eSports to break through $1bn barrier in 2020 as it moves from niche to mainstream By David Fox
Friday, May 10, 2019 - 09:35
Print This Story
There were more than 4,000 eSports tournaments globally in 2018, a number that will rise this year thanks to a total prize pool of some US $200m, comparing favourably with the $135m for ATP Tour tennis. This makes it a major draw for competitors - the highest paid eSports star is estimated to earn about $6m per year.
It also had a global online and TV audience of 410m last year, with more than 165m enthusiast viewers (each consuming more than five hours per week). There are also large crowds going to live events, such as the 173,000 that attended the Intel Extreme Masters in Poland over one weekend.
There is a huge base now of users, of viewers, and of professional sports people in eSports, Carl Hibbert, associate director, Consumer Media & Tech, Futuresource Consulting, told delegates at the DTG Summit in London this week.
Futuresource has spent the last six months working on a research report on eSports, which will be released shortly. Hibbert defines eSports as a monetised video gaming competition with an audience, and both the monetisation and audiences are rising rapidly.
Gaming is already one of the main consumer spends. In the UK, almost as much is spent on video games as on music and home video put together, and it is growing faster than both.
Michiel Bakker, chief executive, Ginx Esports TV believes that eSports is already a mainstream activity.
It already dwarfs certain other mainstream sports, he said. Ginx is the world's largest linear TV eSports channel, reaching 55m homes worldwide, operating ten channel feeds in nine languages. It is distributed via Zixi online, with its library stored on the cloud and playout via edge servers, and has a staff of only 40, creating about 1,000 hours of content a year. Its investors include Sky and ITV.
Michiel Bakker from Ginx Esports TV (left) with Futuresource Consulting's Carl Hibbert
One barrier to eSports growth would be too few hours in the day, but Hibbert argued that this is less relevant to the younger audiences that eSports often attracts, as so many children already multi-task while they watch TV (more than 60% in the UK according to one of its surveys), with 55% of those playing games, 36% chatting online, 26% watching other video on second screens, and 16% listening to music at the same time. This trend is particularly noticeable in the US, UK and Germany.
However, eSports is not just something for kids, as another of Futuresource survey showed that 25% of all people in the UK watch eSports each week (compared to 48% watching Netflix). In the 16-25 demographic these figures are 55% and 74% respectively, with viewers in that age group watching an average of seven hours per week - compared to nine hours of Netflix. Although viewing of eSports dropped off considerably amongst older people, there were still about 8% in the 46-55 demographic, and even a few percent in the 66+ group.
This is why the global market for eSports should break $1 billion next year, with an estimate of $922m this year and a predicted compound annual growth rate over the next four years of 18% per year. Currently, 41% of that total comes from sponsorship (of events, teams and individual players), 21% from media rights, and 20% from advertising.
These advertisers have changed from being purely PC/game focused (such as Intel) to general consumer goods (such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes and McDonalds) seeking to engage this elusive demographic, who are less likely to view linear TV.
In terms of rights, the Amazon-owned Twitch network paid $90 last year for the Overwatch League (one of the main games). Hibbert admitted that is still relatively small change compared to traditional sports, but could prove to be a bargain for Twitch.
Global audiences for eSports are expected to almost double (to 800m) by 2023, and should be given a further boost by the Paris Olympics in 2024, when eSports will be a demonstration sport, helping to move esports from being an isolated niche, slightly nerdy eco system to gaining wider acceptance in the mainstream media.
One Chinese city plans to invest $2 billion over the next five years in eSports, including a dedicate university campus, esports zones and funding for companies.
Hibbert expects virtual reality headsets to be a major growth area for eSports. Not only are they far better suited to gaming than to pure video, there is a lot of investment in them for gaming, including as an immersive spectator experience - dropping the spectator in to the game play.
Premier League sums of money
Ginx is a payTV channel, with advertising, but is also moving towards supplying eSports content to other platforms. We are beginning to help organise local, white-label or Ginx-branded leagues. We are helping digital engagement with online tournaments, so we are seeing ourselves both entering the physical space of tournament organisations and the digital space of tournament organisations, and becoming a partner to other distribution platforms, explained Bakker.
As its business model evolves, it is also developing its own direct-to-consumer platform, which will launch in late Summer. Obviously, we have an advantage there, because eSports is a digital native phenomenon, so for us to deliver a platform we know the vernacular that people are looking for. Our platform will be bespoke. It will contain lots of gamification and itemisation to incentivise play and improve engagement, he said.
Bakker believes that eSports sees television as its pathway to Premier League sums of money , but its model will never be
Rory McVicar, Michiel Bakker and Carl Hibbert made up the eSports panel at the DTG Summit 2019 in London
the same as traditional sports as it already makes all of its
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
eSports to break through $1bn barrier in 2020 as it moves from niche to mainstream By David Fox 
