Esports Streaming Could be Worth $3.5 Billion by 2025
The following is a guest editorial.
The world of esports has exploded in the past few years, and it seems like it’s not going to slow down any time soon. With new opportunities opening up for players, investors, and viewers alike, not to mention new games constantly releasing, it seems like sector only going to continue to grow. Now a report by Juniper Research estimates that esports and gaming streaming will be worth $3.5 billion by 2025 – an increase of over 70% compared to estimates for the current year.
Why is Esports Growing?
Esports isn’t a new concept – competitive gaming has existed for almost as long as console gaming has been around. Initially this consisted of single players competing to post the best high scores on leaderboards or against others locally, before gradually expanding to include LAN parties and tournaments, and finally into the online multiplayer sphere. Nowadays, esports tournaments can take place both fully online and in arenas both large and small.
Some of these tournaments attract massive crowds, like Dota 2’s The International, which has taken place at arenas all over the world, including Seattle, Vancouver, and Shanghai, or League of Legends’ World Championship, which has similarly rotated all over the world. Attending in person isn’t the only way to watch these events, of course, which is where online streaming comes in, allowing millions to watch both the month-long build ups to such events and the events themselves.
Which Platforms Stream Esports?
There are multiple places you can head to online if you want to watch some of these events, or even just the people who take part in them during the off-season. The biggest and most common platforms in the west are Twitch and YouTube, while countries like China and South Korea have their own thriving platforms. You can also occasionally find streams in other places that offer esports exposure, such as on match fixtures sites like Liquipedia, betting sites, or casinos online that might offer odds for the outcome of various matches.
Tournaments are the big attraction, but a lot of work is also done at an individual level by streamers themselves. Members of some of the bigger and more popular esports teams will comfortably get tens of thousands of viewers simply by streaming their solo matches, giving them an extra source of revenue and a potential career path post-competitive gaming. Even less famous players can get thousands of viewers and a steady stream of donations from fans if they have strong personalities or can play at a high level.
Why is the Value of Streaming Rising?
Many esports events are introducing ticketed or subscription models to cater to those who are viewing tournament streams. A big event, like the finals of ESL’s CS:GO Pro League, attracts a lot of interest from fans all over the world, and organisers are increasingly looking for additional ways of monetising such events.
Ticketing is the easiest way to do this, but there are numerous other avenues, including broadcasting rights, exclusivity, sponsorship deals, and in-game item bundles and battle passes. It’s predicted that there will be over a billion esports viewers by 2025, and with this comes a lot of potential for investment and revenue.
Esports is already a very high-value market, but we’re really still in the infancy stage. With streaming for esports alone expecting to reach a value of $3.5 billion by 2025, compared to $2.1 billion today, it’s clear that this is one area of gaming that’s set to grow hugely for the foreseeable future, making it one of the most valuable and lucrative parts of the gaming industry.Full Article – https://www.vgchartz.com/article/448974/esports-streaming-could-be-worth-35-billion-by-2025/
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