Escola Universitària d’Enginyeria Tècnica de Telecomunicació La Salle
Final Thesis
Graduate in Management of Business and Technology
Will the eSports overcome
traditional sports?
Student Promoter
Maties Vall Gili Stephan van Uijtregt
ACTA DE L'EXAMEN DEL TREBALL FI DE GRAU
Meeting of the evaluating panel on this day, the student:
D. Maties Vall Gili
Presented their final thesis on the following subject:
Will the eSports overcome the traditional sports?
At the end of the presentation and upon answering the questions of the members of the panel, this thesis was awarded the following grade:
Barcelona,
MEMBER OF THE PANEL MEMBER OF THE PANEL
PRESIDENT OF THE PANEL
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Acknowledgments
First and above all I sincerely concede my gratitude to my supervisor Stephan van Uijtregt for his well-rounded guidance and support throughout the course of this research work. In fact, without his guidance and remarks, this research would have not been completed otherwise. I express my sincere gratitude to my family, my friends, the interviewee and all the people that has answered the questionnaire. Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to La Salle University for giving me the opportunity to enrich my skills and academic discipline. I am most grateful to all my professors who have taught me, their knowledge and professionalism.
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Abstract
This thesis analyzes the evolution of eSports and traditional sports in three different segments; audience, social networks and prize pools. Quantitative research, in the form of surveys and comparative graphs, and qualitative research, in the form of an interview, has been carried out in order to answer the main research question: "Will the eSports overcome the traditional sports?” Data analysis shows that in the three segments studied, eSports and traditional sports tend to grow, but eSports evolve faster. The results also showed some differences in the age sample, as young people consume more eSports than traditional sports.
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Executive summary
The objective of this thesis is to understand the evolution of the eSports and traditional sports industry in three different segments: audience, social networks and prize pool. Using comparative graphs, we will be able to see how the two entertainment industries have evolved over the last few years.
This thesis studies the evolution of three different segments (audience, social networks and prize pool) of the main events of eSports and traditional sports, as well as the possible factors that affect these industries. To analyze the three segments, we have used comparative graphs that show the evolution of the three segments in recent years. For each of the segments, events and profiles in the social networks have been chosen and put in context to be analyzed. Also, thanks to the responses obtained in the survey, it has been possible to analyze the preferences of fans of eSports and traditional sports. The study of these segments can help to know how far the eSports can go, because thanks to new technologies, they are evolving very fast.
Quantitative research was conducted to better understand the preferences and tastes of fans in both industries. A survey was distributed online with the aim of creating an overview of the Spanish market in the field of eSports and traditional sports, including all types of ages. The surveys were written in Spanish and the results were translated to English. In addition, an evolutionary study was conducted to show a comparison of the two industries.
The results confirm that traditional sports continue to outperform eSports in all three segments. But the growth of eSports in recent years is greater than traditional sports. New technologies are helping the eSports industry a lot, and young people is adopting these new technologies more quickly. At the end, all you need is a device and an internet connection to enjoy eSports.
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Table of contents
Acknowledgements Abstract Executive summary Table of contents List of general figures
1. Introduction 2. Research question and objectives 3. Literature Review – eSports 3.1. Introduction 3.2. What is inside eSports? 3.3. Audience in eSports 3.4. Main tournaments of eSports 3.5. How many revenue generates 3.6. Teams in eSports 4. Literature Review – Traditional Sports 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Most popular sports 4.3. Most viewed events 4.4. How many revenue generates 4.5. Sports teams that have entered the eSports 5. Research plan 6. Hypotheses 7. Methodology 8. Quantitative research 8.1. Questionnaire 8.2. Comparative eSports vs traditional sports 8.2.1. Audience and peak viewers 8.2.2. Social networks 8.2.3. Prize Pool 9. Qualitative research 10. Research finding and analysis 10.1. Overview of the respondent 10.2. Results and analysis 10.2.1. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events
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10.2.2. Followers in Social Networks 10.2.3. Prize Pools in eSports and traditional sports 10.2.4. Analysis of preferences and comparisons to traditional sports 11. Discussion 11.1. Limitations 12. Conclusions and future research 13. References 14. Apendix 14.1. Interview 14.2. Questionnaire questions 14.3. Questionnaire responses 14.4. Other graphs
List of general figures
Figure 1. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events Figure 2. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events [excluding World Championship LOL and Champions League Final] Figure 3. Platform used by spectators to watch eSports Figure 4. Hour per week dedicated to watch eSports Figure 5. Total followers per profile Figure 6. What fans follow most (1 to follow most, to 4 follow last/don’t follow) Figure 7. Prize pools in eSports and traditional sports events
List of general tables
Table 1. Audience of most viewed events Table 2. Hypotheses Table 3. Questionnaire questions Table 4. Chosen events (audience) Table 5. Chosen profiles (social networks) Table 6. Chosen events (prize pool)
Word Count: 10.328
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1. Introduction
What are eSports? How is this industry developing? Will they surpass traditional sports? Do new technologies help young people access eSports events? Which are the biggest prize pools of the most important tournaments? These are the questions we ask ourselves and to which we will seek answers throughout the present work. All these inquiries brought me to state my research question: "Will the eSports overcome traditional sports?" To carry out a proper investigation we will analyze three segments [Audience, Social Networks and Prize Pools] of different events and profiles, and compare it with the data obtained from the survey.
Today, thousands of people watch eSports every day, and this industry has no more than 20 years of history. Video game companies make this phenomenon possible, as they are in charge of organizing the tournaments. Thousands of gamers, as the players in this world call themselves, train many hours a day to be the best. On the other hand, we have the traditional sports, some of them with centuries of history, are still present in the day to day of many fans. This industry continues to grow in all aspects, and thanks to new technologies, some sports have been able to implement them to make a more competitive game.
Finally, being passionate about video games and sports, I have been curious to investigate this new industry and compare it with traditional sports. Furthermore, it is an industry where technology plays a fundamental role in the development, broadcasting and experience of the consumer.
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2. Research question and objectives
Research question is as follows:
The eSports world is increasingly having more media and economic repercussion year by year. Will the eSports overcome the traditional sports?
The research objectives are as follows:
- Know and analyze the audience of the most popular video games tournaments. - Know and analyze the audience of the most popular sports tournaments. - Know how the eSports teams are structured to participate in the tournaments. - Investigate the number of fans in social networks eSports teams and traditional sports teams have. - Investigate the biggest prize pools in eSports tournaments. - Investigate the biggest prize pools in traditional sports tournaments.
3. Literature Review – eSports
3.1. Introduction
According to Juho Hamari and Max Sjöblom (2016); eSports (electronic sports) is as “a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport are facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.” In more practical terms, eSports commonly refer to competitive (pro and amateur) video gaming that is often coordinated by different leagues, ladders and tournaments, and where players customarily belong to teams or other “sporting” organizations which are sponsored by various business organizations. During recent years, eSports have become one of the most rapidly growing forms of new media driven by the growing provenance of (online) games and online broadcasting technologies. It has been estimated that more than 70 million people watched eSports during 2013.
In the other hand, AJ Willingham (2018), describes the eSports as "the world of competitive, organized video gaming." Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers: Fortnite, League of
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Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden NFL. These games are watched and followed by millions of fans all over the world, who attend live events or tune in on TV or online Streaming services like Twitch allow viewers to watch as their favorite gamers play in real time, and this is typically where popular gamers build up their fandoms.
3.2. What is inside eSports?
Within electronic sports we can find different genres of video games. The most common ones associated with electronic sports are the real-time strategy (RTS), the first-person shooter (FPS), the fight and the online multiplayer battlefield (MOBA). The games for the electronic sports with more than $500.000 in prizes in 2018, according to Mediareports, are: League of Legends, Clash Royale, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, Hearthstone, Overwatch, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale, SMITE, FIFA18, NBA2K18, World of Tanks, Rocket League, Halo 5, RainbowSix Siege, Heroes of the Storm, H1Z1 and StarCraft II. Tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championships, Fortnite World Cup, The International of Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm Global Championship Grand Finals, the Evolution Championship Series specific to wrestling games and the Intel Extreme Masters provide live broadcasts of the competition and cash prizes to competitors. In 2018, according to eSportsearnings, more than $131,067,328 have been distributed. The most money earner is Johan Sundstein (professional player of Dota 2), Austrian, with $6,886,181. The video games that have distributed more money are the following: Dota 2 ($ 216M), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ($ 80M), Fortnite ($ 73M), League of Legends ($ 69M) and StarCraft II ($ 31M). Many competitions use a series of promotion and descent games with sponsored teams, such as the League of Legends World Championship, but more recently, competitions like those of American professional sports have emerged, with salaried players and regular seasons and series of events, play-off, like the Overwatch League. The legitimacy of sports as a sports competition continues to be questioned; however, eSports has been presented along with traditional sports at multinational events, and the International Olympic Committee has explored its incorporation to future Olympic events.
