If you know everything about free slot machines and would like to learn more about eSports, then this article will help you. Read some statistics about the growth of eSports.
Interesting Stats About the Growth of eSports and Some Facts About Free Slots
Over the last decade, the eSports gaming industry has undergone incredible evolution to a point where individuals are building million-dollar careers out of this leisure activity. Moreover, thanks to the exploding expansion of the industry, eSports has also led to the growth of a range of other related industries that facilitate the electronic sports industry both directly and indirectly.
As long as you’re a fan of online gaming, whether you prefer to play for free slot machines or you are more about betting on traditional sports, you must have come across electronic sports at one point or another. If you hadn’t realized yet how big the eSports industry is getting, then read on to discover some of the most interesting statistics about the rapidly growing phenomenon.
Rising Viewership
As of 2016, eSports viewership had increased immensely for both occasional audiences and die-hards. For clarification purposes, the occasional audience is composed of viewers who watch it once in a while, whereas the die-hard group is for those who watch eSports religiously. By 2017, it enjoyed a viewership of 192 million from casual audiences while the number of enthusiasts was at 143 million, meaning that the total audience was a cool 335 million. This was an overall 19.3% increase of viewership compared to 2016, where the total audience stood at 281 million.
Come 2018, the viewership had grown to a total of 380 million, with 215 million occasional viewers and 165 million viewers for the enthusiasts. This represented a 13.8% year-over-year growth rate compared to 2017. According to Newzoo, by 2021, the compound annual growth rate of esports viewership will have averaged at 14.4% from 2016, bringing the entire audience to 557 million.
Increased eSports Awareness
One of the most significant contributors to the massive growth of the esports industry is the rising awareness that the activity has been enjoying over the years. For instance, in 2015, there were just about 900,000 individuals who were familiar with esports, and the figure has been shooting up quickly each year. By 2018, eSports awareness had reached 1.43 billion individuals all across the globe, and the number is expected to have grown significantly in the next couple of years.
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Increased eSports Platforms Offering
It goes without saying that more individuals are now watching esports events, particularly thanks to the online platforms that are making content consumption simpler. Those who stream eSports use online platforms to air live coverage of events and their regular gameplay. It’s become so much easier for enthusiasts to take part in their preferred events as they engage fellow players.
And as you might have already noticed, there’s also been an increase in the number of eSports broadcasters, a factor that, of course, directly influences the growing viewership.
Based on recent states from Streamlabs, Twitch and YouTube are the front runners of streaming of eSports content, with 1.13 million and 432,000 active streamers respectively every quarter. Moreover, eSports is one of the biggest drivers of growth for Twitch as the platform is continuously enjoying an unstoppable rise in the number of live streamers. Whilst in 2016, they recorded around 591,809 concurrent viewers; the number had shot to 1.26 million in 2019.
The Number of Hours Spent on eSports is Increasing
As you would expect, given that the volume of streamers across different platforms is increasing, the number of hours that people are spending to watch eSports videos has also dramatically increased. Back in 2012, people spent only around 1.3 billion hours watching eSports videos, but by 2018, the number had increased nearly six-fold, with people watching over 6.6 billion hours of content. Essentially this means that on average, people are spending 1 billion hours more every year watching the videos.
Revenue Growth
This is the most lucrative part of the growth of eSports. A lot of individuals and brands have realized the potential of this industry and are tapping into it to reap huge monetary benefits. A huge chunk of this revenue is coming from brand contributions through direct investments such as advertising and sponsorships and indirect investments such as content licenses and media licenses.
In 2018, for instance, the industry generated a whopping $906 million in revenue, with 77% of it coming from direct and indirect brand investments. Newzoo projects that come 2021, the industry will have generated over $1.6 billion, and out of that, $1.3 billion is expected to come from the brand investments.
With all these interesting facts, it means that the eSports industry has a huge potential for continued growth, and there’s a lot of room for individuals and brands to keep raking in huge benefits. If you’ve been interested in this industry, now is the time to act!