
• Latin America
• Europe
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Some of the key players competing in the global esports market include Activision Blizzard Inc., Valve Corporation, Tencent Holding Limited, Electronic Arts Inc., Gamesoft SE, Nintendo of America Inc., and NVIDIA Corporation. The biggest anime franchise, Pokemon that originated from Japan, has introduced new gaming platforms involving new mechanics and gameplay. This also includes its already existing anime series, Nintendo and Gamefreak games, trading card games, and other merchandises.