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3.3. Audience in eSports
By 2019, it is estimated that 427 million people around the world will be watching some form of eSports, reports Newzoo. A company that tracks intelligence in the digital games industry announced an upward revision in its estimates on the size of the eSports audience. In its report, Newzoo said the global audience aware of eSports was 1.1 billion people in 2016 and will rise by more than 400 million people by 2019. The company says those who watch the events, both occasional viewers and enthusiasts, rise from 230 million people to 292 million in 2016 and will reach 427 million people by 2019. "Explosive growth in coverage from global and local media, an intensified effort from game publishers, as well as the launch of an abundance of new leagues and events have accelerated the global exposure of eSports beyond initial expectations", Newzoo said in a statement. As published in previous projections, Newzoo expectations global eSports revenues to hit $ 463 million in 2016 and top $ 1 billion by 2019. The growing availability of online streaming media platforms, Panda.tv, YouTube and Twitch.tv, has been become a central element for the growth and promotion of sports competitions. The world of eSports looks set to continue to grow, if stats from Major League Gaming are anything to go by. The company, which organizes and broadcasts four events in the United States each year, has seen 334 percent growth in the number of people watching its live video content, according to statistics released. The broadcaster cumulatively received 11.7 million unique online viewers compared to 3.5 million in 2011, and 1.8 million in 2010. Major League Gaming reported that those 11.7 million viewers were predominantly male (85 percent) and in the 18-34 age bracket (60 percent). The audience consumed over 15 million hours of live online video across the Pro Circuit weekends this year. Despite this, several female personalities within sports have hopes of the growing presence of female players. South Korea has several established sports organizations, which have licensed professional players since 2000. Recognition of sports competitions outside of South Korea has been somewhat slower. Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, North America and China.
3.4. Main tournaments of eSports
Talking about the audiences of the biggest eSports tournaments, we can see that in some cases there are more people watching a League of Legends final to a Super Bowl final. The final of the League of Legends World Cup, which took place on Saturday, November 3, in Incheon (South Korea) achieved an audience peak of 205.109.017 spectators, according to EsportsCharts data. These data come, always according to the
11 portal, mainly from Chinese viewers, in case of excluding them, the peak remains at only 1.958.619, slightly lower than last year, when the barrier was slightly exceeded two million. It is substantially above the end of 2016, in which the peak remained at 1.585.072. This event could be compared to the biggest sporting events in the world. As Paul Armstrong (2018) explains, "Most would not expect them to be more popular than the Superbowl but the finale of the 2017 World Championship (Intel® Extreme Masters) in Katowice, Poland just set a new record for live attendance - more than 173.000 attendees - that's about 100.000 more than the Superbowl last year. Impressive considering the youth of the industry but also a huge testament to its' potential This was not what most interested me when the figures hit my inbox Instead, what interested me was the unique online viewers The Intel Extreme Masters World Championship 2017 reached more than 46 million unique online viewers. figure in context, per Nielsen, the Trump inauguration TV audience was 30.6 million, Intel did not get there alone, 70 linear and digital partners produced and distributed content in 19 languages. 46 million represents a year over year increase of 35% for Intel - a similar figure is being seen across the board - interest is booming in eSports and it is not hard to see why. For Business Insider, eSports will be a billion-dollar industry this year and it does not show many signs of stopping as more and more people become aware of the events and fan bases grow. The +$650.000 prize polls cannot hurt to grab people's attention either. Marketers should see dollar signs in their eyes as loyal fans are brand loyal. 74% of the industry is sponsorship and compared to 9% being prize money (Business Insider). Brands have a huge opportunity to connect with fans at events and through multiple global digital and linear distribution partners. Beyond this, virtual opportunities are growing too with +260% growth in VR broadcast popularity and engagement. SLIVER.tv, a streaming platform, created a virtual stadium experience - an immersive 360 ° VR space that includes live stats, replays, and scores in real-time. +340,000 unique viewers tuned into the VR broadcast - that's a huge opportunity for brands."
3.5. How many revenue generates
The global esports market generated US $325 million of revenue in 2015 and was $493 million in 2016. The global audience of esports in 2015 was 226 million people. According to a Newzoo report in April 2017, 42% of the gaming market belongs to the mobile industry, and mobile devices are projected to claim more than 50% of the market by 2020. The sports industry is expanding beyond From the PC and the console, as a Super Evil developer Megacorp created Vainglory, the first multiplayer online battle game for
12 mobile devices, and companies like Skillz bring sports tournaments to mobile games. Other data from Newzoo, reveal that in 2018 the Global Games Market has been $ 134.9Bn, 10.9% more than last year. The device that generated the most increases was the mobile phone, with a total value of $63.2Bn, followed by the consoles, $38.3Bn, and the PC, $ 33.4Bn. Within these data, there is a special game that has triumphed during this last year: Fortnite. This game has been a boom among young people from all over the world. It was the first game that managed to get players from different platforms (PS4, XBOX, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOs and Android) to play together on the same servers. It is also a F2P (free to play) game, where you only pay for the skins. As A.F says (Sat. 27 Oct 2018), "The creator of the video game Fortnite captures 1,100 million euros", Expansion, page 10; Epic Games, creator of the popular online game Fortnite, has closed a round of financing worth 1,250 million dollars (1,100 million euros), led by KKR and in which companies like Ieoniq Capital, Smash Ventures and Kleiner Perkins have also participated. The US company said that it will use a large part of the funds received to be sold in the sports segment and in live events and to develop its Unreal Engine platform. Epic Games, which has a minority shareholder in the Chinese group Tencent and the US company Walt Disney, was valued at 4.5 billion dollars last May by Jefferies analyst Tim O'Shea. Its founder and first executive, Tim Sweeney, is the main shareholder.
3.6. Teams in eSports
According to Mai-Hanh Nguyen (2018) “See how much the top eSports teams, athletes, and their organizations make”: Much like any other well-run organization, eSports organizations have team owners, contracts, and partnerships that fund multiple teams for a variety of games. They often pay for amenities such as housing, water and electricity, coaches and trainers, and the team's food and gaming peripherals. The NFL sells broadcast rights for games on television and through digital channels, and the revenue from that contract gets shared with teams and players. Similarly, eSports can form contracts with different leagues, each of those which has varying types of agreements to share media rights and generate sponsorships. eSports teams partner with sponsors that advertise on player jerseys or through digital media, such as social media campaigns around teams and players. Teams produce a lot of content that features those products and services, and this content can be distributed through streaming communities such as Twitch. All of this collectively makes up a substantial
13 portion of revenue. After that comes prize money, in-game items, and physical merchandise such as hats and t-shirts. eSports Salaries vary by team and players, but the current significant lack of transparency in the world of eSports makes it difficult for players to determine what constitutes fair compensation. According to the professional eSports organization Riot, each team in the League of Legends Championship Series receives an amount of money to provide salaries and help with operating expenses. And each player must be paid a minimum of $12.500 for the 28-match season. However, many players are compensated at a much higher rate. In addition to basic compensation, teams and players can earn additional money by means of winning or placing in competitions. For a five-person team, this could range from $2.000 to $10.000 per player in the playoffs alone and for games like Dota 2, a wildly popular title for eSports, the prize pool can reach over $25 million.
4. Literature Review – Traditional sports
4.1. Introduction
The RAE defines as sport "1. m. physical activity, exercised as play or competition, the practice of which involves training and compliance with rules; 2. m. recreation, hobby, pleasure, fun or physical exercise, usually in the open air". Sports are played all over the world, whether as hobbies, careers, or as a part of fitness regimens. Various games have grown in popularity to amass a huge following across the world. The rules and characteristics of these games are dynamic and are governed by international bodies. Most of these sports are included in the Olympic Games, where different countries from all around the world compete against each other. The sports are also lucrative industries, generating billions of dollars in revenues, especially in developed countries.
4.2. Most popular sports
According to Benjamin Elisha (2018); the 10 most popular sports in the world are, in order from most to least followers: soccer (4.000 million), cricket (2.500 million), field hockey (2.000 million), tennis (1.000 million), volleyball (900 million), table tennis (875 million), basketball (825 million), baseball (500 million), rugby (475 million) and golf (450 million). With a global population of more than 7 billion people, the 10 most
14 popular sports in the world total more than 13 billion followers worldwide. This means that every person in the world follows at least two different sports.
Sports are played all over the world, whether as hobbies, careers, or as a part of fitness regimens. Various games have grown in popularity to amass a huge following across the world. The rules and characteristics of these games are dynamic and are governed by international bodies. Most of these sports are included in the Olympic Games, where different countries from all around the world compete against each other. The sports are also lucrative industries, generating billions of dollars in revenues, especially in developed countries.
