Media rights and streaming are among the factors pushing growth in revenues
A report on esports from market intelligence company Newzoo expects the sport to grow quickly in 2020.
Year-on-year the sport is predicted to have 15.7% growth from 2019, not including revenues from betting, fantasy leagues, similar cash-payout concepts, and revenues generated within games – according to Newzoo’s research.
The 2020 global esports market report examined the latest trends and developments, looking forward to 2023. It expects the sport to bring in $1.1 billion (£854.5 million) in 2020, and the audience to grow 11% to 495 million people.
Media rights are thought to play a big part in the revenue growth, with $185.4 million (£144 million) predicted to be made through them – a 17.3% increase on 2019. Meanwhile, streaming still has comparatively low revenues at $18.2 million (£14.1 million), but is growing quickly at 33% year on year.
There has been growing interest in rights deals for esports competitions, as Twitch competes with YouTube and others to corner the market.
One recent high profile agreement saw Google and Activision agree a multi-year deal for YouTube to show Activision’s popular esports leagues. Esports Observer reported that deal to be for $160 million (£124.3 million) over three years, with incentive clauses for ad sales and viewership targets.