As more people tune in to watch Esports competitions, traditional sports broadcasters are no doubt sweating as the demographic they previously relied on jumps ship. Young people may largely be consuming live Esports events via streaming rather than sitting around waiting for their favourite show to come on television at a set time. New figures suggest just why they might be doing that.
The Betting And Commercial Landscape
Online sportsbook platforms like Lottoland have been quick to capitlize on e-sports betting using real time data for setting odds. The commercial potential may lie in the large scale of the audience. Bet365 even went as far as to invest in real-time odds integration for some of the biggest esports events on the platform. The fact that traditional sportsbook owners who took decades to get deep into coverage of much larger traditional sports like football and horse racing have begun to invest in esports may be a positive indicator of where the market is heading.
Where Traditional Sports Are Losing Ground
The Active lives survey published annually by Sport England paints a disturbing picture for spectator sport amongst the under 35s, showing a long-term decline rather than a one-off event. The value of broadcast rights lies in the eyes of the holder, but audiences for traditional sports are increasingly old. Esport must attract the attention of a largely new audience, but they are likely to watch it in exactly the new places that everyone thinks are the future of sport – online, on digital platforms such as Twitch or YouTube.
Many traditional sports organisations have gotten into the act. The owners of several NFL and NBA teams have purchased a variety of traditional and professional e-sports teams in recent years. Forbes reported on the trend of traditional sports entering the world of esport, as older, traditional sports scramble to keep younger viewers engaged in order to preserve viewership for traditional sports broadcasts.
Recognition And The Road Ahead
In the UK competitive and mainstream video gaming has recently caught the eye of government, with policy makers in the DCMS assessing the role of gaming in the broader digital economy. The way that gaming fits into wider strategies for support of the technology sector, science parks and innovation hubs is of relevance to the funding of esports infrastructure such as dedicated gaming arenas and large scale events. The growth of competitive gaming has also seen The Guardian move coverage of esports into the mainstream, surpassing industry predictions about the rate at which the scene would move into the consciousness of a wider audience. The audience figures for high-profile tournaments have in some cases skyrocketed and now rival the typical viewing figures for large football tournaments. The total viewer figures for the 2023 League of Legends World Championship peaked at 73,705,991 concurrent viewers, impressive even for most mainstream sports.
A Structural Shift, Not A Passing Trend
A glance at recent data tells a similar story: young audiences driving continued viewership growth, mostly via digital means, with the private sector and government pouring in money to chase new audiences. While it is true that traditional sports are often able to muster viewerships that rival even the largest esports events (which may have 20–30 thousand peak viewers), the key lies in the growth rate. That trend is clearly moving in one direction, and those in the industry hoping to avoid acknowledging its reality can only ignore it for so long. Traditional sports are now facing the cold hard reality of a decreased growth rate compared to their new digital rivals, and it is one that requires acknowledgement from broadcasters, rights holders and advertisers alike.