The report, “Esports on verge of hypergrowth to $5bn plus gambling – Revenue Forecast to 2024”, from Rethink Technology Research, breaks down each revenue stream regionally between North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the rest of the world.
The figure is also made up of media broadcasting rights, as cable channels such as ESPN and TBS have aired tournaments on television. Rethink calls media broadcasting fees the fastest growing esports revenue sector, with sales set to multiply by more than 12 times.
Game developers and publishers make money from sponsorships and advertising too, with major brands from Kellogg's to Coca-Cola and from Toyota to Mercedes Benz all paying big bucks to get in front of the lucrative but hard to reach demographics of technology-loving young people.
The revenue growth is accelerating ahead of the rate for acquiring new esports enthusiasts, which itself will go from 154 million in 2018 to 377 million in 2024. There is a rising revenue per fan.
For Pay TV operators that have yet to make a play in eSports, the opportunities will come primarily through growth in casual viewing, attracted by “sanitized” eSports competitions with appeal beyond enthusiasts.
The other big issue is eSports betting, which in 2018 generated significantly greater revenue than all other categories combined.
Although betting involves many eSports fans and also presents opportunities to video service providers, it is a distinct sector outside the eSports community. The predictions state that eSports betting revenues will increase to US$5.7 billion over the forecast period driven, by Asia Pacific with China as the biggest market.
Source: GMB