4.3. Most viewed events
Television, one of the most important media in history, has witnessed the greatest political, social and sporting events, recording impressive audiences at certain events of global interest. The opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, according to estimates, had records of up to 4 billion spectators, the most watched sporting event in history. In fact, the openings of the Olympic Games are events that gather masses in front of the television, so the second and third place in the classification is occupied by the shows of Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 respectively. Following the list, the World Cup Final (Brazil 2014) between Germany and Argentina has been the most seen in history. We assume that for Russia 2018, the figure of 1.100 million people can be surpassed. Finally, India and the achievement of the Cricket World Cup in 2011 closes the Top 5 with 1.000 million, thanks to all Hindus who followed the event around the globe.
Tournament name Total estimated audience Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony 3.800 million Olympic Games Athens 2004 Opening ceremony 3.000 million Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony 1.200 million 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, Final Germany vs. 1,100 million Argentina Cricket World Cup 2011, Pakistan vs. India Final 1,000 million Table 1. Audience of most viewed events
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4.4. How many revenue generates
By all accounts, the sports industry has enjoyed prolific growth in the last decade. KPMG notes that the entire global sports market – including infrastructure, events, training and sports goods – is estimated to be worth between $600-700 billion year and its growth outpaces the GDP growth of most countries. Meanwhile, the global sporting goods market, valued at roughly $318 billion by the NPD Group in 2014, has experienced annual sales increases of roughly 4.3% between 2005 and 2014 – a rate 1.5 times greater than the broader consumer sector – according to Macquarie Research. And, it is on course to continue growing by up to 5.6% until 2020.
In the branding sphere, the sports sector shows equally remarkable progress: in its Best Global Brands 2017 report, Interbrand notes that it is the second fastest growing sector, with brand values having grown by over 10% compared to the previous year.
The industry’s huge year-on-year increases in revenue can mostly be attributed to the rise of televised broadcasting of sporting events over the last two decades which has, in turn, led to an upsurge in advertising and merchandising sales and brand sponsorship deals.
For corporate trademark and brand professionals, with growth driven by media rights and sponsorships, one result could be more policing around ambush marketing, in a bid to protect the value afforded to official sponsors of events. Clearly, for non-sponsors, not stepping over the line will become more challenging. For law firm practitioners, the takeaway is that licensing and sponsorship work is likely to provide a steady source or work.
It’s worth noting that – despite the growth of media rights revenue – TV viewership, although still significant, is on the decline. The focus has instead been slowly shifting to other broadcasting media, and tech brands such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have made a concerted push to become the go-to platforms for sports fans. For example, Twitter recently struck a live-streaming deal with the NFL, while YouTube locked a similar agreement in place with BT Sport to stream the final of the UEFA Champions League. While traditional media will remain vital for the foreseeable future, there is clearly an expanding opportunity for brands to build and maintain their own audiences for sporting events.
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4.5. Sports teams that have entered the eSports
More and more sports teams are taking the plunge and boarding the electronic sports boat. This phenomenon captivates thousands of young people and traditional clubs do not want to miss this niche of fans. The results, to tell the truth, have not always been as successful as expected, with some teams assuming notorious failures in their first approaches to the sector.
Nevertheless, many persevere and eventually the triumphs come. This is the case, for example, of ThunderX3 Baskonia, the electronic sports section of the Baskonia-Alavés Group and the first sports club to fully enter Spain. The other big sports project related to a football club in Spain was Valencia C.F., which arrived shortly after Baskonia presented its own. They are currently represented in Hearthstone, FIFA, Summoners War: Sky Arena and Clash Royale, a video game in which their entry was recently announced.
In Europe, there are three teams that stand out from the rest: Schalke 04, Paris Saint- Germain and FC Copenhagen. The first two have, in addition to FIFA, major League of Legends projects, although the triumphs of the two have been very different. Schalke will play next season the European LCS, the gold category of the LOL in Europe after achieving promotion just a couple of weeks ago. PSG, on the other hand, have not suffered the same fate and, despite their ambitious initial project, lost their place in the Challenger Series, the second European division. FC Copenhagen's project is quite different from the previous two, as they don't even use the club's name in competitions. North is the brand used by the team, which also includes the Danish studios Nordisk Film, to compete in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, a video game that despite its popularity has not been a priority objective for sports clubs so far.
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5. Research Plan
The eSports world is increasingly having more media and economic repercussion year by year, also there is a lot of teams, fans and leagues that are involved in the eSports world. That's why, the investigation is focused with the question: Will the eSports overcome the great sporting / traditional events? Some of the objectives that I have proposed to answer are the following:
- Know and analyze the audience of the most popular video games/traditional sports - Investigate the biggest videogame events that take place around the world. - Investigate the biggest prize pools - Comparison of popular videogames competitions with NBA Finals, Champions League, Wimbledon... - Investigate the evolution in social networks of different profiles in eSports and traditional sports.
6. Hypotheses
During the last years, with the evolution of video games towards an online aspect, games dedicated to pure competition began to appear, leaving behind the classic leisure or fun modalities, and beginning to appear tournaments and leagues where players face each other to win and earn the different prizes, either metallic or in video game material (peripherals, game objects, etc). With this begins the appearance of players who dedicate themselves to tournaments in a professional way, what increasing the consumption generates the creation of teams financed by companies of the technological sector or simply agreed to take their publicity, event that we find in soccer, basketball and other classic sports, and favor not only the generation of tournaments and greater levels of competition, but also of retransmission of the same ones. With all this already formed, and with the participants of these tournaments on the rise, these players are beginning to be accepted in different countries not only as professional video game players, but as elite athletes, and electronic sports as another form of sport. In Korea, the United States and some European countries it has already been accepted as a modality, and many are the countries and organizations that begin to debate on the correct definition of eSports as a modality of sport.
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The traditional sport has served the man as entertainment, religion and learning, depending on the moment and of the form in which it was used, and like everything, with the time, the society varies, and with it, the sports that are practiced. Nowadays, sports are an important leisure and entertainment market that moves millions of people across the planet and many more in economic terms. Football, basketball, tennis or athletics are some of the sports played today, but there is one, totally new, which is causing furor among young people from all continents, the eSports. These sports consist as their own name indicates, electronic sports, video games in which a person or team competes against others to emerge victorious. eSports are also very like traditional sports, as they are organized into teams and have their coaches and physical trainers. Therefore, this new entertainment increasingly resembles traditional sport, and that's why soccer teams and celebrities (such as Drake, famous American singer) are investing in this sector.
After this brief reflection, we will propose two hypotheses to answer the main question of my thesis: Will eSports overcome traditional sports? The following hypotheses have been thought to answer part of the main question, we will base on three segments that we will analyze: audience, social networks and prize pool.
Will the eSports overcome traditional sports? H1 There will be a higher number of spectators at eSports events than at traditional sports events. H2 Fans tend to follow individual athletes/gamers rather than sports teams/eSports. H3 Traditional sports hand out larger prize pools than eSports. Table 2. Hypotheses
7. Methodology
In this thesis, we have carried out quantitative and qualitative research. The reason why we used both methods is because it is the best way to analyze the information from two points of view: on the one hand, we will have information of people who play or watch eSports and on the other hand we will know what people involved in this sector think about the evolution of these industry. Through the quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire we seek to confirm or not the hypothesis on whether people today prefer to watch eSports events or watch a competition of their favorite sport, among others. The main objective of the survey was to get at least 150 answers from people who know what
19 eSports are and depending on what they answer, they continued with the survey. We will also have a comparative analysis between eSports and traditional sports in three different segments; audience, social networks and tournaments prize pool. With this information, we will be able to see the evolution of the teams, players and competitions in the three segments mentioned above. We will also be able to contrast the results of the survey with these data. Secondly, we have the qualitative method, which through interviews we could know more about people involved in this sector.
8. Quantitative research
8.1. Questionnaire
I have conducted quantitative research in the form of a questionnaire. The reason I am looking for a quantitative analysis is whether or not I am seeking to confirm my hypotheses. All the data collected from this survey are shown in the form of graphs and statistical results that can be seen at the end of my thesis. My questionnaire, written in Spanish, has been distributed by the main social networks, Twitch and Discord. These last two, less known worldwide, are two platforms related to videogames. Twitch is a streaming platform where gamers, or as they are nicknamed there, "streamers", broadcast their games live so that fans can watch them play. In addition, fans can talk to the streamer through the chat and make donations or subscribe (paying a monthly fee of 4.99€). In this platform, I have been able to share my questionnaire through the chat of different streamers and in different games in order to get answers from people. On the other hand, the Discord platform, which is an online chat that is widely used in the world of video games, I entered several servers and could share my survey with people who were on the same server. This survey has been structured and studied before being distributed. In addition, I used this type of research because I wanted to offer respondents an easy and simple way to convey their tastes and hobbies. All the results have been analyzed with an objective language that has been much easier for me to analyze and understand.
