Further esports growth forecast for 2019 and beyond

Over the past week several reports have been published on the rise of esports’ popularity – and where it’s expected to go next. Here’s a quick roundup from us on what’s been reported.

Firstly, Deloitte has published a report titled ‘Let’s Play! – The European Esports Market’ which states that the European esports market generated total revenues of €240 million in 2018.

With an expected annual growth rate of 23%, total revenues are expected to reach €670 million by 2023.

Deloitte also estimates the European esports audience to reach 105 million people by 2020, up from 86 million in 2018

Elsewhere, Rethink Technology Research is reporting that esports revenue will leap from $900 million in 2018 to $5.05 billion in 2024, with revenues split between game publisher fees, sponsorship, media broadcasting rights, tickets and merchandise, tipping and advertising.

It’s worth noting this is a rather ambitious jump – Newzoo’s existing estimates are more conservative. It believes that on its current trajectory, the esports market will generate $1.8 billion in revenues by 2022.

As well as these estimates, the likes of ESL and EA have published some reports over the past week looking at the performance of some their esports tournaments.

Modern Times Group MTG AB’s (MTG) portfolio company ESL has announced growth across multiple metrics for major ESL tournaments in the first seven months of 2019.

Over the course of the first seven months of 2019, ESL’s data shows that unique users (+90%), hours watched (+190%) and video views (+55%) have all significantly increased as a result of fans tuning into big properties such as ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters and ESL Pro League tournaments, besting online viewer numbers recorded in 2018.

Finally, FIFA and EA reported that the FIFA eWorld Cup 2019 generated record numbers, with more than 47 million views across online platforms during the three-day event.

Views increased 60% compared to last year, from 29 million views in 2018 to 47 million views in 2019.

We look forward to seeing how esports grows and evolves in the future.

The Grand Final match in particularly was reportedly carried by 21 broadcasters in more than 75 territories.