For centuries, the concept of sports has prevailed as a dominant industry around the world. With number reaching the millions and even billions for national and international sports competitions such as the Olympics and Super Bowl, it’s no wonder that the sports industry is projected to be at a 73.5 billion industry as of 2019 according to the Forbes. However, while the sports industry remains a dominant force, another industry representative of the modern technological age is rapidly matching it: Esports.
But while there have been consistent reports of ESports as a rising force, what exactly is it? To put simply, the concept of Esports derives the idea of competitive gaming and elevates to a professional indoctrinated national and international level. While there is a multitude of formats that can be attributed to the ESports industry, perhaps one of the biggest and most well-known examples stems from the game League of Legends. Originally marketed as a free battle arena game where players could compete against each other based off of skill and strategy, League of Legends inevitably grew to be one of the largest gaming communities in the world. As of 2016, league of legends boasts an exorbitant number of 100 million active players monthly while viewers numbered up to 43 million in that year’s world championship alone. While not exactly mainstream, the industry of Esports is no doubt growing at an exponential rate. In fact, an analysis by NewZoo, a market intelligence firm, predicts the future of Esports industry to be an astounding 1 billion dollars by 2019.
Comparing the concept of Esports to traditional sports, these two industries undoubtedly have their share of differences. These differences stem most notably from the fact that while one is technology-centered and generally played indoors, the other provides a more rugged and physical role in playing sports. Despite these differences, however, the core foundation between Esports and traditional sports industries are almost identical. In the end, Esports growth as an industry can be attributed to the same passion, and drive for entertainment that propels the sports industry forward. Both sports and Esports have astoundingly highly devoted fanbases, with thousands rushing to by merchandise and jerseys every year, while even more browse online commentaries and streams that litter the internet daily. In fact, many Esports, like sports, also consists of team-based competitions with a primary focus on communication and camaraderie in order to achieve an objective.
On a broader societal scale, the rise of Esports as an industry has proven to be extremely attractive and beneficial for numerous companies from a marketing standpoint. Branding, sponsorships, and advertisements in the Esports field have the potential to reach millions of viewers of the younger and more recent generations. However, contrary to the common stereotype that only young college and high school males play Esports, studies have shown that a majority of Esports fans (60%) have been estimated to be above the age of college students, ranging between that of 25 to 35. Of those who are 25 or older, 58 percent were shown to have started families and had children. In addition, while Esports is predominantly composed of males, a considerable amount of fans (38%) are in fact, women. For many advertisers, this demographic of rising technological savvy fans are particular tempting due to their undoubted rising influence as the next generation of consumers. Already, many companies such as Samsung and Red bull have been seen to sponsor teams in the Esports industry. Perhaps even more fascinating is the interest of former sports clients of investing in Esports. With pioneers such as former NBA champion Rick Fox’s investment into an official Esports team (Echo Fox LoL) and CEO Scott O’Neil of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Esports industry is likely to skyrocket even higher in the near future.
While compared to the current Sports industry, the Esports can still be seen as still an industry set in the beginning stages, the potential it has on a globalized scale is irrefutable. Few can argue with the rising revenue generated by this budding industry, with awards for many championship titles rivaling even that of the Super Bowl set at 5.1 million. With these thoughts in mind, the question that faces many is this: how will the rising Esports industry impact other industries? How about society, education, and life as a whole?
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/10/19/sports-industry-to-reach-73-5-billion-by-2019/&refURL=https://www.google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/
http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/13059210/esports-massive-industry-growing
https://northwesternbusinessreview.org/the-rise-of-esports-681aa9af919f
https://deadicatedfans.com/2017/07/06/20423/
Hi Kebo,
I thought your post was very interesting as I really had no idea of the popularity of esports and the fact that an arena as big as MSG can be filled with its fans. Still in the future, I too believe that esports will continue to gain popularity and become incorporated into our lives in more ways than one. For example, with the large number of teens who game for many hours a week, collegiate level esports teams are likely to arise. Since the launch of League of Legends in 2009, the world of esports and gaming has forever changed. One article I read even pointed out that League of Legends alone is even evolving 12 times faster than American football. However, with this rise in gaming that we’ve seen even in the last decade, there’s also been a lot of backlash toward the gaming community. Time after time, video games are blamed when violent acts enter the news headlines, but not a lot of attention is focused on the benefits of video games.
