Esports Revenue to Hit $2.96B By 2022

Well, esports fans the time has come to bust out the champagne and celebrate because esports business is good…REALLY good. According to financial services company Goldman Sachs, the esports industry is expected to grow from $665 Million to $2.96B by the year 2022.

The comprehensive report that Goldman Sachs recently put out has come to this conclusion based on what they see as being a massive and expanding market. According to the report, as of 2018 2.2 Billion out of the total 3.65 Billion people that make up the online population are gamers. Now currently esports viewership is only coming from 5% percent of the online population, but Goldman Sachs believes this is going to change in a major way. Right now esports makes much of its revenue from sponsorships 38% of revenue to be exact. However, the reports say that soon media deals will start taking place that will drive esports revenue to new heights. What does the mean exactly? It essentially means you will start to see things like NBC Sports Presents Overwatch League, or even League of Legends on Fox Sports. Admittedly it’s a pretty bold claim, however, if these deals are being worked out as we speak behind the scenes it would mean a huge payday for the Esports Industry.

Of course, you probably saw this coming but the success of Fortnite has also had an impact on this report. According to the report Fortnite has a strong possibility to mirror poker in terms of increasing the prize pool. Goldman Sachs states that in 2003 the world of Poker was shaken up when a player aptly named Chris Moneymaker won a 10 million dollar tournament. This turned the poker world upside down because Chris was simply an amateur player who qualified from an online tournament. Goldman Sachs believes that Fortnite operates in a similar way because an amateur player can beat a pro player based on the random elements of the game like loot and where the circle ends up and other tiny factors. Ultimately more amateur players will be inclined to join Fortnite tournaments because the intimation factor from pro players will be significantly less.

Lastly, the report says that geolocating will be something that will vastly increase their revenue. This may seem minor but it is a fact that shouldn’t be overlooked. In every major sport, you have teams from different regional areas. Those teams then generate local revenue and esports is starting to do the same with both the Overwatch League and the Brand New 2k League. By boosting local engagement in esports the global esports economy will likely see a significant rise. Overall the report brings up a lot of really solid points, but there is also some pretty big Ifs thrown out there that assume the esports industry will play out exactly like the traditional sports industry. Whether or not these ideas come to fruition still remains to be seen.