Despite 2020 being a rough year for everyone due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the esports market still managed to mark significant growth. What is more, the forecasts for the upcoming years predict the global esports market to continue expanding steadily and reach $1.62 billion by 2024.
There are different factors that play a major role in the increasing popularity of esports and even the pandemic had some kind of effect on this industry. Things like the number of active esports players, sponsorships, and deeper integration in the online betting market are very important when we take into account the possible growth of the esports market in the following years.
Global Esports Market in 2021
Despite many other sectors suffering great losses due to the global pandemic, in 2021, the global esports market value reached $1.08 billion. This marked almost a 50% year-over-year increase when compared to the estimates of $947 million for 2020. The prognoses for the following years predict nothing short of significant growth, with a revenue of $1.62 billion in 2024. Currently, the biggest markets that contribute the most to the esports market increase are Asia and North America, with China claiming almost one-fifth of the global esports market.
The biggest contribution to the market’s growth in 2021 came from sponsorship deals and advertisements. The revenue accumulated through esports sponsorships and ads in 2021 reached $641 million. The second biggest sector that contributed to the massive boost in esports revenue is media rights. It accumulated $192 million, which compared to the revenue of sponsorships and advertisement, however, is significantly lower.
Significant Surge in Esports Viewers
Viewer engagement is also a key factor that helped the major growth of the esports market. Despite the awful effects of the global pandemic, during the lockdown periods, more people were interested in watching esports, leading to an increase in the number of viewers enjoying esports events. In 2021, that number reached 474 million people, with estimates for upcoming years showing that number to continue increasing. The number of people who watch esports more than just a single time a month is also increasing in 2021, reaching 234 million viewers.
As more people were forced to stay at home last year and many are still forced to spend most of their time at home, there was also a huge spike in live-stream viewership. Different platforms allowed fans of esports to watch their favorite games being played in real-time. Naturally, as people had more time to spare, this led to a higher viewer engagement rate.
By the end of 2021, the number of live-streaming viewers is expected to reach 728.8 million, which is more than a 10% year-over-year surge. The biggest reason for the huge jump in the audience number was the global pandemic. This being said, even after the pandemic quiets down, the number of live-stream viewers is expected to be stable. By 2024, the audience rates are expected to go back to normal, with the estimated number of live-streaming viewers being about 920.3 million people.
Predictions for the Esports Market in the Upcoming Years
As the esports market saw a huge growth in 2021, the estimates for the years to follow show that the market is expected to continue to soar. Forecasts for the number of viewers worldwide in 2022 show estimates surpassing half a billion. According to a report on superbettingsites.com, the predictions for 2024 show a growth of more than 7.7%, reaching about 577 million global viewers. Of course, with that number, the overall esports market is also expected to increase, reaching $1.62 billion in 2024.
The increasing popularity of live-streaming will be one of the biggest factors to bring the overall esports market a continuous growth in the following years. Of course, this will not be the only development, however, that will further influence the surge in esports revenue. With the deeper integration of mobile gaming in areas like Africa, Central Southern Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, the esports market is expected to expand more in the future.
Streaming platforms are also a big part of the technological development that drove the esports market to great success in the last year. While China is one of the biggest markets in the esports sector, it has an entirely different streaming system. Despite that, it still manages to contribute a large portion to the growth of esports. One thing we should not neglect is the current situation with the ongoing global pandemic. As it is still unclear when will the world overcome this terrible disaster, the future of any global market is still pretty vague.
While the extensive lockdown periods brought a massive surge in live-streaming views, the esports market also suffered huge losses due to the pandemic. Huge esports tournaments that were scheduled to be held in person last year were canceled and no one can predict when such events will be able to happen again. This resulted in a huge decline in ticket revenues and also affected global merchandise.
One certain thing is the current massive growth of the industry and its big potential for steady growth in the following years. However, only time will tell whether the predicted estimates for the esports market will become a reality.