Esports industry total revenue reaches $1.5 billion in 2017

Monday 11th of December 2017

The eSports industry brought in a total of $1.5 billion in revenue in 2017, a number expected to grow 26 percent by 2020, according to a report from Superdata.

The revenue growth, according to Superdata, will be fueled by a growth in viewership of 12 percent each year as well as a "swelling" number of third-party investments.

Superdata said that the opportunities for revenue streams are also growing, with direct revenue from sponsorship sales, advertisements, ticket sales and team merchandise increasing.

Investors will also be taking more notice of the space over the next few years. In 2017, around $750 million in investment flowed into the market.

In regards to the most popular games, League of Legends has been seen attracting more active players (84 million vs 10 million), while Dota 2 has been drawing higher prize pools (around $37.1 million vs $11.4 million).

A new game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is on its way to becoming the first Battle Royale esport, with a viewership of 202 million in 2017, compared to 286 million for League of Legends, said the firm.

The study also found that fans predominately used Twitch.tv and Youtube to consume gaming content, with the vast majority using both.

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