Esports has attracted a lot of interest and emphasis right now. Because the esports industry has expanded at an exponential rate over the last decade, it currently has a massive viewership and engagement. The purpose of this article is to look at the growth of this industry and its possible impact on India’s sports industry.
There are many misconceptions and misunderstandings about what esports is and what it entails in terms of business, thus defining the notion is critical. Esports began as a subsection of the world777 gaming industry but has since evolved into its own industry. “Competitive first-person shooter games, massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or even basic logic or action games, as long as there is a competitive component,” according to Techopedia.
India’s Esports Industry is Growing
Esports are simply competitive video games, and their popularity has attracted fans who are interested in not just playing but also watching tournaments and leagues. Esports viewership reached 458.8 million people worldwide in 2019, up 15% from the previous year (Newzoo – 2019 Global Esports Market Report, 2019). In 2019, the League of Legends World Championship was an esports event that drew a record-breaking audience of over 100 million people. The majority of these viewers watched the game on Twitch and YouTube, among other streaming channels. In the same year, the Super Bowl attracted 100.7 million viewers across the NFL’s digital platforms and CBS. The amount of the worldwide esports audience is estimated by Statista.
Until 2018, India had been absent from the esports landscape. The release of PUBG Mobile ushered in an esports revolution in India, establishing the country as a major global esports market. In terms of both player counts and viewership, India dominates the PUBG Mobile ranks. India has the world’s largest young population, rising mobile phone usage, and low-cost internet connection, making it a huge market for mobile gaming.
Since 2018, India has hosted numerous international and national esports tournaments, the most famous of which being DreamHack Delhi, ESL One: Mumbai, World777, and the PUBG Mobile Indian Series. The total prize pool climbed by 180 percent from $288.3K in 2017 to $1.5 million in 2019. (Esports Observer, 2019)
Esports viewing and streaming are also quite popular in India. As a former esports player turned commentator, “Mortal” is a huge esports influencer in the country. On YouTube, he has about 6 million subscribers and each video draws up to 15 million views. Several of these players have built online communities and fan following in the United States.
As mobile games get more popular and Indian players and teams become more well-known, large sums of money from sponsors will flow in, significantly increasing revenue.
The number of people who watch esports is growing
According to DataReportals’ research on the Global Esports Audience, 32% of the esports audience is between the ages of 16 and 24, and 30% is between the ages of 25 and 34. The majority of viewers for the most popular Indian leagues are between the ages of 31 and 50, according to a BARC study on Indian Sports Leagues. Between the ages of 15 and 30, the next big demographic for traditional sports is found. In terms of target audiences, there is clearly a lot of overlap. As a result, sports properties will compete for the same audience. For the following reasons, this could pose a long-term threat to traditional Indian sports.
Aside from Esports, traditional games rely on lottery participation to attract an audience. These classic games appeal to a technologically illiterate audience and rely on old-fashioned techniques of making money. In India, there are 13 states where these lotteries are held. Lottery Sambad is a Nagaland state lottery that offers a jackpot of up to one crore rupees. The Teer Result is issued at 3:00 PM and 3:45 PM in the Shillong and Khanapara areas, and it is a controlled archery-based lottery game. The major goal of these lotteries is to improve the quality of life in those states. These lotteries are held on a regular basis, with the results published every day.
The growth of esports in the country will increase competition for athletic assets in terms of audience and sponsorship revenue. It will come down to who interacts with and influences the target audience the most.
Esports has a far higher level of fan interaction, and the viewership is rapidly growing. Companies will eventually see the worth of these data, and esports may receive a larger share of sponsorship revenue.
The majority of companies are striving to reach out to Generation Z and Millennials. Marketers are finding it more difficult to keep their target audience engaged as their attention spans shorten. These demographics make up the majority of the esports viewership and are quite active in the industry. As a result, sponsors of esports assets are expected to place a much higher value on their sponsorship.
We will eventually generate world-class esports athletes capable of competing at the highest levels, thanks to India’s mobile gaming capabilities and the influx of global esports players. In esports, we have the most significant potential for global success after Cricket. As a result, it has a global following in a way that most traditional sports do not.
Another advantage of esports versus traditional sports is how simple it is to build grassroots organizations. We obviously fall short in a number of areas, just as traditional sports do, but developing grassroots for esports will be significantly easier than for other sports. This is due to the fact that youngsters are already familiar with and active in gaming, and its reach is far wider and broader than that of many sports.
While esports have numerous advantages over traditional sports, their development may be difficult. On a social and political level, acceptance of esports over traditional sports will be difficult and may take years or decades. It is reasonable to assume, however, that the future is digital and that the future is now.
This isn’t to argue that it would jeopardise the growth of traditional sports. Simply put, they’ll be competing for the same audience, companies, and sponsorships. The rise of esports in the United States will create numerous chances in the future; in the long run, we may even see a merger of the two!