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Find the latest statistics and facts about the eSports market

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Skills that are needed for Esports future

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Skills that are needed for Esports future

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Esports is a multi-million pound industry full of opportunities. Whether a gamer, marketer, event planner, agent or developer, start planning your future here.

Welcome to the world of esports and the vast amount of career pathways it offers. Esports isn't just about professional gamers, it's a rapidly growing industry with a wealth of career prospects and opportunities.

From event management to data analysis, shoutcasting or esports psychology, explore the diverse and exciting career avenues that await in the ever-evolving landscape of competitive gaming.

Whether you're an aspiring esports enthusiast or a professional looking for a career change, the world of esports has something for everyone.

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Discover a range of career pathways in esports. Develop transferable skills for a career in digital, STEM or other creative industries.

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There are many different roles available within esports - we list the main types and explain what they involve...

As esports has grown, so too have the job positions available.

Some are more hands-on than others, with different working requirements and tasks varying greatly depending on the role.

Click each job role below for more specific details, or click here for a brief overview of all esports job roles.

These are usually signed to a particular team and will compete in different tournaments for prize money. Wages vary, but the world's top pros can potentially earn hundreds of thousands of pounds per annum taking into consideration their wage, sponsorship deals and prize winnings.

Pros usually start off in amateur or grassroots tournaments - or reach the higher rankings within a particular game - before catching the attention of bigger teams.

Casters are esports commentators who provide running commentary during live matches, and usually engage in discussion before and after games. They may also be required to interview players and other experts.

Like football and other sports, there are generally two types of esports shoutcasters - play-by-play casters (who provide running on-the-fly commentary) and colour casters (who provide supplementary information or comment, usually following a noteworthy moment in a game).

A host will be the public face of a particular event or tournament. They will introduce matches, may interview players after games and discuss key moments with casters and analysts.

Like a TV host, they will communicate with the viewers to provide an entertaining and fun show. Hosts will usually have a strong personality and good social/communication skills.

Analysts are experts at taking information and using it to provide interesting stats or learn from it, either for a particular team, tournament provider, broadcaster or game developer. Team analysts usually work with coaches to generate strategies, analyse strengths and weaknesses, and communicate this to the players in order to get the best out of them.

Coaches work closely with the players, to identify their strengths and weaknesses and make sure they are playing at their best. They will develop strategies and analyse opponents in order to win as many matches - and tournaments - as possible.

Coaches may also be required to take care of day-to-day tasks in the team's gaming house, ensure everyone is on the same page and make sure the environment is right for the players.

This can be an incredibly varied and hands-on - but very rewarding - role. Team managers can be responsible of all kinds of things, from arranging player contracts, finding new talent, motivating and instructing existing staff and players, entering tournaments, dealing with travel and accommodation, and developing the team's brand, strategy and partnerships.

Other senior executives within a team or organisation may look after other areas, such as sales, partnerships and business development.

Admins and referees ensure an esports tournament runs smoothly and that all rules and regulations are adhered to.

They may have to deal with player disputes, work with event and broadcast staff to make sure everything runs on time, and organise the tournament schedule.

Esports teams and other companies may hire their own content creators, who may be required to write news, edit videos, handle copywriting, conduct interviews and write about partnerships and sponsorships.

Sometimes this role will cross over into social media/community management.

Similar to a content creator, journalists usually work for a publication and their focus will be more objective.

Journalists will often seek out exclusive stories, conduct investigative reports or uncover scoops. They will be required to conduct interviews, write articles, grow a varied contact book and stick to tight deadlines. They may also be required to produce video content and post updates on social media.

Established teams and companies will usually have a separate department responsible for public relations and marketing.

PR executives will work with journalists and influencers to secure positive and high-profile coverage for their brand, while marketing executives may be responsible for maintaining a budget, placing advertisements and signings sponsorships to grow their fanbase or customerbase.

Some executives will look after both PR and marketing within their company. There are also external PR/marketing agencies that can look after several different brands.

Marketers and promoters can be key to the success of a particular tournament or esports event.

Community managers are responsible for looking after the fanbase or customerbase of a particular game, company or team.

They may be required to produce interesting and engaging content for the community, track the amount of fans, handle promotions, competitions and other initiatives, gather feedback and relay it to other teams within the company.

