As the world progresses towards a digital future and an increasing number of people are utilising modern technology, it is time to investigate the esports industry in comparison to the behemoth that is traditional sports. With recent sporting competitions like the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics considering esports as an official medal event, the jury is beginning to swing in the favour of esports being labelled an official sport by mainstream sporting committees.

What’s esports?

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For those who are out of the loop and trying to learn about the subject look no further. Esports is the official term for competitive computer gaming. This means that teams made up of professional gamers will play one another at competitions to become the winner and earn cash prizes.

Esports games are based around different objectives, just like traditional sports. For example, Rocket League is one of the largest esports video games in the world. Let’s take a moment to compare it to its real-world equivalent, soccer. In soccer players aim to kick the ball into their opponents’ goal and after 90mins whoever has scored the most goals wins, with a few extra rules of course. Transitioning back to Rocket League, gamers attempt to score by hitting a ball into their opponents’ goal, however there’s a big difference, in this video game players are using rocket propelled cars to achieve this objective. Obviously, this requires less physical activity when compared to traditional sports, however professional gaming activates the same neural networks within the brain as traditional sports and a gamer must have precise fine motor skills to fly a rocket car virtually.

Esports Players vs Sporting Athletes

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When you think of a sporting athlete, intense exercise and training regimes may come to mind. An Olympic swimmer for example will jump in the pool multiple times a day with training totalling anywhere between 5-8 hours not to mention there’s also an additional hour or two in the gym. One thing we can’t forget about is the insane diet a professional athlete has to stick to which consists of eating strategically at opportune times in order to achieve above the average daily intake to account for extra energy burn. There are also meetings with coaches on race strategy, workout adjustments and competition preparation.

When examining an esports player, surprisingly there isn’t a large difference. Professional gamers will spend up to 10 hours a day playing their chosen video game. In this time esports players will hone their skills in custom practice maps, play competitively against similarly levelled opponents, have meetings with their teammates and coaches around strategy in game, watch back in game film to figure what worked and what could be improved, and of course scope out how upcoming opposition plays. Additionally professional esports players will have both diet and mental coaches to assist in delivering proper sustenance and high team morale.

Competition Formatting

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In sports, teams from the same geographical area compete against one another within a league. Sometimes if the regulating bodies are large enough additional tournaments will also be provided and the teams who play well enough in their respective leagues will be given the opportunity to compete in larger regional competitions. For instance, Liverpool F.C. play within The Premier League which is the highest level of men’s football in England. After playing well and finishing in the top 4 teams of The Premier League, Liverpool would then be placed in the group stage for the UEFA Champions League which is a knockout tournament created to showcase Europe’s best clubs.

Similarly in esports, teams will often compete in local competitions to place for a larger tournament. Referring back to Rocket League, teams compete in their local region across three seasons (called splits) within a year to accumulate season points. At the end of the final split, points will be added together and the highest scoring teams from around the world will be sent to the Rocket League World Championship. Using Renegades as an example, who are an Australian based Rocket League team, they will compete in the Oceania region across 3 splits from October 2022 to July 2023. If they manage to win regularly and secure enough points, they will then qualify for the World Championship in August where they can fight for Rocket League’s ultimate glory.

If you’re interested in seeing what esports tournaments Australia/Oceania has to offer check out SPACEJUMP’s run down of the Australian esports scene here.

Viewership Statistics

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Esports viewership has been steadily increasing since the global competitive environment was born in South Korea at the World Cyber Games in 2000. Esports’ true beginnings can be traced further back than the 80s however since this shift to a global outlook esports has never looked back. Despite downward economic turns like the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 esports has continued to expand and has a current viewer base of 532 million, with an expected boom to 640 million in 2025. The single most watched esports event was the Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore which attracted a peak viewership of 5.4 million individual people.

Although esports puts forward an impressive viewership case, when put side by side with that of traditional sports it pales in comparison. Looking at two of the largest events on the global sporting calendar, the Tour de France and the FIFA World Cup is estimated to bring in an eye watering 3.5 billion and 3.3 billion viewers respectively. To cut esports some slack, the Tour de France has been ongoing since 1903 and The World Cup officially kicking off in 1930. Looking at total global viewership, soccer is estimated to have 3.5 billion fans, followed by cricket which is said to have 2.5 billion, and in third place is basketball with a supposed 2.2 billion.

Industry Statistics

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In 2022, esports will generate a total of $1.38 billion globally. It is predicted that esports revenue will increase to $1.89 billion by 2025. Even when COVID-19 hit the esports industry continued to grow. From 2020 to 2021 the sector recorded a $140 million increase to revenue whereas a majority of industries across the world stagnated at best or shrunk at worst.

Again, global sporting revenue dwarfs that of esports. In 2022, sporting revenue equalled $501 billion, an increase of $146 billion when compared to 2021. It’s estimated in 2026 global sporting revenue will total a whopping $707 billion. It is important to note however that COVID-19 did drastically affect the sports industry. Between 2019 and 2020 the market declined by -15.4% which equates to a staggering $70 billion in lost revenue.