A new report from the gaming data crunchers, Newzoo, shows 2019 Esports revenue on course to make the sport more affluent than several major football leagues around the world.
If you are wondering why so many bookmakers are sitting in front of TV screens with aluminium foil wrapped around their heads, gaming pad in one hand, and a contract worthy pen in the other, then NewZoo is about to give everyone a timely reminder.
The gaming analytics giant has put its insomnia to good use by creating the 2019 Global Esports Market Report. It’s the fifth time such a report has hit the Internet, and none harder than this one.
Global Esports revenue will smash past $1.1 billion by the end of 2019, a 26.7% hike from last year, making it a more prosperous performer than America’s Major Soccer League (MSL), the English Football League (EFL) and Australian Rules Football.
Brand investments in advertising, sponsorship and media rights make up the lion share of that heavenly number with $897m (82%) tripling 2015 revenue.
The highest grossing sector is sponsorship with $456.7m expected to hit the coffers in 2019, exemplified by Coca-Cola becoming the Official Non-Alcoholic Beverage for Blizzard’s Overwatch League recently (Blizzard also has deals with Toyota, T-Mobile, HP and Intel).
The fastest growing sector is media rights $251.3m (+41.8%) as companies try to get hold of the best content. Advertising comes in at $189.2m (+14.8%). Merchandise & Ticketing is $103.7m (+22.4%), and the only expected downturn comes in the form of Game Publisher Fees $95.2m (-3%).
One of the primary reasons for this growth spurt is the global interest and engagement in the sport. Newzoo predicts that global Esports audiences will grow to 453.8m people worldwide in 2019 (15%+YoY).
201.2m souls will be Esports enthusiasts (+16.3%) and 252.6m occasional enthusiasts (+14%). Average revenue per fan will grow to $6.02 by 2022, with 57% of them coming from Asia-Pacific, 16% hailing from Europe, 12% from North America, and 15% from the Rest of the World.
“Esports’ impressive audience and viewership growth is a direct result of an engaging viewership experience untethered to traditional media,” says Newzoo CEO Peter Warman. “Plenty of leagues and tournaments now have huge audiences, so companies are positioning themselves to directly monetize these Esports Enthusiasts. While this began happening last year, the market is constantly expanding on its early learnings. The result: 2019 will be the first billion-dollar year for esports, a market that will continue to attract brands across all industries.”
Newzoo believes that revenue will grow to $1.8bn by 2022, making it more prosperous than the French Ligue 1, and putting it on par with Formula One. However, the same data junkies believe the perfect storm could see revenue increase to $3.2bn, and if that happened, Esports would surpass the UEFA Champions League, and Italy’s Serie A in terms of annual gross revenue.
North America remains the Daddy with revenue of $409.1m, expecting to rise to $691.1m in 2022, with sponsorship ($196.2m) the primary reason. China is expected to overtake Western Europe as the bridesmaid with $210.3m.
You can find the full report, right here.