To do this survey, I used Google forms, which so far has been the best tool to do it. In addition, this form is the easiest way for me to analyze the results through the graphics provided by google forms. My main goal was to have at least 250 responses from people who did know the eSports, so I started distributing my survey to people who were related in some way to the eSports. After having approximately 200 answers, more than 85% of
20 the respondents answered that they did know what eSports are. But this data doesn't reflect most society, so later I started to distribute my survey through other channels, so I could know how many people don't know about eSports. Finally, when the number of people surveyed was considerably high and the sample was large enough for our analysis, the answers in the form of numerical data were extracted from the google form.
The survey is divided into four sections, where the respondent will answer all sections or not depending on their response. As I said before, the respondent will continue to answer the survey depending on whether or not they know what the eSports are. In section 1 of the survey, I ask for general information about the respondents, such as age, gender and whether they play any kind of video game. The last question (do you know what eSports are?) has helped me to know if the respondents know this sector. As I said before, depending on their answer, they continued or not with the survey, because if the respondents do not know the eSports, it is not necessary that they continue with the survey since all the questions are related to the same topic.
Section 1 General Information 1 Age 2 Gender 3 Do you play some kind of videogames? (including mobile games) 4 Do you know what eSports are? Table 3. Questionnaire questions
Section 2 of the survey deals with video games and streaming. These questions will help me to know if there is a correlation between playing video games and watching their respective competitions. Compared to traditional sport, I can say that people who practice some sport, like to see the professionals. That's why I want to see if the same thing happens between video games and eSports. In this section I have included questions such as the video game you play, how many hours you play per week, if you look at professional players on streaming platforms, the platforms you use and if you can tell me an eSports team. All questions have corresponding answers that have been studied for a better analysis.
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Section 2 Videogames and streaming 5 What videogames do you play? 6 How many hours per week do you play? 7 Do you watch professional players on streaming platforms? 8 How many hours do you spend on eSports per week? 9 Which platforms do you use? 10 Could you tell me an eSports team? Table 3. Questionnaire questions
Section 3 has helped me to know the preferences that respondents have when playing their favorite video game, watch a competition of their favorite video game, play their favorite sport and watch a competition of their favorite sport. Also, compare eSports and sports on social networks, for whom respondents follow most. Finally, I've added a question where respondents will have to link prestigious brands with eSports team, football, eSports competition, Tennis, NBA and Gamer/streamer. They will have to select one or more options according to what they relate to each other.
Sección 3 Preferencias y comparativas a los deportes tradicionales 11 Order according to your preference: (1 more preference to 4 less preference; if it's the same you can dial the same number) 12 Who do you follow more in social networks? 13 What person/team would you associate these brands with? Table 3. Questionnaire questions
Finally, in section 4 I ask them if they pay any subscription to watch their favorite sports. In 2019, all top-level competitions require you to pay a subscription with a television rights company if you want to watch them. Will it happen in the future with eSports? Some people are willing to pay to see their idols, why couldn't the same thing happen with professional gamers? In the last question, I ask them how much they would be willing to pay to see a competition of an eSports event. In the answers, I added the PPV (Pay Per View), a payment method used in the UFC, where the client pays to see that event.
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Sección 4 Pay to watch eSports? 14 Are you paying any subscription to watch your favorite sports? (for example, Movistar, Bein Sports, NBA League Pass, ATP TennisTV...) 15 Would you pay to see the eSports? In all traditional sports you have to pay annually if you want to see the best athletes. Would you be willing to do the same to see the best gamers? 16 How much would you be willing to pay to see the eSports? Table 3. Questionnaire questions
8.2. Comparative eSports vs traditional sports
To better understand the evolution of eSports and put them in context with traditional sports we will have a comparison of three different segments. The objective will be to understand how clubs, athletes and competitions from different countries and sports are growing. The three segments that we consider most important for the study and to be able to understand how this industry is developing are: audience, social networks and prize pool. In the audience segment we will have the evolution of the last four years (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019), in the social networks segment we will have the evolution of the last three years per quarter (Q1-Q2-Q3-Q4; 2017, 2018 and 2019) and in the prize pool segment we will have the evolution of the last five years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Even though 2019 is not finished yet, we will study it because all the most important events, except the Worlds Championship LOL 2019, have already taken place.
8.2.1. Audience and peak viewers
The first segment and the one that we consider most important for the study is the audience of events worldwide. We know that big sporting events are seen by billions of people all over the world, where companies pay millions to have the rights to broadcast sporting events. In football, basketball or tennis you must pay a subscription to be able to watch the best on your television. However, this does not happen in eSports. Nowadays, eSports tournaments are broadcast on streaming platforms, so you need an internet connection to watch them. With the new technologies, more and more people have mobile phones and computers, so every year the tournaments have more online spectators.
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In order to know how much the audience of the biggest eSports tournaments has grown, we will make a graph with three eSports events and three sports events. When choosing the eSports events, we will rely on the largest prize pools in history. These events are organized by the company that created the videogame (most of them, there are also external leagues and companies that organize events). The videogame with the highest prize pool in 2019 is Dota 2 (The International 2019, with $34.330.069 prize pool), also in 2019 we have Fortnite (Fortnite World Cup, with $30.400.000 prize pool) and finally, which was played in 2018, we have League of Legends (World Championship 2018, with $6.450.000 prize pool). On the other hand, to choose the traditional sports, we will consider on the number of federated in Spain in 2018 to choose two sports, and the third will be chosen personally. Firstly, the sport with the most federations in Spain is football (with 1.063.090 federated) and secondly, we have basketball (with 385.110 federated). The third sport we choose will be tennis, as it is my favorite sport. After knowing that, we will choose the most important events in each sport (excluding events that compete nations): Champions League, NBA Finals and Wimbledon.
To measure the audience, we will consider the peak audience and average viewers in eSports events as in traditional sports events. The data we will analyze will be from the editions of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (there are some events that have not been played so we will not have that data). The events that we will study will be the following ones:
eSports Traditional Sports League of Legends World Champions League Fianal Audience Championship Fortnite World Cup Finals NBA Finals The International Dota 2 Wimbledon Man’s Final Table 4. Chosen events (audience)
8.2.2. Social networks
The second segment we consider most important is social networks. Measuring is one of the obsessions of today's technology. Social networks have an enormous attraction to be the main communication space of our time, which attracts a lot of information that can be very profitable once analyzed. Also, obviously, for sports clubs and eSports in general and football. The importance of these impacts is not in themselves or in their scope. The important thing is that they are shared. It is the engagement, the voluntary interactions of the fans with the contents, this is the shares, retuits, likes... This tool is
24 essential nowadays for any sports club, where it can interact with the fans and share content about the players.
To carry out this comparison, we will choose eSports teams, traditional sports teams and individual players. We will study how they have evolved over the last few years and what projection they will have in the future. To choose the teams and players, we will consider that they have participated in one of the competitions mentioned above. The eSports teams that we will choose will be Fnatic (eSports team that has participated in the League of Legends World Championship 2018 and in The Internationals 2019 of Dota 2) and FaZe Clan (eSports team that has participated in the World Cup Finals 2019 in Fortnite). In traditional sports, we will choose Tottenham Hotspur (Champions League 2019 finalist football team) and Golden State Warriors (NBA Finals 2019 finalist basketball team). From individual athletes, we will choose Roger Federer (tennis player finalist in Wimbledon 2019) and Tfue (Fortnite player finalist in World Cup 2019).
eSports Traditional Sports Fnatic Tottenham Hotspur Social FaZe Clan Golden State Warriors Networks Tfue Roger Federer Table 5. Chosen profiles (social networks)
In this comparison, we will consider the evolution of the number of followers of the players and teams mentioned above. The social networks we will analyze are Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook will not be included because you need the Business Manager to know the number of followers from previous years. We will have an evolutionary graph of the last three years (2017, 2018 and 2019) divided by quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4).
8.2.3. Prize Pool
The last segment that we will analyze will be the prize pools that offer the tournaments that we have mentioned. The money that is distributed in these events is one of the objectives of the sportsmen, because the winners take a great part. But depending on the sport and competition, there will be players who take all the prize for themselves and others who will have to split it with the team. It should be borne in mind that in sports such as football or basketball, the players of the team have a salary with the club, and then can receive bonus depending on the results. This also happens in eSports, where
25 team competitions, such as League of Legends, Dota 2 or CS:GO, among others, players have a contract with the team and can earn more if they win the competitions. But there are sports like tennis, that the money that the player gets depends on his results in the competitions. In the World Cup in Fortnite, in the solo tournament, where the 100 best players faced each other to win the competition, the prizes that were distributed were left entirely to the player.
