How Popular Is Esports Compared To Other Sports?

Ever wonder how popular eSports is compared to other sports? Here’s a look at the numbers.

Introduction

Esports is a term used to describe competitive video gaming. It is a relatively new phenomenon, but it has already drawn in huge numbers of spectators and generated enormous prize pools. But just how popular is esports compared to other sports?

There are a few ways to measure this. One is to look at the number of people who watch esports events. According to a report from Goldman Sachs, around 300 million people watched or played esports in 2017. This is already more than the number of people who watched baseball or ice hockey that year.

Another way to measure the popularity of esports is to look at how much money is being generated by the industry. Here, too, esports is dwarfed by traditional sports. But it is growing rapidly. In 2017, the total prize money for esports was around $700 million. This is expected to grow to $1.5 billion by 2020. By comparison, the prize money for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was $400 million.

Finally, we can also look at sponsor spending on esport teams and events. Here again, traditional sports still dwarf esports. But according to one estimate, sponsor spending on esport teams and events will grow from $266 million in 2017 to $696 million by 2020.

So overall, we can say that esports is still far behind traditional sports in terms of popularity and revenue generation. But it is growing very rapidly and could well catch up in the coming years.

Data on the Popularity of Esports

Twitch Statistics

Twitch is a live streaming platform for gamers with over 15 million daily active users. In 2019, Twitch had an estimated 2.5 million broadcasters and 27,000 Twitch partners. The top 10% of Twitch broadcasters earn an average of $3,000 per month from their channel.

Google Search Trends

As you can see in the graph below, “esports” only began being searched for frequently in late 2011. In the past two years, however, the popularity of esports has exploded, with searches for “esports” in Google increasing by nearly 1700%. For comparison, searches for “basketball” have increased by only about 450% over the same time period.

YouTube Statistics

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share videos. Based on a report from Bloomberg News, YouTube has more than 1 billion active users worldwide as of February 2017. The site is operated by Google and is available in 61 languages. According to Alexa Internet, YouTube is the second most popular website as of March 2018.

As of January 2018, the most popular YouTube channel is PewDiePie, with over 57 million subscribers. The second most popular channel is Dude Perfect, with over 43 million subscribers. The third most popular channel is HolaSoyGerman, with over 37 million subscribers.

The most popular video on YouTube is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, with over 5 billion views as of March 2018. The second most popular video is “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, with over 3 billion views as of March 2018. The third most popular video is “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, with over 2.9 billion views as of March 2018.

Data on the Popularity of Other Sports

A recent study has found that esports is more popular than ever, and its popularity is only increasing. The study, which was conducted by the market research firm Newzoo, found that esports is now the sixth most popular sport in the world. That’s ahead of traditional sports like golf, rugby, and tennis.

NFL Statistics

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major North American sports leagues, and the highest professional level of American football in the world.

NBA Statistics

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men’s professional basketball league in North America, composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world. NBA players are the world’s best paid athletes by average annual salary per player.

The NBA was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name of the National Basketball Association at its first annual meeting in New York City on August 3, 1949. The league’s several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in Midtown Manhattan. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

MLB Statistics

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the most popular sport in the United States, with a fan base of nearly 30 million people. That’s more than twice the number of fans who follow the next most popular sport, basketball.

Nearly half of MLB fans are ages 18-34, and the average fan attends four games per year. The majority of MLB fans live in the Northeast or Midwest regions of the country.

Comparison of Data

When looking at the data of different sports, it is clear that esports is still overshadowed by more “traditional” sports. For example, in 2019 the prize pool for The International, the biggest annual Dota 2 tournament, was $34.3 million. Compare this to the $1.8 billion that was generated by the Super Bowl that year. It is easy to see that there is still a lot of room for growth in the world of esports.

Twitch vs. NFL

Esports has been growing in popularity over the past few years, but how does it compare to other sports? Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Twitch, one of the most popular streaming platforms for esports, has an average of 15 million daily active users. The NFL, on the other hand, has an average of 17.6 million viewers per game. So, while esports is gaining ground, it’s still got a ways to go to catch up with traditional sports in terms of popularity.

There are a few reasons for this discrepancy. One is that esports is a relatively new phenomenon, so it hasn’t had as much time to build up a following as traditional sports have. Additionally, traditional sports have been around for much longer and are thus more deeply ingrained in popular culture. Finally, there’s the issue of accessibility: traditional sports are broadcast on cable television, which many people still subscribe to, whereas esports are primarily streamed online, which requires a good internet connection – something that not everyone has access to.

Even though esports isn’t as popular as traditional sports yet, it’s still growing rapidly and gaining ground every day. So don’t be surprised if, in a few years time, esports is just as big as any other sport out there.

Twitch vs. NBA

Twitch, the world’s biggest live streaming platform for gamers, has more than 15 million daily active users. The average viewer spends nearly two hours per day watching other people play video games. That’s a lot of time, but how does it compare to other sports?

The NBA, for example, averaged 1.2 million viewers per game during the 2019-2020 season. That’s less than 10% of Twitch’s daily active users, but it’s still a significant number. However, when you compare the two platforms, there are some important differences to consider.

First, the NBA is a traditional sport that has been around for decades, while esports is a relatively new phenomenon. Second, the NBA is a professional league with teams and players that are paid to compete, while most esports players are amateurs or semi-professionals. Third, the NBA playoffs attract more viewers than regular season games, while Twitch viewership is fairly consistent throughout the year.

Given these differences, it’s difficult to directly compare the popularity of Twitch and the NBA. However, one thing is clear – esports is gaining in popularity and its potential audience is massive.

Twitch vs. MLB

It’s no secret that esports is on the rise. But just how popular is it, really? To get a sense of the scope of its popularity, let’s compare the numbers for two different sports: traditional “stick and ball” baseball vs. esports.

First, let’s take a look at viewership. In 2019, Major League Baseball (MLB) had an average of 1.64 million viewers per game across all networks, according to Nielsen data. Twitch, the leading live streaming platform for gamers, had an average of 15 million viewers per day in 2019. That’s nearly 10 times as many as MLB!

Next, let’s compare prize money. In 2019, the MLB World Series had a prize pool of $ 30 million. The Fortnite World Cup, on the other hand, had a prize pool of $ 30 million – and that was just for the solo competition. The duos competition had a prize pool of $ 3 million, and the creative competition had a prize pool of $ 3 million. So overall, there was $ 36 million up for grabs in the Fortnite World Cup – more than double the amount of money available in the MLB World Series!

Finally, let’s look at social media followings. The MLB has 18 million followers across all its social media channels. Twitch has 100 million followers across all its social media channels. That means that Twitch has nearly 6 times as many followers as the MLB!

Clearly, esports is much more popular than traditional sports like baseball – at least according to these key metrics. So if you’re looking to get involved in a rapidly growing industry with huge potential, Esports is definitely worth considering!

Conclusion

To conclude, esports is considerably more popular than most traditional sports, with a larger global audience and more interest from younger people. However, it still has some way to go before it catches up with the likes of football or basketball in terms of global appeal. Nevertheless, the rise of esports over the past few years has been nothing short of extraordinary, and it looks set to continue growing in popularity in the years to come.