E-sports: An analysis on global growth, revenue streams, and threats


Abstract views: 528 / PDF downloads: 208

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10030937

Keywords:

E-Sports, global growth, threats

Abstract

E-sports has rapidly become a growing industry in recent years. E-sports refers to organized video game competitions played by amateur and professional players and has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry with a global following. The E-sports market benefits from revenue streams such as sponsorships, media rights, digital, ticketing and merchandise sales, broadcasting fees, and streaming. In this article, a SWOT analysis is conducted to examine the E-sports market size, trends, regional distribution, and revenue streams. According to the analysis results, Match-fixing poses a threat to the E-sports industry. Match-fixing and manipulation in the E-sports industry can be a potential risk due to the competitive nature of the game, which includes the potential for betting, leading to an increased risk of exploitation. Such incidents can undermine the industry's integrity and credibility, potentially causing players, teams, and sponsors to lose trust. Based on regional analysis, the Asia-Pacific region stands out as a leader in E-sports organizations, generating a revenue of $525.8 million in 2020. The Asia-Pacific region's strengths include high growth potential and leadership opportunities.

References

Abanazir, C. (2019). E-sport and the EU: The view from the english bridge union. The International Sports Law Journal, 18(3), 102–113,

Agarwal, R., Grassl, W., & Pahl, J. (2012). Meta-SWOT: Introducing a new strategic planning tool. Journal of Business Strategy, 33(2), 12-21.

Baltezarević, R., & Baltezarević, B. (2018). The impact of video games on the formation of eSports. Physical Education and Sport, 16(1), 137-147.

Boluk, S., & Lemieux, P. (2017). Metagaming: Playing, competing, spectating, cheating, trading, making, and breaking video games. University of Minnesota Press.

Borggrefe, C. (2018). Esport gehört nicht unter das dach des organisierten sports. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 48(3), 447-450.

Braun, B., Stopfer, J. M., Müller, K. W., Beutel, M. E., & Egloff, B. (2016). Personality and video gaming: comparing regular gamers, non-gamers, and gaming addicts and differentiating between game genres. Computers in Human Behavior, (55), 406–412.

Canfield, B. (2017). Case analysis: Gradually, not suddenly: judge john c. coughenour’s crucial role in the legal standing of esports. Gaming Law Review-Economics Regulation Compliance and Policy, 21(8), 634-636.

Carrillo-Vera, J. A., & Aguado-Terrón, J. M. (2019). The esports ecosystem: stakeholders and trends in a new show business. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 11(1), 3-22.

Chao, L. L. (2017). You must construct additional pylons. building a better framework for esports governance. Fordham Law Review, 86(2), 737-765.

Edgar, A. (2019). Esport. Sports, Ethics, and Philosophy, 13(1), 1-2.

E-Sports Global Market Report (2023, March 5). A.I. that produces Intelligence Deliverables in seconds. https://www.reportlinker.com/p06236971/?utm_source=PRN.

Faust, K., Meyer, J., & Griffiths, M. (2013). Competitive and professional gaming: discussing potential benefits of scientific study. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 3(1), 67-77.

Finch, D. J., Abeza, G., O’Reilly, N., & Mikkelson, A. (2020). Esports sponsorship: practitioners’ perspectives on emerging trends. Journal of Brand Strategy, 9(1), 59-74.

Garcia, J., & Murillo, C. (2020). Sports video games participation: What can we learn for esports?. Sport, Business and Management, 10(2), 169- 185.

Gerber, H. R. (2017). Esports and streaming: Twitch literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(3), 343-345.

Gül, M., Gül, O., & Uzun, R. (2019). Participation motivation scale for e-sports: Validity and reliability study (pmses). Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise, 21(2), 281-294. DOI: 10.15314/tsed.563111

Hallmann, K., & Giel, T. (2018). eSports – Competitive sports or recreational activity? Sports Management Review, 21(1), 14-20.