Like sales positions in other industries, sales in esports is very similar. Sales executives or managers may be responsible for ticket sales, sponsorship agreements, hardware sales, growing their customerbase or fanbase, and coming up with new ideas to generate excitement around a brand and generate revenues.

Sales positions are generally commission-focused, so the worker will receive a higher paycheque depending on the amount of sales they have accumulated within a particular month, or if they have hit a certain target.

Esports teams may also have their own partnership executives who are required to establish relations with other companies and partners.

They will work on joint projects with partners and sponsors, help generate revenues for the team and work on initiatives designed to engage and monetise their fanbase.

Esports agents will aim to get the possible contract and deals for their players. They will negotiate on the player's behalf, manage partnerships and present players with different opportunities in order to grow their stature and revenues.

Agents will usually take a commission from any deals they strike.

These managers will be responsible for organising and overseeing live or online esports events.

They may be required to develop strategies, work with different departments and partners on content and ensure everything is in place to oversee a successful event.

People in the broadcast and production department at an esports event will be working on a wide range of activities, from lighting and camera work, to ensuring all the technicalities are working correctly, such as the streaming set up and any screens/projectors/speakers, and will have to work to a set schedule.

Video production staff may need to record additional interviews before the event and edit them in.

Some esports studios will have their own dedicated broadcast/production rooms for staff to work.

Legal/finance

Lawyers, legal experts, accountants and solicitors will usually help esports teams and companies produce contracts, settle disputes (inside and out of the court, or through arbitration), restructure and work on any complicated legal matters.

Some organisations will have internal finance staff to keep on top of accounts and manage incomings and outgoings. These areas can be well-paid but will usually require a degree or other higher education qualification.

Other careers

This is just an example of some of the more well-known jobs within esports. There are other careers and specialist jobs that may not be mentioned here.

Outside of esports, there are many other jobs in the games industry which may crossover into esports, for example game developers, audio engineers, publishers and testers.
Click here for more details on other jobs in gaming outside of esports.
More info
Click here to visit our careers hub for more information on jobs in esports. See the latest jobs in esports here

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There are many different roles available within esports - we list the main types and explain what they involve... As esports has grown, so too have the

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An updated list of statistics and data about the growing esports space.

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Written by Daniel Higginbotham, EditorProspects · December 2023

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Get into video gaming | Learn to code | Prospects.ac.uk

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With the UK’s gaming industry now worth over £4.5billion, explore the many video game careers available for keen and talented enthusiasts to pursue.

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British Esports diversity and inclusivity initiative, Women in Esports, is focused on creating a more welcoming industry for women and marginalised genders.

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11 Esports Marketing Strategies That Will Get You In The Game - Unlimited Graphic Design Service

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For such arcane traffic like esports, some marketers might scoff at the idea of dipping their toes into this industry. But with around 865 million US dollars garnered in the esports market last 2018, will small and big brands steer its advertising course toward esports marketing?

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5 Steps For Success In Consumer Immersion — Ideas To Go

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Customer immersions can be tricky to execute. Use these 5 tips to successfully run a consumer immersion and turn it into strategic momentum.

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Strengths - Accessibility. Anyone can play. Weather doesn't affect when game time happens. It's an activity during lockdown events (e.g. covid). Minimal equipment. Media growth and recognition. Allows for creativity. Can socialise with friends and play with them. Can make a career out of it. There's no off season meaning you play when you want for however long you want. No restrictions. Earn money from tournaments. Government funds and creative opportunity. Can livestream and gain interaction.

Weaknesses - Addiction. Health and mental concerns. Causes rage and anger. Internet issues. Cost of equipment. Can get lonely with lack of human interaction. May be in a household of people who don't understand esports. Develop issues within the body as you get older. Lack of sleep and concentration. Lack of regulation.

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Esports with Its Strengths and Weaknesses

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This article is based on the findings of a study titled ’Esports with Its Strengths and Weaknesses: A Qualitative Study Based on the…

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Esports -June 25th 2024

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Esports -June 25th 2024

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Strengths

-hundreds of colleges, schools and universities taking part in tournaments

-host live events allow involvement from fans

-UK hosts International events

-the UK continues to produce top-class casters, hosts and interviewers

-There is a talented generation coming through

Weaknesses

-the industry growing too fast after the pandemic boom

-over-hiring

-Not paying players and staff (either on time or at all)

-poor management

-overpromising and under-delivering

-investment drying up

-UK esports – and esports globally – is fragile.

