eSports viewers spend
more than twice as much on peripherals and 30 percent more on their system as
PC gamers that do not participate in eSports. On average, eSports viewers spent
more than $100 on their current peripherals. It makes sense that eSports
players will spend a premium on peripherals to maximize competitive
performance. The data suggests that eSports viewers are also willing to spend
to maximize their gaming performance.
The higher average
spend of eSports viewers is critical because the market size of eSports viewers
has grown to become a significant percentage of the PC gaming population.
eSports viewers do not
just spend more money than non-participants on their hardware and peripherals.
eSports viewers are more engaged gamers across different gaming experiences,
spending more on video games across platforms and genres. The following table
shows the annual video game spend across console and PC for PC gamers,
segmented by eSports participation.
The major players in
the eSports supply chain, including the publishers of competitive multiplayer
games (e.g. Riot, Valve), eSports leagues (e.g. ESL), and content distribution
channels (e.g. Twitch) have done an excellent job of creating a viewing experience
that makes viewers feel like they are also involved in the tournament.
Team-based tournament betting, in-game items that show team support,
merchandise, and microtransactions that increase tournament prize pools have
all helped to drive this engagement. This has helped create an audience that
spends almost as much on the competitive gaming hardware as the tournament
players themselves - and is a goldmine for tournament sponsors.
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