Are eSports Becoming More Popular Than Regular Sports?
Gaming tournaments were a thing since the early 70s’ but never have they attracted so much attention like they are doing now. This is because of the current gaming industry that really started to grow more rapidly in the early 2000s. However, even if these new events have a massive fan base how do they stack against regular sports?
Well, that’s not an easy question to answer. If we view them as a whole then they are doing pretty well, but that would be like asking someone what is the most popular casino game and they replied to you that it is slots. Sure there are best slots sites out there where you can find content with lots of players, but in general, some of these games aren’t played at all. So, we should not view eSports or sports as just entities that are sharing the entire fanbase.
Viewership in the US
One thing to remember is that young people love to watch both eSports and regular sports, so chances are these events share the same viewers. So, when you stack all eSports views vs each individual popular sport in the US, you get a result where only the NFL can outperform eSports. However, you would still be surprised if we were to isolate only one competition or game from the eSports groups. League of Legends by far has the biggest viewer base, and they are indeed outperforming many of the regular sports events in the US.
Tradition vs Novelty
Sports carry a certain degree of cultural tradition and national identity, whereas gaming tournaments are still new. We are living in a culture where trends come and go, and even games that were huge at some point in time, don’t have the same hype. So, there is a sense of uncertainty when it comes to video game tournaments. Nobody doubts that they will always be popular, but the question is whether the games that are currently playing like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and DOTA 2, will be as popular in the future.
So far all of those titles have done an incredible job at staying relevant, and are probably the best contenders to stick around for the years to come. Alternatively, we can look at them as genres, and speculate whether FPS and MOBA eSports will be as popular as they are today. Chances are they will.
Will eSports Eventually Outperform Sports
This has become one of the most profitable industries of today and has spawned jobs and careers that never existed before. We have gaming coaches and gaming academies, so as long as those things are performing well and more funds are funneled into eSports-related businesses, then they will likely reach the same level as soccer.
Each new generation brings more gamers into this world, and those are all additional eSports fans. Therefore, there is no reason for us to doubt that something like this will inevitably happen.