-a lack of money has been a challenge

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The current state of UK esports: strengths & weaknesses

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In collaboration with the betting partner GGBET UK, Dom Sacco writes an opinion piece on the current state of esports in the UK.

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Strengths:

Anyone can watch for free via YouTube and Twitch

Anyone can play unlike in traditional sports due to the lack of physical attributes required

Isn't limited to a niche or genre as all types of games are available.

People can connect from anywhere through the games that they play/watch.

Thrives in pandemic situations such as Covid-19 due to it being all electronic

Weaknesses:

Can become obsessive if not moderated correctly

Can cause joint pains due to excessive time gaming

Lack of physical activity leading to things such as obesity

Can affect a person's sleep schedule negatively

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eSports SWOT Analysis: Strengths Outnumber Weaknesses

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Our eSports SWOT Analysis casts a light on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the competitive online world of multiplayer gaming.

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STRENGTHS

massive audience and viewership

sponsors like cocacola and redbull

WEAKNESSES

Toxicity of players

limited infrastructure

regulations

cheating

OPPORTUNITIES

professionalism

structural and efficiency plays

new payment operations

THREATS

segmented fanbase

game disruption

healthy living advocacy

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Recently, STG conducted a research study into the esports industry. Here are some insights we have learned about esports:

Esports is attracting a massive audience, and viewership is growing. The industry engaged 380 million fans in 2017 and is expected to grow to 590 million by 2020. At a global level esports has reached 88% of people aged 18-39 in some capacity. Esports is so pervasive because it is a global industry, with a universal appeal. It has robust fan engagement and engages younger audiences through technology in a way that we aren't seeing in traditional sports, or any other content producer for that matter.

The esports industry has had significant year-over-year growth (+38.2% in 2018 so far) and is just beginning to be tapped. Do to low barriers to entry, and the connections fans feel with their esports idols through social media (Twitch streaming, Twitter, etc.). This has drawn the attention of major sponsors, like CocaCola and Red Bull. These big name brands see esports as the perfect opportunity to reach the traditionally inaccessible male aged 18-25 target market.

Since esports have been launched into the public sphere, the industry is exploding and its strengths will continue to propel the industry in the upcoming years.

With rapid growth comes limited infrastructure. There are many participants in gaming, but there has been little progress made in creating a development pathway or formalized training. This has led to a lack of education around professionalism amongst esports athletes. This has caused a serious backlash in different situations.

Industry regulations of oversight have also been slow to develop. Major issues that come from this lack of infrastructure concern travel, health and safety, and defined competitive seasons. There are also no regulations over the ownership of the uberous amounts of data the industry generates. This lack of regulation has even led to players not being paid.

While esports has been exploding, there is still some hesitation outside the ecosystem about what esports even is. The lack of education has been a roadblock for some sponsors, parents, and the traditional sports industry.

Cheating has also been a problem (just like in sports) that has emerged from the professionalization of the esports industry. The types of cheating include a player playing under another's name to boost their ranking, through drivers/hard drives/internet access windows, using the crowd, drug usage, and match-fixing.

Professionalism:

Professionalism has just started being raised as an issue within the esports ecosystem. Players - win or lose - have just spent the majority of their career in front of a computer, and not in front of a crowd. Further, they may have even been rewarded for explosive and unprofessional behaviour while streaming by enthusiastic fans. Establishing training programs and education around their new status as role models, and clarity about the consequences for unprofessional behaviour is a huge opportunity for all of the esports ecosystem.

Structural & Efficiency Plays

By creating development pathways and structured esports programs in schools, participation will continue to grow. Having a larger participation base will increase the level of play and continue to enhance the fan experience across all esports. Already, training facilities are beginning to pop up to groom the younger generations for careers in esports.

New Payment Operations

With a lack of infrastructure leading to some players not being compensated by their professional teams, players are always looking for new ways to monetize. These gamers also come from the most tech-savvy generation. 75% of gamers wish they could exchange their virtual goods in games for a digital currency ( Engin is trying to fill this void). Esports betting could also lead to further monetization for esports players.

