For those just awakening from their pop culture slumber, esports is an all-encompassing term which refers to competitive video gaming, often played in front of a live audience. Due to profitable TV and sponsorship deals now in place, the stakes have never been higher within the gaming scene and top competitors are able to make a very good living exclusively through match earnings and endorsements. With the esports industry looking poised for continued growth for the foreseeable future, is there a chance that virtual sports will eventually overtake traditional sports in the popularity stakes?
Young People are Less Active Than They've Ever Been
While esports isn't specifically a "kids only" type deal, both the fanbase and player pool consists of mostly younger people. With this in mind, it's important to look at the statistics with regards to these age groups and their exploits. If we're to believe what we read, teenagers are now as sedentary as 60 year olds. Whether you attribute any sensationalism to that sentence or not, the fact of the matter is that young people are much less active than they were in previous generations. It therefore follows that the chances of this demographic choosing a games console over a tennis racquet or football are higher than ever and in time, this trend could well lead to the popularity of esports surpassing some of the more traditional ones.
The Growing Influence of Esports in Popular Culture
Three time Grammy award winning artist Drake recently became the latest high profile celebrity to invest in an esports franchise. The rapper has teamed up with former Call Of Duty pro player Nadeshot, media mogul Scooter Braun, private equity firm Sequoia and Dan Gilbert (owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers) to form an impressive circle of co-owners at the 100 Thieves esports brand. With celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Michael Jordan and Steph Curry also operating within the esports landscape, it's only a matter of time before the competitive gaming sector blows up in a big way. The world of esports has also made its way into the online betting arena, with customers now able to place esports bets on the outcome of games such as League of Legends, CS:GO and Dota 2, to name just a few. With esports also being broadcast via channels such as Sky and ESPN, the growing impact of competitive gaming is slowly but surely being felt on a global scale.
Source: Drake via Facebook
The Next 5 Years are Crucial for Esports
With rapidly growing technology based industries such as esports, it's extremely difficult to predict what lies ahead. However, if current trends continue, it would take a brave person to bet against esports achieving worldwide domination. In any case, it's plain to see that the phenomenon has bags of untapped potential and that with the right planning and implementation, there's no reason why esports can't stand toe to toe with the most popular traditional sports. For the moment though, we're just enjoying the ride.
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