To carry out this comparison, the tournaments that we will choose will be the same as in point 6.2.1. Audience. This way, we will be able to know the evolution of the tournament both in audience and in prize pool. The tournaments that we will study will be the following ones:
eSports Traditional Sports League of Legends World Champions League Prize Pool Championship Fortnite World Cup Finals NBA Finals The International Dota 2 Wimbledon Table 6. Chosen events (audience)
9. Qualitative research
The next step is to obtain information from current professionals who work in the eSports world and therefore have opinions based on their knowledge derived from their profession. With their opinions, I will be able to draw conclusions from professionals in the sector that will help me to better analyze the data obtained from the survey.
Therefore, this ideal method for acquiring the desired perceptions is an open response interview, in which respondents can better express their beliefs and broaden their knowledge on the subject, while allowing the obtaining of truthful observations to be compared with secondary testimonies, to produce a final result that finally answers the question of the thesis. The main research consists of one qualitative interview with pro- players directly related to eSports. The selected respondents followed the criterion of carrying out an activity with a direct impact on the development of competition.
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The interview, which consisted of six questions, followed a structure with two different sections. The interviewee was asked to answer a first set of specific questions to get to know him/her. The second group of questions were from their field of expertise to deepen their knowledge of a specific topic within the eSports. The questions have been a combination of the current situation and opportunities for growth, in their particular sector.
10. Research finding and analysis
10.1. Overview of the respondent
In the survey we obtained 242 responses, where 75.2% of the respondents were man and 24.8% were women. The respondents were of different ages, the three most outstanding being 21 (14.5%), 18 (11.6%) and +31 (7.9%). Of all those surveyed, 83.5% acknowledged playing some type of video game, while the remaining 16.5% did not. Finally, 79.3% of those surveyed know or know the eSports; this means that 192 people have continued with the survey.
10.2. Results and analysis
A process of comparative and statistical analysis was carried out based on the data from the research, the survey and the interview carried out, which included predictions, results and moderators. The study attempted to explore the tastes and priorities of respondents when watching or consuming electronic sports or traditional sports. Through the questions the respondents could convey their opinions and knowledge about this sector, in order to carry out a study on the future growth of this sector.
The analysis of descriptive statistics was used, using the answers of the excel that google forms provided me to facilitate the analysis. The decision to do this type of analysis was because having written answers does not allow a statistical analysis to be made. The questions in which the respondent had to write or choose a written answer were thought to know what knowledge he or she has of this sector, as well as what platforms he or she uses or what services he or she pays for or would pay for them. The answers are analysed to support or not the hypothesis that has been raised, so after carrying out the analysis an answer will be thought for the main question of the thesis.
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10.2.1. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events
The following study shows the evolution of the audience of the following events: World Championship League of Legends, Fortnite World Cup, The International Dota 2, Champions League Final, NBA Finals and Wimbledon Man's Finals. The graph below shows how these events have evolved over the last four years:
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World Championship LOL* Fortnite World Cup The International Dota 2 Champions League Final NBA Finals Wimbledon
Figure 1. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events *World Championship LOL 2019 hasn’t been played.
[Chart excluding Champions League Final and World Championship LOL]
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Fortnite World Cup The International Dota 2* NBA Finals** Wimbledon***
Figure 2. Audience in eSports and traditional sports events [excluding World Championship LOL and Champions League Final] *The International Dota 2 2019 [excluding Chinese viwers] **NBA Finals North American audience ***BBC 1 audience
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In the graphics, you can clearly see how the Champions League Final is the event with the most audience. The data we obtained from the UCL Final audiences are approximate, as it has not been possible to find the exact number of spectators. It should be noted that the audience of the NBA Finals is only in America, and that it is an average of all the games played during the final. In the Wimbledon Men's Final, the data obtained is the audience of the BBC1 channel. On the other hand, the audiences of the eSports events have been easier to find thanks to the esportscharts.com platform. However, in the 2019 edition of The International Dota 2, the data is excluding Chinese platforms. Experts say there were 70M viewers but it's not official data.
Thanks to the information gathered from esportscharts.com, we could know that the Chinese market is the most important within the eSports industry. For example, of the 205M of spectators that had the World Championship LOL in 2018, it is estimated that only 5M of spectators were not Chinese. Most the eSports events are broadcast on streaming platforms such as Twitch or YouTube. As can be seen in the following picture, respondents marked which platforms they use to watch eSports. 47.4% of the respondents (91), admit watching more than 2h a week of eSports.
Figure 3. Platform used by spectators to watch eSports
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Figure 4. Hours per week dedicated to watch eSports
10.2.2. Followers in Social Networks
The following study will show the evolution of the total number of followers (Instagram + Twitter + YouTube) of the following profiles: Fnatic, FaZe Clan, Tfue, Tottenham Hotspur, Golden State Warriors and Roger Federer. The graph below shows how these profiles have evolved over the last three years:
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Fnatic Spurs FaZe Clan Warriors Roger Federer TFUE
Figure 5. Total followers per profile
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To understand this graph, we must consider the different achievements of the teams/players. First, we find the Golden State Warriors, one of the best teams in the NBA. It has a total of 19,766,882 followers (adding Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and related to January-2017 has increased 83.02%. The quarter that has grown the most has been from April-2018 to July-2018, increasing by 10.45%. This is because they won the NBA championship that season. In second place, we have Roger Federer with a total of 19,426,715 followers, increasing 83.79%. In 2017, the number of fans increased by 57.83%, as it was a good year for the Swiss winning important titles. In third position, we have Tfue, who thanks to the impact that the video game Fortnite had, became very popular in social networks. Tfue accumulates a total of 19,280,011 followers in the three social networks, increasing 2,353.14% from January-2017. In fourth position, we have FaZe Clan, one of the most popular eSports teams in the world, with 18,222,187 followers. Since January-2017 it has grown by 86.90%. In the last four quarters has increased 45.88%, thanks to the impact of Fortnite and the players it hired. In fifth position, we have Tottenham Hotspur, with 10,044,634 total followers, which related to January-2017 has risen 132.28%. This year, 2019, the English team reached the final of the Champions League, and this success has been reflected in the increase of fans in their profiles. And finally, we have Fnatic, who has been the profile that has evolved least. From January-2017 to September-2019, it has grown by 49.89% in the total number of followers. The Quarter that has increased more has been from October-2018 to January-2019, with a 12.41%, thanks to the great performance in the tournament FACEIT Pro League Eu.
Figure 6. What fans follow most (1 to follow most, to 4 follow last/don’t follow)
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Respondents had to mark gamers/streamers, eSports teams, athletes and sports teams on a scale of 1 to 4 (1 I follow, to 4 I don’t follow). In the results, respondents prefer to follow individual players/athletes rather than sports teams/eSports teams. Of the 192 respondents, 46.45% marked option 1 in the response [Gamers/Streamers]. This means that almost half of the respondents follow more Gamers/Streamers than eSports teams, sports teams or athletes. However, in the response [eSports Teams] 33.33% do not follow any eSports teams.
10.2.3. Prize Pools in eSports and traditional sports
The following study will show the evolution of the total Prize Pool of the following profiles: World Championship LOL, Fortnite World Cup, The International Dota 2, Champions League, Wimbledon and NBA Finals. The graph below shows how these profiles have evolved over the last three years:
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World Championship LOL* Fortnite World Cup The International Dota 2 Champions League** Wimbledon NBA Finals
Figure 7. Prize pool in eSports and traditional sports events *World Championship LOL 2019 hasn’t been played. **Champions League: winner of the tournament total prize money
To do this study, we searched the prize pools of the eSports and traditional sports tournaments of the last four years. In all tournaments, there is a growing trend in prize pools, except for the World Championship LOL, which in 2017 lowered the prize pool. In tournaments like The International, the company that organizes the tournament (the owner of the video game) there is a part of the prize that is financed by the gamers. The
32 company puts a fixed amount of prize pool, and the players buying the battle pass, contribute to the total prize pool (25% of revenues go to prize pool).
10.2.4. Analysis of preferences and comparisons to traditional sports
In section 3 of the questionnaire, respondents were asked about their preferences when playing or watching eSports or traditional sports. They were also asked about what they liked most about social networks and what sport the following brands were related to. These questions were answered by 192 people. In this question, the objective was to know what preferences respondents have when playing their favorite video game, watching a competition of their favorite video game, playing their favorite sport or watching a competition of their favorite sport, on a scale from 1 (first choice) to 4 (last choice).