Team Liquid fans cheer at The International 7, a Dota 2 tournament.

Segmented Fanbase

As a result of a global fan base, it is difficult for sponsors to target specific markets. With sponsors unsure of how to get involved, or not seeing a return on the investment, they could turn down the opportunity to participate in the industry.

There are also so many games that fall under the extremely broad 'esports' term creating a very segmented and spread out fan base. This creates the potential for different esports to struggle if they are only popular in specific markets.

Game Disruption

While some games, like League of Legends, have been around for a while, and seem to have cemented themselves as an esports staple, the industry is very volatile. As computer graphics and design continue to improve and new games are released (ie. Fortnite) any game can lose popularity at any time. This means esports players also need to be versatile, adapting to new games as well as specializing.

Healthy Living Advocacy

Esports has a reputation for encouraging lazy health and fitness habits - eating poorly, sitting in a chair, staring at a computer screen for many consecutive hours (see South Park WoW episode). This is a PR problem for the industry and makes parents very nervous when their kids show interest in esports.

For further insight into the Esports industry, and how it operates sign up and receive our full report!

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Recently, STG conducted a research study into the esports industry. Here are some insights we have learned about esports: Esports is attracting a massive audience, and viewership is growing. The industry engaged 380 million fans in 2017 and is expected to grow to 590 million by 2020.

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Esports: How can they keep growing in 2023?

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Industry experts to explore how esports are trying to keep growing their audience in 2023.

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How advanced technology drives the esports industry forward

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In the last several years, the esports sector has expanded significantly compared to its early days. It’s easy to think that esports culture is similar to - May 23, 2022 - WIN.gg

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Free PESTEL Analysis | Free PESTEL Aanlysis

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PESTLE Analysis of Gaming Industry | Free PESTEL Analysis

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The PESTLE analysis of Gaming Industry determines the impact external environment factors on the industry and the subsequent effect of its growth and profits.

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New ‘exciting and fun’ Nottingham College esports course ‘is not just gaming’

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The new facilities are located at the college’s City Hub and cost £140,000

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Current issues of sustainability in esports - International Journal of Esports

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An open-access peer-reviewed journal publishing research in Esports. We welcome research articles in Esports across all specialties.

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How Technology is Shaping the Future of Esports » The SportsLite

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Explore the impact of technology on the future of esports. Dive into the innovations shaping the gaming landscape and player experiences.

