Most people wrongly assume eSports is simply teenagers sitting in their bedrooms playing computer games but over the last decade, that idea has morphed into a bustling industry with an array of interesting characters and activities. Over the course of 2019, there has been a rapid rise in both up-take in participation, media coverage, events, sponsors and investment, paving the way for a momentous 2020 for esports.

Major brand sponsors entered into the 2019 eSports space, included sporting apparel giants Adidas, Nike and Puma. The 2019 League of Legends World Championship tournament event even led to fashion industry heavyweight Louis Vuitton designing a custom made case for the trophy. eSports fans are hungry for more streetwear apparel that looks great but also serves a functional need for their daily lifestyle as gamers.

Throughout 2019, eSports has captured the attention of most Fortune 500 and FTSE100 companies, with the likes of Coca Cola, Google, Amazon, Pepsi, UPS, American Express, Microsoft, Sony and CISCO to name a few, trying to cash in on the growing eSport tournaments. Automotive manufactures Nissan and Ford have launched their own eSports racing teams, so have Audi, so have BMW, so have KIA and Mercedes-Benz and Subaru and Toyota have also.

Celebrities such as Will Smith and Drake also heavily invested into eSports last year along with the likes of Michael Jordan and Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda. They all see a future where eSports is on a level playing field with any other professional sport.

Intel even plans to bring eSports tournaments to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which highlights the rise of this new industry.

In this article, we provide an in-depth summary of how the eSports industry performed in 2019.