Firstly, in the section "Play your favorite video game" 43.75% (84 people) marked the first option of preference, 17.7% (34 people) marked the second option of preference, 18.22% (35 people) marked the third option of preference and 20.31% (39 people) marked the fourth option of preference. Secondly, in the section "Watch a competition of your favorite video game" 23.43% (45 people) marked as first choice, 25% (48 people) marked as second choice of preference, 27.6% (53 people) marked as third choice of preference and 23.95% (46 people) marked as fourth choice of preference. Thirdly, in the section "Play your favorite sport" 40.62% (78 people) marked as first choice, 23.43% (45 people) marked as second choice, 15.62% (30 people) marked as third choice and 20.31% (39 people) marked as fourth choice. Finally, in the section "Watch a competition of your favorite sport" 21.35% (41 people) marked as first choice, 26.04% (50 people) marked as second choice of preference, 30.20% (58 people) marked as third choice of preference and 22.39% (43 people) marked as fourth choice of preference.
The results confirm that respondents prefer to play their favorite video game or play their favorite sport, rather than watch an eSports or traditional sports event. However, respondents prefer to watch a competition of their favorite video game (23.43%) rather than a competition of their favorite sport (21.35%). But 23.95%, marked as fourth option, to “watch a competition of your favorite video game”, against 22.29% that marked to “watch a competition of your favorite sport” as fourth option.
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11. Discussion
This thesis provides a comparative framework between traditional sports and eSports. In short, to know how the eSports industry will evolve in the audience segments, social networks and prize pool. Bearing in mind that the world of entertainment is led by traditional sports, investigate whether the eSports industry will have the same impact as traditional sports. To gain a significant competitive advantage, some strategic elements of competitiveness must be considered. This study has tried to analyze, with the help of surveys, interviews and comparative graphs, the evolution of the eSports industry and place it in the world of entertainment. Through studies and analysis some hypotheses were confirmed or denied. With the information gathered and the answers of those surveyed, predictions for the future have been thought according to the evolution of the teams, sportsmen and women and championships that will help to answer the main question of the thesis. The results have been studied and analyzed to give a vision of the two industries in the three segments in the future.
In general, the results were as expected, as today, some eSports championships are bigger (in audience, social networks and prize pool) than minority sports such as Badminton, Ping Pong or Handball. For this reason, it was decided to choose the most popular sports to know if they are above or below the most popular sports in the world. The eSports show a tendency to grow, in audience, social networks and prize pool. One of the key factors for eSports to accumulate more viewers than traditional sports is pay TV. 14% of respondents (27) admit that they would pay to watch eSports, while 46.9% would perhaps pay (90), and 39.1% would not pay (75). At the beginning of this century it was unthinkable to pay to watch the big world competitions, but today it is no longer so. If you want to see the best football leagues in the world, or the best basketball league, you must pay. The eSports show similar numbers, so, will we have to pay to watch eSports in the future?
11.1. Limitations
For the research questions to be answered adequately and the results to be highly reliable, the document attempted to collect a large sample group of the population playing video games. The study had several limitations, mainly in the sampling and in the average type of people surveyed. A big part of the respondents were mainly young people whose behavior might slightly differ from the population average. They are
34 generally more innovative and accept new technologies more quickly, which may have skewed the results. eSports are consumed by young people who have adapted very well to new technologies. Therefore, the findings derived from this study could be limited to behavior in Spain, or in countries with similar social and economic structures. In addition, the sample size is relatively small. The study can be strengthened by increasing the sample size and including participants from other countries and other companies.
Other limitations of the study to consider are the audiences of large sporting events. The Champions League, NBA Finals and Wimbledon Final are events that are broadcast on cable television and it is more difficult to know the exact spectators. The audience data we obtained from these events are approximate, whereas the audience data from eSports events are accurate.
12. Conclusions and future research
12.1. Conclusions
The future of eSports is here. The competition between "gamers" has always been present, and that's why the eSports came. Traditional sports, which have been with us for centuries, have evolved and adapted to new technologies. But with the new technologies the human has been able to create video games that surpass fiction. Thanks to the study carried out, we can say a very clear conclusion: eSports are a trend. This industry has been developing over the last few years, and it is going so fast that we will soon see that it will surpass some traditional sports.
Thanks to the data analysis, we can see how in the three segments studied [Audience, Social Networks and Prize Pool], the eSports have a growing trend. "A decade from now eSports will be on par with today's traditional sports." - CEO of eSports arcade machine maker, GameCo, Inc. Blaine Graboyes' quote is very general, since to compare these two industries, many factors have to be studied. Traditional sports generate a very large economic and social impact in countries such as LaLiga, which generates an economic impact equivalent to 1.37% of Spanish GDP.
Firstly, the data obtained in the segment [Audience] have shown that the three selected eSports events tend to grow. In the four editions analyzed (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019),
35 the World Championship League of Legends, the most watched eSports event in the world, grows by 369.01%, surpassing the 205M of audience. This data is comparable to the Champions League Final, which during the last four editions, the approximate audience was 350M-400M spectators. However, Fortnite World Cup and The International Dota 2, with audiences over a million, have not been as popular as the NBA Finals and the Men's Final at Wimbledon. The survey results show that 23.43% (45) of respondents marked "Watch a competition of your favorite video game" as their first choice, and 21.35% (41) of respondents marked "Watch a competition of your favorite sport" as their first choice. As Jofre Torner said, “Obviously not if we talk about the Champions Final (numer of spectators), but how many spectators has a Girona - Eibar? About 200,000. Well if we speak in these terms we have already surpassed certain sporting events why in the Katowice that was the last Major were approximately 1 million spectators simultaneously.”
Secondly, the data obtained in the [Social Networks] segment has shown that profiles tend to grow in the number of total followers. The profile that has grown the most, Tfue, with 2,353.14%. The second profile that has grown the most is Tottenham Hotspur, with 132.28%, because it was a finalist in the Champions League 2019. The survey shows that respondents prefer to follow individuals rather than teams. Of the 192 respondents, 46.45% marked [Gamers/Streamers] in the question "What's next on social networks? and 44.27% of respondents marked [Athletes] as first choice. The clear dominance of individuals in social networks over teams is demonstrated.
Thirdly, the data obtained in the [Prize Pool] segment has shown that prizes in events tend to grow. In just one competition, the World Championship League of Legends, in 2017, the Prize Pool decreased by -2.43% over the previous year. However, in all other competitions it continues to increase year after year. The Champions League, which distributes more than 2,000M in prizes to all the teams participating in the competition, is a long way from the other competitions. If it is true, that the prize to distribute is much smaller, since they have to distribute it among all the players and technical body.
The data affirms that, in the three segments analyzed, the eSports are growing rapidly. The main factor that helps this industry to develop is technology. Young people under the age of 18 have access to technology at a very early age, and this benefits eSports. The tastes and preferences of 12-22 year olds are changing. Therefore, the main problem with eSports is that consumers get bored with video games. This factor is key for video game companies to innovate and invent new video games. In traditional sports,
36 consumers are not bored and the data confirm that each year the total figures are higher than the previous year. Football, tennis or athletics have centuries of history, while the League of Legends or Dota have barely a decade of life. How far can they go? Today, some of the world's largest eSports events overcome minority sports in all aspects. But sports like football or basketball are very far from some eSports games. The future of the world's most watched video game, the League of Legends, is the one that comes closest to competing with football and basketball. It is also important to mention that the Chinese market is the biggest and most important right now. Asians are years ahead of everyone else, and without them, eSports would not be what they are today.
It has also been debated whether in the future, eSports will enter the Olympic Games. I think they do not fit in the Olympic games because, eSports are a mental sport, like chess. I do not consider mental sports as physical sports, I think they are two completely different sports concepts. It is true that they have many things in common, such as eSports are organized in teams, they play against others, there are championships, thousands of people watching them... But the Olympic spirit does not fit with eSports because many of the video games are violent.
12.2. Future research
For the future perspectives on this topic one can say that there is potential for further analysis of the future of eSports. To obtain a better understanding, more opinions and statements could be collected from the parties involved. Comments from different clubs, gamers and players would be beneficial for an in-depth examination of the development phase in which eSports can be seen, but also to understand why it is in this phase and what development is expected. In addition to being able to continue researching the three segments, audience, social networks and prize pool, to know how they will evolve in the future. More profiles could be added to have a wide variety and be able to better understand the eSports industry.
In addition, examining factors such as merchandising, ticket sales and ticket pricing could help to gain a deeper knowledge and better understanding of the professionalization process and growth potential. These factors are known to be determinant in sport for the success of clubs and events and therefore play an important role in professionalism. eSports are expected to grow over the next few years, but how far will they go? A consideration of the factors mentioned above would offer approaches for future studies on this subject.
