It is no secret that more and more kids are spending time on gaming nowadays. What started out in the '80s as a geeky game, eSports is starting to grow more than just a hobby or past time for kids after their school, it's becoming a professional sport like football where there are actual teams of players that compete with each other to win prizes in tournaments.
In terms of size, eSports is already holding one of the biggest prize pools in history, placed at $34.3 million, has the second most number of followers on YouTube with 79 million people, and finally has 6.6 billion hours watched by people from across the globe. It has also surpassed football (soccer) as the most popular sport on earth!
eSports professionals can earn over a million dollars from just competing in tournaments. eSports has also generated over $655 million in 2017, with a 38% CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) over the past five years, and experts are expecting it to grow to $1.65 billion in 2021.
eSports will also keep evolving, not just economically, but in entertainment, balancing and overall just fun. Traditional sports usually focus on a single game, they evolve over hundreds of years making their rules rather solid and don't change too much from their core rules. But for eSports, each and every electronic-based game that has a competitive element, it will evolve making it constantly challenging and competitive.
For example, if you were a League of Legends player from the start of Season one and you quit merely six months ago, coming back to it now would be a big surprise for you. The item shop is different, there are 10+ new champions and a reskin and redesign of one of the major maps.
New games are always coming out, it's going to get more exciting and more balanced over time.
The reason why some people would prefer to get into eSports rather than sports like football or golf is that it can be played by anyone. Whether you're a kid or an old grandparent, you can still have fun with nearly anyone online or offline! The highest growth sector is mobile games as billions around the world have access to the internet and smartphones and it provides a low barrier of entry. Even some disabled people play games with custom gaming gear so they can play with other people!
For example, you could play football and accidentally sprain your leg, or get a permanent injury in an accident. It would limit your ability to play or worst-case scenario, prevent you from playing football at a professional level again. With Esports, although there are repetitive action injuries, if you manage your time properly and don't stay up too long playing games, maintain a balanced diet and lifestyle, then you can keep playing in Esports with no sudden stops indirectly caused by your participation in tournaments and such.
TL;DR:
- Esports is growing economically, and it's growing fast.
- You can keep playing eSports even if you're a kid or an old grandparent until you get bored or get worn out, unlike sports like football.
- Esports is always evolving, new games and better balancing will keep coming for as long as eSports continues to grow.