Usually the first question is if the audience is big enough to justify a lot of investment in a new technology. However, the hype may have gotten ahead of VR/AR.

(Edit: I asked a 200+ audience at a Gaming/eSports Conference in NYC during a panel who bought a VR device in 2016 and 2 people raised their hand)

Combining numbers posted by SuperData and my own research, there are roughly 6.5MM mobile-powered or tethered headsets out in the world and 85MM low-end models like Google Cardboard (though many of those have probably been gathering dust on bookshelves since they were assembled and tried out on day one).

Assuming a modest overlap of eSports fans and headset owners, there are potentially several million people positioned to watch an eSports event in VR right now - but a long way to match YouTube or Twitch's scale.

This will undoubtedly grow as big companies keep pouring money into new headsets and technology over the next few years.

/03 THE EXPERIENCE