Home Gaming eSports as big as NFL by 2017?

eSports as big as NFL by 2017?

2 min read
33

Esports

eSports is a big deal. Its following is increasing which makes sense considering the growth in game streaming in general as well – people want to watch their favourite games and players together, and have a side chat with both the streamers and other fans. The eSports market is already worth $194 million per year, but it’s set to more than double by 2017.

According to a new report from Newzoo, the figures are analogous to athletic sports like ice hockey and American football – that’s right, there could be as many people watching eSports in 2017 as there are watching NFL now.

In terms of audience, the number of esports Enthusiasts will jump from 89 million last year to 145 million in 2017. Another 190 million will watch esports competitions occasionally, showing that competitive gaming has evolved to a Spectator Sport with a fan base comparable to that of Volleyball, American Football or Ice Hockey. Following a year of explosive growth in audience and money involved, 2015 will be pivotal in determining the future of esports.

Of course, with that rise in popularity comes a rise in monetary value. The report estimates that eSports could be worth as much as $1 billion by 2017, although even the conservative scenario predicts a value of $465 million in that time frame. Not too shabby. Most interesting, though, is the shift in revenue for eSports. It started as a unique model and is slowly moving towards a more traditional sports model.

The revenue mix of esports and sports is a key differentiator between the two markets. eSports, which is a product of a digital age, gets 34 per cent of its revenues from online advertising and still relies on the investment of game publishers. This money is indirectly recouped by the publishers through spending on or in their games. Now, esports is quickly evolving into a business of its own. Many sponsors are jumping on board and consumers are contributing to championship prize pools and paying to attend online or real-life events. As the esports market matures, its revenue mix will closer resemble that of traditional sports which saw 57 per cent of revenues come from sponsorships and selling media rights in 2014.

Sponsorships are a big deal and hopefully eSports viewers are proving that even though the content is streamed online, it’s still worthwhile to advertise. I think a lot of brands still believe in TV and print when the future has already moved towards online media. But it’s not just brands who need to get involved – it’s making me happy to see just how many games are building in spectator modes, competitive options and statistics just so that viewers can pick apart what they’re watching on the eSports side. I’m excited to watch this budding industry blossom. Plus, I’m eternally curious about prize pools and team drama; just like with athletics, it’s not the actual performance that draws me in, but all the commentary around it.

Like esports?
Check out esports central

Last Updated: February 18, 2015

33 Comments

  1. Jaded_Reprobate

    February 18, 2015 at 10:42

    “competitive gaming has evolved to a Spectator Sport with a fan base comparable to that of Volleyball”

    i think there is a different reason that people watch vollyball

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 18, 2015 at 10:43

      Not team fundamentals?

      Reply

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 18, 2015 at 10:45

      I’d watch volleyball if it came with R1k worth of optional outfits for my viewing pleasure.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 18, 2015 at 10:45

        HATS!

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          February 18, 2015 at 10:48

          Hats only

          Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      February 18, 2015 at 10:48

      Dat ass

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        February 18, 2015 at 10:54

        Somewhere an ad exec is upset that her arse isn’t bigger, because then they’d be able to display a bigger ad.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          February 18, 2015 at 10:55

          You could fit all of Gumtree on Kim Khardasians ass

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            February 18, 2015 at 11:03

            Twice

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      February 18, 2015 at 10:58

      lol – I just showed that to my female colleague & her response was, “Ja… based on my knowledge 90% of them are gay, so they don’t stand a chance.”

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        February 18, 2015 at 11:03

        I hope she is wrong

        Reply

        • Jaded_Reprobate

          February 18, 2015 at 11:09

          that makes 3 of us

          Reply

  2. Blood Emperor Trevor

    February 18, 2015 at 10:43

    What is NFL? We need the LG ace sperts reporter to provide context.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 18, 2015 at 10:50

      National Football League. But different than football as illustrated below They also have this thing called soccer. No idea what that is.
      http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxs5142/pics/handegg.jpg

      Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        February 18, 2015 at 10:52

        Why does he need to wear a helmet? Do they boil the eggs while carrying them, and they could explode? Although it would explain why the helmet has a grille and not a visor. It’s all so confusing. I’m not a sports expert.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          February 18, 2015 at 10:53

          Also why does he dress like a wrestler?

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            February 18, 2015 at 11:00

            Because it’s also not a real sport?

            tee hee

          • Loftus

            February 18, 2015 at 11:05

            Much like high school musical all of the moves of this”sport” choreographed

          • Hammersteyn

            February 18, 2015 at 11:16

            hehehehehehe

          • Jaded_Reprobate

            February 18, 2015 at 11:13

            Cosplay… it’s a real sport

        • Rock789

          February 18, 2015 at 11:15

          Actually some do have a visor… Usually the Quarterbacks and it’ll be tinted to help them see better in the glare…

          Reply

          • Rock789

            February 18, 2015 at 11:15

            I read that somewhere… Yeah, I read it… **backs away** :p

      • Aries

        February 18, 2015 at 11:09

        lol

        Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    February 18, 2015 at 10:43

    ESPN will surely then sit up and take notice

    Reply

    • BMXWufam

      February 18, 2015 at 11:08

      ESPN owns the Xgames and had CoD in 2014. They know already.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 18, 2015 at 11:15

        True, but there was a story about them not wanting to broadcast DOTA because it wasn’t deemed a true sport or something like that.

        Reply

        • Rock789

          February 18, 2015 at 11:16

          Yeah, coz shooting people in the face is a sport (COD) whilst hacking supernatural beasts to death (Dota) is simply too unrealistic… o_O

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            February 18, 2015 at 11:40

            hahahaha

    • Danie Nell

      February 18, 2015 at 11:44

      The Dota International was on ESPN last year

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        February 18, 2015 at 11:49

        O_o did not know that

        Reply

        • Danie Nell

          February 18, 2015 at 12:39

          Yep 🙂
          And apparently ESPN were very happy with the viewer numbers. They will probably broadcast again this year.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            February 18, 2015 at 13:06

            Good! Very good.

  4. Anonymous poster

    February 18, 2015 at 11:43

    This report is laughably misleading in its conclusions and comparisons.

    “…that competitive gaming has evolved to a Spectator Sport with a fan base comparable to that of Volleyball, American Football or Ice Hockey”

    This is a spectacularly laughable statement that shows the authors know absolutely nothing about sports or sporting economics. The NFL is to Volleyball what Usain Bolt is to a one-year old falling on his face after his first step. Even ice hockey is incomprehensibly far behind the NFL in terms of popularity and revenues.

    The global NFL fan base comprises around 400 million people worldwide from what I could see in a quick search. The NFL generates close to $10 billion of revenue each year. The ANNUAL GROWTH in revenue in the NFL is about equal to what e-sports has generated in its entirety since its very inception.

    The NHL generates about $3 billion annually and volleyball generates just about nothing.

    The total prize pool for The International is $10 million a year. That’s half of the annual salary of one top tier NFL player. Each NFL team has 53 players, and there are 32 teams in the league. NFL teams write off tens of millions of dollars when they fire coaches, which they do all the time, and they don’t even flinch.

    Rabid NFL and NHL fans all over the world pay huge amounts of money for tickets and merchandise. TV rights alone get the NFL around $5 billion a year. This will grow to $7 billion before new contracts are negotiated in a few years.

    In every single conceivable metric this article is absurd. People have been trying to overhype esports for more than a decade, but I’ve never seen such a laughable attempt. It does nothing but further undermine esports as a worthwhile endeavor when clowns make statements like these.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Sony has bought the EVO fighting game tournament series

Sony is betting big on esports entertainment, and it's taking that first step forward with…