Watching other people play video games could soon be a billion dollar industry - eSports

Professional video gaming, known as ‘eSports’, has a fan base that will outstrip the NFL by 2017, and big brands like Coca-Cola are already looking for sponsorship opportunities.

Could people enjoy watching video game competitions more than watching professional sports? Yes.

According to new research from Newzoo and Repucom, professional video gaming (named eSports for electronic sports) is growing at a record pace—with a projected global audience of over 335 million fans (145 million active fans and an additional 190 million casual fans) by 2017. In comparison, the NFL today has a global fan base of 151 million, including 100 million American fans.

The report shows that on a global scale, there are 2.2 billion sports fans that each generate an average of $56 per year. ESports fans currently generate an average of $2.2 per person per year, without game revenues taken into account. Newzoo’s current eSports revenue projections use a conservative $3.2 average revenue per fan figure for 2017. With growth mainly driven by a larger audience, global eSports revenues will still rise to $451 million in two years from now.

“This renders eSports comparable to a Top 10 sport, or globally renowned leagues like the NFL or Champions League,” Peter Warman, CEO of Newzoo, says. “If the average revenue per enthusiast grows faster and jumps to $7, eSports will be a billion dollar business by 2017 with even more growth potential going forward.”

As eSports continues to grow at a record pace, Warman believes it’s just a matter of time before big leagues like the NFL begin worrying about eSports as serious competition to sponsors.

“As the eSports market matures, its revenue mix will closer resemble that of traditional sports, which saw 57% of revenues come from sponsorships and selling media rights in 2014,” says Warman.

Big brands like Intel, Coca-Cola, American Express, Duracell, HTC, Nvidia, and Benq have already tapped into the eSports audience. And as this audience grows, more brands that sponsor traditional sports will be investing in eSports. Warman says a lot of these companies are already talking to his research firm about the best ways to connect with eSports fans.