Hamari, J., & Sjöblom, M. (2017). What is eSports and why do people watch it?. Internet Research, 27(2), 211-232.

Hamari, J., Sjöblom, M., & Ukkonen, A. (2016). The sharing economy: Why people participate in collaborative consumption. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(9), 2047-2059.

Higgins, M. G. (2020). Esports. Saddleback Educational Publishing.

Kou, Y., & Gui, X. (2020). Emotion regulation in esports gaming: a qualitative study of league of legends. Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction. 4(2), 1-25.

Kozinets, R. V. (2015). Netnography. Sage.

Lee, D., & Schoenstedt, L. J. (2011). Comparison of E-Sports and traditional sports consumption motives. ICHPER-SD Journal of Research, 6(2), 39-44.

Li, R. (2016). Good luck have fun: The rise of eSports. Skyhorse Publishing.

Lopez-Gonzalez, H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2018). Sports betting and problem gambling: What can the United States expect based on other legalized markets? Gaming Law Review, (27), 502-505.

Newzoo. (2022, March 5). Global esports market report 2022: Esports revenue to surpass $2 Billion by 2023, fueled by strong growth in Asia-Pacific. https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/global-esports-market-report-2022-esports-revenue-to-surpass-2-billion-by-2023-fueled-by-strong-growth-in-asia-pacific/

Newzoo. (2023, March 5). Global esports market report 2021: Revenues to surpass $1 billion again in 2021. https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/global-esports-market-report-2021-revenues-to-surpass-1-billion-again-in-2021/

Newzoo. (2023, March 5). Global esports market report: Revenues to jump to $1.1 billion in 2020 on spectator spending and publisher investment. https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/global-esports-market-report-revenues-to-jump-to-1-1-billion-in-2020-on-spectator-spending-and-publisher-investment/

Newzoo. (2023, March 5). Newzoo’s 2021 global esports market report: The most comprehensive esports report available. https://newzoo.com/insights/trend-reports/newzoos-2021-global-esports-market-report-the-most-comprehensive-esports-report-available/

Pickton, D. W., & Wright, S. (1998). What’s SWOT in strategic analysis? Strategic Change, (7), 101-109.

Prnewswire, (2023, March 5). E-sport global market report. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/e-sports-global-market-report-2023-301742118.html.

Reitman, J. G., Anderson-Coto, M. J., Wu, M., Lee, J. S., & Steinkuehler, C. (2020). Esports research: A literature review. Games and Culture, 15(1), 1-34.

Stanton, R. (2015). A brief history of video games. Robinson.

Sylvester, R., & Rennie, P. (2017). Challenges related to the rise in esports. Gaming Law Review and Economics, 21(8), 625–629.

Taylor, T. L. (2015). Raising the stakes: E-Sports and the professionalization of computer Gaming. MIT Press.

Taylor, T. L. (2018). Watch me play: Twitch and the rise of game live streaming. Princeton University Press.

The Esports Observer. (2023, May 13). Current state of esports associations & federations: The blueprint to understanding. https://archive.esportsobserver.com

Trepte, S., Reinecke, L., & Juechems, K. (2019). The social side of gaming: How playing online computer games creates online and offline social support. Computers in Human Behavior, (28), 832–839.

Van Hilvoorde, I. (2016). Sport and play in a digital world. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 10(1), 1–4.

Young-Nam, S., Kim, M., Lee, D., & Jung, Y. (2018). Attention to esports advertisement: effect of ad animation and in-game dynamics on viewers’ visual attention. Behavior & Information Technology, 37(12), 1194–1202.

Yükçü, S., & Kaplanoğlu, E. (2018). UİK E-spor endüstrisi. Uluslararası İktisadi ve İdari İncelemeler Dergisi, (17), 533-550.

Published

10/27/2023

How to Cite

Sahin, A. (2023). E-sports: An analysis on global growth, revenue streams, and threats. Journal of ROL Sport Sciences, 514–529. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10030937