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Mundo Deportivo (2019) “LaLiga genera un impacto económico equivalente al 1,37 % del PIB español”. Available at: https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/20190228/46753851423/laliga-genera-un- impacto-economico-equivalente-al-137--del-pib-espanol.html (Accessed: 3 Sep 2019)
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Newzoo (2018) 2018 Global Games Market. Available at: https://www.newzoo.com/globalgamesreport (Accessed: 6 nov 2018)
Newzoo (2018) Rankings covering different topics in games, esports, and mobile. Available at: https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/ (Accessed: 6 nov 2018)
Sports Media Watch (2019) “NBA Finals Ratings” Available at: https://sportsmediawatch.com/nba-finals-ratings-viewership-history/ (Accessed 2 Sep 2019)
SocialBlade (2019) Followers in Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Available at: https://socialblade.com (Accessed: 28 Aug 2019)
Sullygnome (2018) Summary Twitch channel statistics & analysis. Available at: https://sullygnome.com/channels (Accessed: 5 nov 2018)
Wimbledon (2019) Prize pool and audience. Available at: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/about_wimbledon/index.html (Accessed: 1 Sep 2019)
14. Apendix
14.1. Interview
Entrevista a jugador profesional de CS:GO Nombre: Jofre Torner @XuXe Fecha: Sábado 30 de Marzo Juego: Counter Strike: Global Ofensive 1. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas jugando a CS:GO? ¿Me puedes explicar tus primeras experiencias cuando salió el juego? Empecé a jugar al CS cuando era muy pequeño. Mis abuelos viven en un pueblo e iba allí de vacaciones y me llevaban al cyber a pasar las tardes, y en ese ordenador estaba instalado el CS1.6, que es el juego antiguo. Entonces allí empecé a jugar yo, jugaba a nivel muy casual y me atrajo mucho el juego, entonces quería mejorar. A lo largo de mi vida he ido jugando a muchos juegos, los shooters, como el CS:GO siempre me han gustado. Yo empecé jugando competitivamente al CoD, pero la escena competitiva no
40 estaba tan desarrollada. Entonces hubo una etapa que cambié de mando a PC, y descubrí que los shooters en PC son mucho más entretenidos y competitivos que en consola. Entonces por el 2011 empecé a jugar al CS:GO, después me pasé al League of Legends durante un año y luego volví al Counter para mejorar, jugando día a día. Mis primeras impresiones cuando salió el juego, es que el Counter es muy difícil de jugar y distinto a los demás shooters, pero sí que es verdad que encontré rápidamente la manera de poderlo jugar. El CS:GO es un juego pensado para competir.
2. ¿Estás o has estado compitiendo para un equipo de eSports? ¿Cómo crees que van a evolucionar los equipos de esports? Entre unos amigos y yo, que siempre jugábamos juntos, decidimos crear un equipo competitivo. Nos llamábamos GOD Lions, y estamos jugando la escena competitiva de FAICEIT, que es una plataforma que organiza torneos bastante frecuentemente e intentamos jugar cada semana juntos e intentar destacar. Sí que es verdad que hay gente muy buena que lleva más tiempo que nosotros, pero siempre estamos haciendo un buen papel.
3. En caso de que responda que SÍ - ¿Como funciona un equipo de eSports? ¿Como te clasificas para un evento nacional o internacional? Para clasificarte a eventos nacionales e internacionales tienes que empezar ganando “torneillos” que van organizando semanalmente. Por ejemplo, aquí en España FAICEIT tiene un torneo que se hace cada domingo que quién lo gana se lleva premios de 50€ y además si ganas un par o tres pues se fijan en ti y te proponen a ir a un torneo mejor y así vas escalando. Hay otra forma de llegar que es siendo tan bueno que te fiche un equipo profesional de eSports. Respeto a la segunda pregunta, normalmente los equipos de eSports profesionales tienen los jugadores, los suplentes, entrenadores, fisioterapeutas/dietistas, ya que este juego es puramente mental, y también tienen jugadores mediáticos que no juegan en el equipo como profesionales, pero están ligados al equipo para atraer a más público. Un ejemplo es shroud que juega para Cloud9, que actuaría como un influencer.
4. ¿Qué rutina sigues para mantenerte a un buen nivel? ¿Quedas con tus compañeros de equipo para hablar sobre alguna estrategia? Quedamos lunes, jueves y viernes a las 16h de la tarde para jugar hasta la hora de cenar, esto para mantener el nivel. También entramos en mapas para plantear estrategias que luego intentamos aplicar. Y siempre, antes de entrar en partida competitiva tienes que hacer media hora de calentamiento, como en cualquier deporte.
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Calientas para rendir, por qué sino no mueves bien el mouse o no aprietas las teclas adecuadas.
5. ¿Crees que en un futuro las competiciones de videojuegos tendrán mayor repercusión que los eventos de deportes tradicionales? Obviamente si hablamos de la Final de la Champions no, ¿pero cuantos espectadores tiene un Girona – Eibar? Unos 200.000 aproximadamente. Pues si hablamos en estos términos ya hemos superado a ciertos eventos deportivos por qué en la Katowice que fue el último Major que se jugó hubo aproximadamente 1 millón de espectadores simultáneos. Claro que depende del deporte siempre, el Fortnite que es un juego que está teniendo mucha repercusión mediática, y claro, cada torneo tiene de media medio millón de espectadores. Igual el League of Legends que es el que tiene más espectadores y hubo un torneo con 200M de espectadores y eso es ya a nivel de la Super Bowl en cuanto a espectadores.
6. Hace poco, hubo la Intel Major Master Series de Katowice, ¿Que opinas del potencial de estos eventos que ataren a tanta gente? He leído que llenaron el estadio (más de 10.000 asistentes). ¿Crees que en un futuro irá más gente a ver a sus ídolos en las competiciones profesionales? Estos eventos son muy importantes porque aparte de que se demuestra muy buen nivel por parte de todos los jugadores. Yo siempre digo que el nivel de los jugadores de eSports es muy superior al nivel de los jugadores de otros deportes por que los otros deportes requieren un constancia física y en los deportes electrónicos requiere una constancia mental entonces pueden dedicar muchas más horas y mejorar muchísimo más, por lo que en juegos como el Counter Strike se puede ser mucho más bueno que lo que puedes llegar a ser jugando a futbol. A parte de esto, los torneos generan mucho dinero y se está haciendo una dinámica que se hacen donaciones para incentivar que los premios sean mayores. Entonces, esto a la larga es muy bueno porque si los premios son mayores quiere decir que el juego se vuelve mucho más competitivo, por qué si te pagan más por algo vas a dedicarle más tiempo.
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14.2. Questionnaire questions
Sección 1 Información general 1 Edad 2 Género 3 ¿Juegas a algún tipo de videojuego? (incluidos juegos de móvil) - Sí - No 4 ¿Sabes lo que son los eSports? - Sí - No
Sección 2 Videojuegos y streaming 5 ¿A qué videojuego juegas? - Fortnite - Fifa - CS:GO - World of Warcraft - League of Legends - PUBG - Clash Royale - Call of Duty - Apex Legends - Dota 2 - Overwatch - Otros - Ninguno 6 ¿Cuántas horas juegas a la semana? - De 0 a 3 - De 3 a 6 - De 6 a 9 - De 9 a 12 - Más de 12 7 ¿Miras partidas de los jugadores profesionales en plataformas de streaming? - Sí
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- No 8 ¿Cuántas horas dedicas a los eSports a la semana? - De 0 a 2 - De 2 a 4 - De 4 a 6 - Más de 6 9 ¿Qué plataforma utilizas? - Twitch - Youtube - Mixer - Canales TV - No miro - Otros 10 ¿Sabrías decirme un equipo de eSports? - Respuesta
Sección 3 Preferencias y comparativas a los deportes tradicionales 11 Ordena según tu preferencia: (1 más preferencia a 4 menos preferencia; si es por igual puedes marcar el mismo número) - Jugar a tu videojuego favorito - Ver una competición favorita - Jugar tu videojuego favorito - Ver una competición favorita 12 ¿Qué sigues más en las redes sociales? (1 el que más a 4 que sigues menos/no sigues; si es por igual puedes marcar el mismo número) - Gamers/streamers - Equipos eSports - Deportistas - Equipos deportivos 13 ¿Con qué persona/equipo relacionarías estas marcas?