In one article I read from WSJ, video games have the ability to change your brain. Playing video games is similar to the effect of activities like learning to read or playing an instrument. However, the release of dopamine when users play a video game is far more significant. As a result, the motor skills and concentration applied by the brain while playing a video game are recognized as “rewarding”. I think it’s important to note this in the future as people try to draw distinctions between physical sports and esports. While I don’t think there will (or ever should) be a replacement for physical sports in our culture, I do think that we will see a growth in esports in the years to come. As evidenced by the growing numbers of viewers at championship events, League of Legends and games of the like are becoming less of niche products and more of something that everyone can enjoy.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/e-sports-a-league-of-its-own-1477265860
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-aaron/the-controversial-dichoto_b_6692052.html
I admittedly know very little about Esports other than hearing about their rapid growth in East-Asian countries. Like the stereotype you mentioned, I had assumed that the majority of Esports fans would be males who are college aged and below. Seeing that the majority of fans are between 25 and 35 was enlightening and made me think that this more mature fanbase is more akin to traditional sports. This prompted me to do a little bit of research into the average ages of sports fans in the United States. The oldest average age of viewers is of the PGA tour with an average age of 64. The MLB has an average viewers age of 57. College football and college basketball have average viewers ages of 52. The average NFL viewer is 50 and the average NBA viewer is 42. These average ages were higher than I expected and they are continuing to get higher. The average fan in all of the sports listed above increased between 2 and 5 years since 2006. I think this is at least partially attributable to the teen to young adult population gaining interest into Esports and having other devices as alternatives to viewing sports.
I looked into some of the health and societal impacts of video games and it was interesting to me that there was really no strong consensus. One study found that compared to people who don’t play, people who spend less than one third of their free time has elevated levels of social behavior and life satisfaction. Further it found that moderate levels of gaming built metacognitive skills. Other studies have found that video game addictions can be as debilitating to growth and development as a gambling addiction. This study found that people who play video games are more likely to have health problems and it may cause relationships to suffer. Based on this limited research, it seems to me that video games can have some benefits if played in moderation. In some situation they seems to be a worthy alternative, but not a replacement for other types of play.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sports-with-the-oldest-and-youngest-tv-audiences-2017-06-30
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanshapiro/2014/08/27/a-surprising-new-study-on-how-video-games-impact-children/#68192dfb7556
Hi Kebo,
Before I read your post, I was aware that video games were growing in popularity, but did not realize that competitive “eSports” were a multimillion dollar industry with professional gamers and a committed fan base. While, after reading your post and doing some research, I can understand some of the benefits of eSports, such as economic growth, global connectedness, and mental engagement, health consequences that come with the competitive gaming industry are far from insignificant (Hattenstone).
In countries like South Korea, there are designated “gaming cafés” where young people spend their evenings participating in a variety of eSports (Hattenstone). These cafés, sometimes referred to as “PC bangs,” are a lot like bars, serving food and alcohol, allowing people to stay until late hours of the night, with many gamers sleeplessly staring at computer screens for hours on end (Hattenstone). Granted, there are people who are not competitive games and occasionally stay up all night staring at a screen, but not for days or weeks on end. This excessive exposure to video games is becoming so problematic that “[t]he World Health Organization is poised to classify ‘gaming disorder’ as a mental health problem in its 2018 update of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)” (CBS News). In traditional sports, athletes can suffer from injuries and other challenges, however it is far less likely that they will become addicted to their sport beyond a point of functioning.
South Korean psychiatrist, Dr. Lee Tae-kyung, explains that the National Centre for Mental Health in Seoul has found that gaming addictions are more prevalent than issues related to drugs and alcohol (Hattenstone). He spoke of a seemingly unreal experience in his work, highlighting the magnitude of the problem: “‘[t]here was a young man who immersed himself without sleeping or having meals, and finally he died after finishing his game’” (Hattenstone). Gaming addictions are not the only problems that emerge from eSports; “[g]ambling in eSports already seems more advanced than in traditional sports” (Hattenstone). Addiction itself is hard to treat – it is alarming to think that because of a new technological trend, people as young as the age of six could meet the criteria for gaming-related mental health conditions (Hattenstone).
It is impressive to think about the impact technology can have on creating a sense of community and even “sport,” however, I feel like eSports may be taking gaming a little too far.
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/excessive-video-gaming-to-be-recognized-as-mental-health-disorder/
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/top-addiction-young-people-gaming-esports
I have this group called Company Freelancer and years ago it started as a little dominant Halo Clan now years later, I want to turn it into an organization/community of gamers because of my involvement with competitive Halo. Here is the Twitter I currently have for it twitter.com/compfreelancer and the website I am currently developing. I think it’d be pretty cool to turn what used to be my little clan into a well-known community/organization. If you guys have any tips let me know please because this is something I think would be very cool if I accomplished this, thank you, guys.
source: http://wisdomgaming.info/