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E-Sport: putting an end to the doubts!
Imagine: a national anthem sung by a crowd… Do you think you are at the Football World Cup or the Olympic Games? Not at all! You are at the Accord Hotel Arena Paris for the European final match of the famous League of Legends, the MOBA that has more than 100 million players. An event that brought together the best European players, 20,000 spectators in one place and more than 400,000 spectators online. These statistics are incredible, but when compared to the world championships (3 million spectators with a peak of 14.7 million during the final match), they do not represent that much.
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Players earned nearly 6.7 million dollars. More than a short-lived phenomenon, it is an entire economy that was born from E-Sport. An economy that modifies the sports market and the world of sports. These championships therefore represent a market to control and win for many economic actors.
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Why such greed?
While the consulting firm Deloitte estimated the E-Sport market at 500 million dollars in 2016, Superdatasearch reveals that this estimate is no longer up to date. The market represented nearly 892.8 million dollars, an increase of 19% compared to the 2016 figures. The same study reveals that generated revenues should exceed one billion dollars as early as 2017 to reach 1.1 billion dollars in 2018.
Revenues consist of sponsoring, merchandising, game publishers, ticket sales, and TV rights. People watch championships on web TV platforms like Twitch (bought for 1 billion dollars by Amazon). BeInsport, Canal+, l’Equipe21, SFR have created their own channel and programs to attract a portion of this audience. In the United Kingdom, a 100% E-Sport channel “GINX” was created by SKY TV and ITV. Traditional media do not want to miss the opportunity represented by E-Sport and the associated revenues. This positioning also allows these channels to reach a target group difficult to attract: the “millennials”.
We can also mention the companies Orange and ASUS who would like to position themselves as suppliers for pro-gamers and therefore E-Sport. We can say there are no longer differences with traditional sports from this point of view. The company “Française des Jeux”, known for its near-monopoly on the gambling and betting market, has become a tournament organizer.
The question of betting?
Games and money rhyme with betting, and it is no coincidence if Pinnacle, Bet365 and Betway allow betting during E-Sport competitions. We do not yet have official statistics on this subject because the phenomenon is still embryonic. However, we can easily imagine that the statistics are good looking at the impressive growth of E-Sport worldwide.
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Regarding the audience, the same New York consultancy indicates that nearly 214 million people watch E-Sport and the expectation is to reach 303 million people by 2019. The audience is mainly male and young (between 18 and 34 years old). The rapidly growing audience consists of two types of people: fans who watch many programs around E-Sport and people who watch occasionally, also seeing a visible increase.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19281″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Geographically, Asia (328 million) is the first market, followed by North America (275 million) and Europe with 269 million.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19282″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”19267″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
How to talk about E-Sport without talking about its structures and players?
Faker, the “star” of pro gamers, is considered a deity; he is the player who has won the most titles on the planet. This 21-year-old South Korean youth already has a successful career. He even left high school to join the SKT T1 team.
Being a pro gamer is not that simple and requires time and passion. Practice after practice, the pro gamer perfects their technique. Training sessions are generally organized in Gaming Houses. Players train 35 to 50 hours per week to prepare for championships. They can count on their coaches whose goal is to win the greatest number of trophies possible. Even a school in Stockholm decided to integrate E-Sport into its programs!
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In the United States, pro gamers even receive scholarships like any American football or basketball player. The United States has recognized E-Sport as a real sport since 2013. Also in the United States, foreign players can apply for the P-1A visa reserved for athletes.
[/vc_column_text][cq_vc_videocover videoimage=”19293″ imageshape=”square” overlaytype=”icon” iconshape=”circle” linktype=”link” normallink=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FBMZ2QFLrLvk||target:%20_blank”][cq_vc_videocover videoimage=”19270″ imageshape=”square” overlaytype=”icon” iconshape=”circle” linktype=”link” normallink=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymotion.com%2Fembed%2Fvideo%2Fx27d3ti||target:%20_blank”][vc_column_text]It is no coincidence if the famous NBA is preparing to inaugurate a professional E-Sport championship in 2018, the NBA2K e-league. This championship will consist of 17 teams. NBA stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Rick Fox have invested in E-Sport just as Ronaldo had also done in football.
http://www.team-aaa.com/news-37530-0-1-shaquille_o_neal_investit_dans_nrg.html
Everyone wants to be an actor in this market. We should no longer have any doubts:
E-Sport is a sport![/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19275″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
It innovates little but behaves exactly like all the major European football teams that created an E-Sport team. What you are reading is very clear: teams, sponsors, betting, dedicated stadiums like the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles. E-Sport has done its part, gained space and continues to grow.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19297″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]And Africa in E-Sport? What about the African market? Answer to follow…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
