Through YouTube, Twitch, and other streaming services, gamers and fans watch eSports to keep a pulse on their favorite games, players, and tournaments. Like traditional sports, eSports features leagues, teams, play-by-play broadcasters, and big prize money. We surveyed players and viewers to dig into the details of the digital sports phenomenon. And then we used data from esportsearnings.com to analyze tournament payouts in eSports over the past 20 years. What did we learn about the eSports industry’s explosive growth? But did you know that almost as many people (70%) watch other people playing games? According to our survey results, we learned the following:
2 in 5 (40%) of Americans say they watched an eSporting event (such as a tournament) in the past year. 1 in 4 Americans (26%) say they are more interested in eSports than traditional sporting events. 1 in 4 (25%) say they frequently watch eSports events. 30% of Americans say they’re more interested in streaming video game footage such as eSports tournaments, livestreams, and “let’s play” videos than streaming films and TV.
With the online world open wide to opportunity, where is the best place for players to make some cash? Ad revenue for eSports reached almost $200 million in 2020, but players weren’t profiting from tournaments like earlier years.4 Due to COVID-19’s outbreak, tournament payouts from 2019 to 2020 decreased by 56%. But if most games are played online, why was eSports so affected? Unfortunately, the pandemic meant fewer players and fans traveling, gathering, buying merch, and spreading the word through excitement. On top of that, playing with high ping and latency on international servers reduces a player’s ability to play properly, affecting matches in decisive ways. If every football game were played in the snow, even the most talented players and teams would slip at some point. And while those disruptions may shake things up, it doesn’t allow for consistent competitive aspects to shine through. After all, these players train like traditional athletes in many ways; they’re experts with precision, technique, and skills developed over years, if not decades, of playing. If the last five years indicate anything, it’s that the pandemic might’ve halted progress temporarily, but eSports is set to come back in a big way. Taking home the most money for two years straight, Dota 2 star Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka of Finland earned over $5 million from 2018 through 2019. Dota 2 players, including Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi (Germany) and Zhang “y`” Yiping (China), dominated the last five years of earnings. Do you have enough speed for gaming online? Fortnite, the Battle Royale game from Epic Studios, pulled in $99.4 million from 673 tournaments since 2018. The multiplayer online battle arena game earned the top spot in 2019 with $71.5 million in prize money and 2,907 players. While the pandemic continues, we’re not likely to see a major return for in-person tournaments, but eSports isn’t going away any time soon. Players will still be able to make careers out of gaming, and fans will be there to watch and support. To create our eSports report, we analyzed game, tournament, payout, and player data from esportearnings.com from 2001–2020.