- Red Bull - Equipo eSports - Movistar - Futbol - Betway - Competición eSports - HP - Tenis - Nike - NBA
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- Banco Santander - Gamer/streamer - Intel - Uber
Sección 4 ¿Pagar en los eSports? 14 ¿Estás pagando alguna suscripción para ver tus deportes favoritos? (por ejemplo, Movistar, Bein Sports, NBA League Pass, ATP TennisTV…) - Sí - No 15 ¿Pagarías para ver los eSports? - Sí - No - Tal vez 16 ¿Cuánto estarías dispuesto a pagar para ver los eSports? - No pagaría - De 1 a 3 mensualmente - De 4 a 6 mensualmente - Más de 7 mensualmente - Pay per view (pagar para ver esa competición en concreto)
14.3. Questionnaire responses
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14.4. Other graphs
Audience World Championship LOL* Champions League Final* Date Audience Avg. Viewers Variación (Aud.) Audience Variación (Aud.) 2016 28.263.260 7.170.546 N/A 350.000.000 N/A 2017 106.269.334 33.219.882 276,00% 350.000.000 0,00% 2018 205.109.017 47.075.297 93,01% 400.000.000 14,29% 2019 Not played Not played N/A 350.000.000 -12,50% Fortnite World Cup NBA Finals** Date Audience Avg. Viewers Variación (Aud.) Audience Variación (Aud.) 2016 Not played Not played N/A 20.280.000 N/A 2017 Not played Not played N/A 20.380.000 14,17% 2018 557.265 249.060 N/A 17.560.000 8,33% 2019 2.334.826 1.149.520 318,98% 15.140.000 8,48% The International Dota 2* Wimbledon*** Date Audience Avg. Viewers Variación (Aud.) Audience Variación (Aud.) 2016 5.740.216 N/A N/A 9.200.000 N/A 2017 11.397.506 4.705.172 98,56% 6.000.000 -34,78% 2018 14.982.064 4.047.554 31,45% 4.500.000 -25,00% 2019 1.968.497 727.009 -86,86% 9.600.000 113,33%
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Seguidores Redes Sociales Fnatic Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación Ene-17 366.170 958.030 315.480 1.639.680 N/A Abr-17 398.881 993.660 315.140 1.707.681 4,15% Jul-17 430.181 1.042.340 314.040 1.786.561 4,62% Oct-17 452.577 1.093.312 318.290 1.864.179 4,34% Ene-18 471.532 1.122.212 322.980 1.916.724 2,82% Abr-18 473.550 1.142.533 323.090 1.939.173 1,17% Jul-18 495.373 1.155.633 323.130 1.974.136 1,80% Oct-18 575.259 1.143.942 362.960 2.082.161 5,47% Ene-19 727.619 1.193.593 419.340 2.340.552 12,41% Abr-19 823.950 1.203.232 448.580 2.475.762 5,78% Jul-19 876.017 1.223.942 474.840 2.574.799 4,00% Sept-19 910.076 1.245.659 504.634 2.660.369 3,32% FaZe Clan Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación Ene-17 1.404.614 2.213.452 4.321.654 7.939.720 N/A Abr-17 1.576.024 2.567.921 4.412.464 8.556.409 7,77% Jul-17 1.717.488 2.862.363 4.489.063 9.068.914 5,99% Oct-17 1.810.204 3.143.324 4.523.452 9.476.980 4,50% Ene-18 1.871.962 3.329.128 4.651.916 9.853.006 3,97% Abr-18 1.956.441 3.427.215 4.812.562 10.196.218 3,48% Jul-18 2.580.204 3.490.672 4.923.815 10.994.691 7,83% Oct-18 3.007.996 3.490.172 5.319.388 11.817.556 7,48% Ene-19 4.231.728 3.533.749 5.573.152 13.338.629 12,87% Abr-19 5.297.667 3.639.032 6.031.641 14.968.340 12,22% Jul-19 6.414.022 3.871.290 6.782.410 17.067.722 14,03% Sept-19 7.113.838 4.020.681 7.087.668 18.222.187 6,76% TFUE Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación Ene-17 23.023 2.156 61.832 87.011 N/A Abr-17 23.498 3.580 62.696 89.774 3,18% Jul-17 23.957 6.782 63.795 94.534 5,30% Oct-17 23.268 8.051 63.731 95.050 0,55% Ene-18 27.843 8.870 65.568 102.281 7,61% Abr-18 27.891 10.324 67.902 106.117 3,75% Jul-18 401.237 183.192 1.634.288 2.218.717 1990,82% Oct-18 1.865.902 596.679 4.471.272 6.933.853 212,52% Ene-19 4.089.144 950.291 7.556.941 12.596.376 81,66% Abr-19 5.370.250 1.384.561 10.067.034 16.821.845 33,55% Jul-19 5.743.319 1.850.447 10.956.339 18.550.105 10,27% Sept-19 5.846.357 2.143.029 11.290.625 19.280.011 3,93%
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Seguidores Redes Sociales Seguidores Redes Sociales Fnatic Spurs Variación Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación N/A Ene-17 971.495 1.750.342 175.840 2.897.677 N/A 4,15% Abr-17 1.079.558 1.932.203 186.320 3.198.081 10,37% 4,62% Jul-17 1.207.811 2.073.402 198.430 3.479.643 8,80% 4,34% Oct-17 1.374.975 2.352.291 209.960 3.937.226 13,15% 2,82% Ene-18 1.641.291 2.610.817 229.990 4.482.098 13,84% 1,17% Abr-18 1.957.243 2.842.582 261.290 5.061.115 12,92% 1,80% Jul-18 2.144.900 2.963.933 279.770 5.388.603 6,47% 5,47% Oct-18 2.816.718 3.078.112 356.190 6.251.020 16,00% 12,41% Ene-19 3.404.775 3.165.667 413.960 6.984.402 11,73% 5,78% Abr-19 3.966.338 3.281.349 471.920 7.719.607 10,53% 4,00% Jul-19 5.166.126 3.523.712 604.010 9.293.848 20,39% 3,32% Sept-19 5.714.317 3.680.082 650.235 10.044.634 8,08% FaZe Clan Warriors Variación Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación N/A Ene-17 5.798.030 2.784.233 356.742 8.939.005 N/A 7,77% Abr-17 6.324.518 3.337.129 388.595 10.050.242 12,43% 5,99% Jul-17 7.038.734 3.983.293 452.607 11.474.634 14,17% 4,50% Oct-17 7.337.775 4.612.712 480.127 12.430.614 8,33% 3,97% Ene-18 7.755.944 5.208.761 519.513 13.484.218 8,48% 3,48% Abr-18 8.155.065 5.673.321 555.385 14.383.771 6,67% 7,83% Jul-18 9.363.345 5.912.374 610.663 15.886.382 10,45% 7,48% Oct-18 9.603.384 5.880.341 633.539 16.117.264 1,45% 12,87% Ene-19 10.497.684 5.934.772 657.463 17.089.919 6,03% 12,22% Abr-19 11.218.018 5.983.109 682.108 17.883.235 4,64% 14,03% Jul-19 12.389.624 6.239.031 745.389 19.374.044 8,34% 6,76% Sept-19 12.691.049 6.309.476 766.357 19.766.882 2,03% TFUE Roger Federer Variación Date Instagram Twitter YouTube Total Followers Variación N/A Ene-17 2.506.962 6.306.312 32.972 8.846.246 N/A 3,18% Abr-17 3.005.205 6.912.973 33.134 9.951.312 12,49% 5,30% Jul-17 3.379.518 7.535.128 33.167 10.947.813 10,01% 0,55% Oct-17 3.925.737 9.390.826 33.273 13.349.836 21,94% 7,61% Ene-18 4.168.370 10.935.484 33.279 15.137.133 13,39% 3,75% Abr-18 4.861.339 12.322.731 33.528 17.217.598 13,74% 1990,82% Jul-18 5.082.061 12.384.024 33.524 17.499.609 1,64% 212,52% Oct-18 5.402.553 12.373.007 33.571 17.809.131 1,77% 81,66% Ene-19 5.566.876 12.335.749 33.502 17.936.127 0,71% 33,55% Abr-19 5.915.359 12.448.305 33.525 18.397.189 2,57% 10,27% Jul-19 6.271.630 12.521.196 33.591 18.826.417 2,33% 3,93% Sept-19 6.762.640 12.630.473 33.602 19.426.715 3,19%
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Total Prize Pool World Championship LOL* Champions League** Date Prize Pool Variación Prize Pool Variación 2015 2.130.000 N/A 60.000.000 N/A 2016 5.070.000 138,03% 60.000.000 0,00% 2017 4.946.969 -2,43% 60.000.000 0,00% 2018 6.450.000 30,38% 82.000.000 36,67% 2019 Not played N/A 82.000.000 0,00% Fortnite World Cup Wimbledon Date Prize Pool Variación Prize Pool Variación 2015 Not played N/A 32.522.596 N/A 2016 Not played N/A 34.163.923 5,05% 2017 Not played N/A 38.419.216 12,46% 2018 6.018.000 N/A 41.337.132 7,59% 2019 30.400.000 405,15% 46.200.324 11,76% The International Dota 2 NBA Finals Date Prize Pool Variación Prize Pool Variación 2015 18.429.613 N/A 14.000.000 N/A 2016 20.770.460 12,70% 15.000.000 7,14% 2017 24.687.919 18,86% 15.000.000 0,00% 2018 25.532.177 3,42% 20.000.000 33,33% 2019 34.308.060 34,37% 22.000.000 10,00%
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