In this day and age it is nearly impossible to find a home that doesn’t have a video game system. That is not because children are getting lazy and do not want to go outside to play with their friends. They are likely playing the video game with their friends, who could be down the street or a friend they made halfway across the world, with one goal in mind, be the best at their respective game.
The opportunity of making money video games has grown tremendously in the last decade, making children who formerly wanted to be the next Tom Brady now have ambitions of being the next “Bugha”. Who in 2018 won the Fortnite Solo World Cup for a nice $3 million.
Professional esports has gone from small local lan events with 20-30 teams to franchised organized leagues such as the Call of Duty World League and the Overwatch World League with teams spending over $25 million on a spot to win world championships. With celebrities’ such as Drake, Scooter Braun, Gary Vaynerchuk, and others, invested into professional esports teams.
With top organizations being valuated at over $100 million and some organizations being into the hundreds of millions.
- Cloud9 $310 million
- TSM FTX $250
- Team Liquid $200 Million
- Echo Fox $150 Million
- OpTic Gaming $130 Million
With the abundance of growth over the last decade, Fortune 500 companies such as Xfinity, Coca-Cola, Sony, and others have stepped in and because title sponsors of the leagues that are seeing viewership numbers similar to NFL and NBA games. Even other organizations that are seeing the younger demographic of esports have become sponsors such as the US Air Force, FanDuel, and many others.
With the immense amount of sponsors coming in the industry media organizations are picking up on the trend and opening up sections specific to esports.
With the esports industry grossing over $1 billion in 2020, and largely surpassing any previous predictions. The esports industry is on track to become a household staple similar to major sports like the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
October 5, 2021 at 4:27 pm
I love the topic of this Article. I am huge into esports both watching and competing. I am glad so see someone who has a good knowledge of esports.
October 13, 2021 at 7:23 pm
Video games have for sure come a long way since our parents played games. I agree that it has been drastically changing over the years. Although I am not a video game person I do know many who you could say are “addicted”.
October 14, 2021 at 5:19 pm
I honestly, as an MAGD major and former small E-sports player, think esports is amazing and has come soooo far. I was on the esports team in high school and was sad I joined for my senior year of high school and never earlier. Gaming has come so far to even become a sport and is so amazing.
November 21, 2021 at 5:27 pm
I feel like ever since fortnite, gaming has just not felt the same.