Amid the massive shutdown of major sports due to Covid-19, the world has been searching for new sources of entertainment to fill the void. Enter Esports. This industry has seen explosive growth throughout the last 5 years in terms of viewership and investment. The international phenomena has even started seeing time on mainstream cable stations like ESPN. Top players sometimes make millions of dollars through salary and brand deals. Teams compete for billions of dollars in prize pool money every year, but what is it?
What is it?
A broad definition of the term is a form of sport competition using video games. The matches are viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, with big matches often reaching the millions, through popular streaming services and mainstream TV. The system operates much like traditional sports. The only exception is that often times teams are not affiliated with cities, except some leagues like Overwatch’s league feature teams that are affiliated with cities around the globe. The league even goes as far as playing matches in those cities. Most leagues compete in regular-season matches for money and postseason seeding. These postseason tournaments work very similar to traditional postseason tournaments. The money awarded for these tournaments varies from game to game, but can be huge. There also exists competitive ladders and leagues where talent can grow and develop before attempting to make the jump to big-name teams in big-name leagues.
Why watch?
A lot of the reasons that people enjoy watching esports are a lot of the same reason for watching traditional sports. The matches are often filled with lots of unseen strategy and planning paired with players exhibiting the highest amount of skill the game has to offer. Most of the game feature complex tactics with a variety of objectives to complete. Most of the viewership comes from North America, Korea and China. Before the outbreak of Corona Virus live esports events would often draw crowds that rivaled or surpassed traditional sporting events. According to a report from Newzoo, 380 million people worldwide will watch esports this year. In 2019, League of Legends, the most popular video game in the world, World Championship’s drew 3.9 million viewers at one time.
If you are looking for a good source of entertainment and high-level competition then look no further. Esports provides nonstop action that could become a good source of entertainment. There has never been a better time to start watching. Make sure you check back daily for our Esports predictions and content.
