The rise of esports: How competitive gaming is breaking into the mainstream

A few decades ago, the term ‘esports’ (electronic sports, or competitive video gaming) barely existed. Today, it’s an industry that generates around $1 billion from sponsorships, media rights, merchandise, streaming and more, according to analyst firm Newzoo, with an estimated 495 million viewers.

These figures are set to rise to $1.6 billion and 646 million viewers by 2023, but can it be considered a mainstream form of entertainment? 

If you compare this to the world’s biggest sport, football, which FIFA claims has five billion fans around the world, esports is not quite in the same league. But the above numbers put it alongside the likes of rugby, baseball and basketball, and some reports have claimed that esports is even bigger than other sports. 

Then there’s the general awareness compared to sports – esports has a lot of catching up to do. Team Liquid are not as well known as Manchester United. The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is not the Premier League. Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok may be a god among gamers, but he’s not quite a household name like David Beckham is. (And even Becks is getting involved in esports now.)

However, it’s almost disingenuous to directly compare esports to sports. Yes, they share similarities – in terms of the spectator element, team storylines and the performance factor – but there are big differences too. Esports is sedentary, the rules are set by individual game publishers rather than larger associations, and new games can emerge fast, shaking up the ecosystem. It’s also worth noting that esports is a blanket term for several competitive games. A fan of League of Legends might not be a fan of Counter-Strike, just as a football fanatic may not follow golf. 

Let’s look beyond the numbers and those surface differences to explore the real state – and stature – of esports right now.

Star appeal and sports crossover

This celebrity interest in esports is already happening, and it’s increasing the amount of investment coming into the space. Esports has drawn the interest of big-name footballers and sportspeople, like Mesut Özil, Gareth Bale and Ronaldinho – all of which have launched team organisations.

Meanwhile, several esports businesses are acquiring funding through venture capital firms or investors, like Tej Kohli, who invested some €20 million into Team Vitality in late 2018, while esports jobs site Hitmarker secured more than £500,000 from hundreds of investors around the world. Others are now looking at crowdfunding. UK-based organisation Fnatic raised more than £2 million via Crowdcube last year.

Arguably the one that generated the most headlines is David Beckham – investor of London-based Guild Esports set up in 2020. Guild fields professional players in titles like Rocket League, FIFA and Fortnite. With Beckham behind the brand and other big partnerships signed, it could help propel Guild – and other esports teams – into the mainstream in the future.

“With traditional sports and physical events hampered throughout 2020, an entirely new audience was able to find a home within esports,” says Guild Esports’ Executive Chariman Carleton Curtis. “Not only that, but major mainstream brands have enhanced their investment in these spaces, with many taking stock of the current ecosystem and seeing esports as an obvious entry point. 

“Sponsors and media rights holders are also excited by the size and passion of the esports community, and we are confident this interest will continue to the benefit of the industry. We signed our first major sponsorship deal, a £3.6 million three-year agreement with a leading European fintech group, and some of the biggest tournaments are attracting big-name corporate sponsors.”

Tournaments that saw growth during the pandemic in 2020 included not only endemic competitions like the League of Legends European Championship (see ‘Lessons from the LEC’ below), but also sports-related ones like the ePremier League, the F1 Esports Series and Virtual Grand Prix. 

The F1 Esports Series 2020 drew a record number of fans, with a total of 11.4 million live stream views across all digital platforms (up 98% year-on-year), while participation increased 117% to 237,000 players.

These initiatives have attracted traditional sports fans who may not have previously been aware – or understood the appeal – of esports.

John Clarke is CEO of Gfinity, tournament operator for the F1 Esports Series, ePremier League, V-10 R-League and Cadbury Heroes League. He says: “The lockdown brought gaming into the mainstream with linear broadcasters embracing gaming, and they saw that when done well, it resonated with a broader audience. 

“The F1 Virtual Grand Prix series showed that by mixing young F1 drivers with sports stars from the world of football and entertainers from bands such as One Direction, the audience size can grow significantly.

“The opportunity is massive. Over a seven-week period, more than 35 million viewers on ESPN 3 tuned in to the V-10 R-League, a made for broadcast virtual racing format not seen before.”

Other examples of sports and gaming crossovers include Manchester City teaming up with FaZe Clan for a Fortnite tournament, and sporting brand Adidas signing a deal with G2 Esports as a major partner and sports apparel provider. The International Olympic Committee has also been looking into gaming as a side activity at Olympic events.

Beyond sports, the world of entertainment is jumping into esports, too. DJ Khaled performed at the Overwatch League finals, Riot Games enlisted musicians to perform as its virtual pop group K/DA (which has amassed hundreds of millions of views and listens), and the ownership team at London Royal Ravens and Rogue parent company ReKTGlobal includes artists like Steve Aoki and Imagine Dragons.

Growing awareness

Even governments are learning more about esports. In the UK, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has supported major events such as ESL One Birmingham, while UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) awarded £4 million of government funding to a consortium led by tournament operator ESL UK to create new audience experiences for esports fans, including virtual reality, augmented reality and more.

Elsewhere, councils and property developers have esports on their mind. A multi-purpose 4,000-seat arena is being proposed for Dundee, Southport Town Deal Board wants to open a new convention and events centre, a 1,500-seat arena is being proposed for Bristol, and Wigan’s Galleries Shopping Centre is to get its own new venue as part of a £130 million redevelopment. And they all want to host esports events.

Parents have a greater understanding of what their children are doing within esports, too. The Coalition of Parents in Esports (COPE) was set up in 2020 by the parents of pro gamers and other talent in esports, to help educate other parents and understand areas such as tax in esports, contracts and more.

Anne Fish, the mother of professional British Fortnite player Benjyfishy, and an adviser at COPE, says: “I think it will take a while before we see more regular esports coverage and matches on TV. But Twitch is certainly becoming very popular, hundreds of thousands of people are watching tournaments on there, so it’s going in the right direction.”

Fortnite has significantly helped put esports on the map. The $30 million Fortnite World Cup in 2019 saw another British player, Wolfiez, finish runner-up in the duos tournament and picking up more than $1 million in prize winnings. He secured major media coverage and was later signed to Excel Esports.

Kieran Holmes-Darby, co-founder of Excel, says that esports is becoming a household term, but the understanding of the industry and the big players within it ‘is still definitely not mainstream.’

“Being able to access more areas of society can only be beneficial for esports, so long as the people reporting on the industry are well-informed,” he states. “Proper education and honest reporting of the industry to a wider demographic will be very positive for esports' development.”

At the semi-pro level, teams are crying out for greater recognition to help elevate them to the next level.

Tony ‘Newts’ Newton, founder of UK-based Bulldog Esports, works for the army in a full-time role and runs his esports team in his spare time. He’s planning on opening new esports zones with the army, with multiple systems allowing the forces to play together for recreation. 

“We have to reach the mainstream,” Newton comments. “If we’re going to grow, we need more people to see esports and get more players involved. We need to embrace those outside of esports more to help grow it.”