Esports is one of the fastest-growing areas of gaming today, and to some, it is considered the latest sport. Premier League teams have signed esports players ready to play for their club, and some are even calling for it to be included in the most-watched event of all – the Olympics. That all may come true in the future, but who is watching esports online and in stadiums right now?
The Growth in Esports Gaming
Esports has launched into the stratosphere, considering the number of viewers has more than doubled since 2015. Around the same time, people were spending around one billion hours each year watching esports gaming, but that figure has turned into seven billion right now.
Some people have seen this significant growth as a threat to the online gambling industry, suggesting players and those seeking gaming entertainment would more likely tune into esports than an online casino. It is more likely that these two industries will work together, and betting sites will start offering markets on esports games just like regular sports betting. Yet, there is still a debate if egaming will overtake gambling in 2020.
Asians Dominate Viewership
The demographics of the average gamer is not what you may think. Most people picturing gamers will often think of a young male lacking sun exposure and not overly athletic. In fact, men and women now play games equally, and most players are not young college students, but in their 30s.
However, some stereotypes stick around with Asians dominating the esports viewership. It has been reported that more than a quarter of all Chinese nationals who have access to the internet will use it to watch esports to some extent. This is considerably more than any other nation in the West. In fact, the countries leading esports viewership and betting in Europe are Sweden followed by other Nordic countries Denmark and Finland. Compared to China, less than 10% of internet users in these countries watch esports.
Where Do Female Viewers Stand?
Combining gaming with sports would lead readers to believe that esports is a market almost certainly dominated by males. However, although males between the ages of 18 and 34 do make up the largest demographic of esports viewers, female viewers are not hard to find. It is accepted that 35% of Fortnite players are, in fact, female. And in China, around half of all esports viewers are of the female sex.
The trend for more female players in video gaming and online casinos looks to have expanded into egaming and more impressively esports. This will need to be considered by anyone developing esports games or marketing esports events in the future – or risk missing out on a large chunk of the market’s key demographic.
You may be tricked to thinking that esports’ viewers are young men, but the sport is attracting diverse personalities and bags of attention.