What Are E-Sports? How Is It Transforming The Sports Industry?

E-sports mean electronic-sports. The sports industry has been suffering the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread lockdowns and no sporting events have led to considerable losses in revenues. But, e-sports have indeed risen to the occasion and is proving an investment worth encashing.

E-sports market will cross the 1 billion mark in revenues by 2020. This growth will be achieved, excluding broadcasting revenues. It is a fantastic statistic for sports that are not too physical. It sets to cross followership of 443.1 million people this year. While it is making its mark on the sports industry, let’s discover what precisely an e-sports industry is?

What is e-sports?

E-sports is a virtual sports competition that is conducted through video games. It has been phenomenal with all the multiplayer games and organized online competitions. The tournaments fetch many sponsors and investments by brands to promote the products. In the recent past, the viewership of sports gained momentum, and now there are broadcasting slots on leading sports channels for sports events.

E-sports and transformation of the Sports Industry:

The sports industry has been rampant in revenues. A $614 billion worth of market is yet to understand the full capacity of e-sports. Currently, the e-sports is limited to certain popular games.

Some e-sports giants like a ninja, EA Sports, and others are increasing their efforts to replicate real-world scenarios into e-sports. But, there are some exciting developments in technology that are transforming the sports industry.

Virtual Tournaments- A new era in sports:

As Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies emerge, they have started creating a new way to offer higher user engagement. The sports industry understands the gamification method for engagement. And this seems to be reflecting in the acceptance of e-sports events that are virtual reality-based.

International Olympics committee hinted at an e-sports event that will be equivalent to Olympic games. The e-sports Olympic can arrive very soon and most likely by 2024.

This development owes to the recent uproar of VR games. Modern VR games are multiplayer, and they can be structures into tournaments. These tournaments can be broadcasted on televisions and even on smartphones.

Mass Multi-Player Role Playing Games:

Popularly known as the MMORPG, these games have taken the e-sports industry by storm. Most famous of all is Player Unknowns Battlegrounds or PubG. It has gathered a considerable following, and there are millions of gamers around the world. There are several PubG tournaments held across the globe with more prominent sponsors.

Every year, there are several tournaments across the globe with prizes starting from $1500 to $92500. These tournaments have a large participant base and an equally higher viewership.

Conclusion:

The e-sports industry is changing the way sports were played. It is also changing the dynamics of the sports industry. E-sports talents are now recognized by brands and are leveraged to influence audiences. It is quite safe to say that the future of the sports industry is e-sports.