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Ten years ago, few people believed that playing video games as a competitive professional sport could become a billion dollar industry. Yet this is precisely what has happened. Within just one decade, the esports industry has grown tremendously and is expected to make more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2019 . Many investors are looking at the industry as a new investment opportunity and are establishing new esport teams to compete in official tournaments. To understand how these esport teams have achieved such financial success, this article will analyze the competitive online video game, League of Legends (LOL). This game's success is remarkable-viewers recently spent a total of 10.65 million hours watching the games in just a span of 8 days during LOL's biggest international tournament, the League of Legends World Championship . This is a result of both the game's international popularity and an organized league structure that has made esports teams willing to compete.
Sponsorships
Many esports teams make a majority of their revenue, approximately 90%, from sponsorships and advertising . These revenue streams include sponsorships in exchange for advertisement on the player's jerseys, similar to those of traditional sports. For example, the energy drink brand Red Bull and the smartphone company HTC have jersey sponsorships for , a legacy esports team. These sponsorships allow companies to gain nationwide recognition, and potentially international recognition as well if the esports team qualifies for international tournaments. While jersey sponsorships are not as effective as they would be in traditional sports since the camera is not centered around the players, the main reason why they still sponsor esports teams is due to the teams' strong social media presence. In the digital age, esport teams allow sponsors to target demographics that have been traditionally difficult to reach through standard marketing tactics. Millennials typically watch less television and listen to the radio less often than older demographics, increasing the importance of social media marketing. Players and sponsors will typically collaborate on advertising campaigns; Grubhub, for example, recently posted several videos on their Youtube channel featuring Cloud9 players. Research has found that the average age of esports viewers is 29, with 39% of the total audience in the 25-34 age range , thus illustrating the effectiveness of marketing towards a young audience through esports.
Prize Money
Prize money in esports is increasing at an incredible rate. While prize pools amounted to a mere couple thousand dollars at most in the past, they now reach several million dollars for large competitions. League of Legends for example distributed a total of $4.9 million for their World Championships last year to teams according to their final standings. This money does not go directly to the players, and most of it is absorbed by the organization as revenue. The esports team in this sense acts like a company, with the players as employees on yearly contracts. This meaning that the liability/ownership of any team related events are all held by the team owners. Domestically, teams in the North American League Championship Series (NALCS), after the franchising starting from 2018, are entitled to 32.5 percent of the league's revenues. Half of this is evenly distributed, while the other half is allocated according to each team's standings and viewer/fan engagement contribution . The way in which the last component is measured is not explicitly stated, but is predicted to be mainly related with the peak and average viewership of the team's games throughout the season . The fan base growth incentive is a big priority for the League's organizers, with several the questions they ask new teams being: How does the team plan to engage with and acquire fans? What's their strategy for providing value to fans through merchandise, content and other opportunities? Why should fans support them? The league only allowing teams who plan to work on fan engagement to compete.
Merchandise Sales
Each esports team similar to traditional sports offers apparel and other related merchandise. These include jerseys to t-shirts, and also other gaming related goods such as mouse pads which target their unique audience . Teams take various approaches such as the 100 Thieves, a new team formed in 2018, which uses a "hypebeast" style of merchandising, with high prices and limited quantity. This has been very successful for them with apparel selling out within 20 minutes of release . This is not surprising considering the low elasticity of demand that a lot of these core fans have. By setting price high and quantity low, 100 Thieves also attempts to make team merchandise into a Veblen good, a good that is demanded more when prices are high, as the good has value as a status symbol. One issue stopping many teams from getting larger income from this sector is that esports stadiums are still very small compared to traditional professional sports. Since less fans can attend the actual games in person, it lacks incentive for fans to support teams at the stadium by wearing merchandise. A research paper, "Comparison of eSports and Traditional Sports Consumption Motives" by Donghun Lee, Ball State University and Linda J. Schoenstedt, Xavier University , addresses this difference in esports and traditional sport fan behaviors . In their analysis, it is shown that compared to traditional sports, esport consumers spend relatively little on sport merchandise and attendance. Therefore it may be fair to assume that this is not an area of priority from the esports team's perspective. Merchandise will most likely stay a smaller portion of the team's revenue in the long run, even as the industry continues to mature, due to the fundamental differences in consumption and fan support as discussed. This fact further justifies 100 Thieves' stance on team merchandise as a component that improves their team value rather than one that significant profits can be made through.
Content Creation
Although very small compared to the other sectors, esports teams also make money through content creation on platforms such as Youtube and Twitch. Popular teams like Team Solo Mid have regular videos on how the teams are doing, and these videos rack up above 100,000 views each . With advertisement revenues on each view, the teams can keep funding high quality videos. Teams like Team Liquid take this onto a higher level by partnering with 1 Up Studios, an esports production company, showing just how much care they put into this sector. The income from this sector is very small and for some teams is a loss, but its spillover effects are huge in terms of reaching new audiences and expanding their fan base. The fan base, as we can see, being the number one priority in attracting sponsors.
Initial Investments
Many new Esport teams require significant investments on top of sponsorships in order to pay for the costs listed below. While raising cash for esport teams was very difficult in the past, this is becoming much easier with esports becoming more recognized. Cloud 9, recently raised $50 million through their series B funding round, led by Valor Equity Partners. They intend to use this money in constructing their training facility which they will also use as an office. Individuals are also investing large amounts of money into teams through these equity investments. Entrepreneur Scooter Braun and artist Drake recent became co-owners of the 100 Thieves through it's Series A funding round . With this addition, this new team has had a total investments of more than $25 million in just one year.
Player and Staff Salaries
As esports becomes more major and accepted worldwide, player wages have increased significantly. While in the past, there were even cases where players were not paid any money other than prize money distributed, nowadays taking the example of LOL, players are paid more than an average first year undergraduate. The current minimum salary of players in the NA LCS is $75,000 . Many of the more established players have higher wages, some rumored to go up to a million. This is very similar to traditional sports, where the high competition rewards "superstar" players, giving them significant negotiating power to demand high wages. Another factor for the bidding up of wages is the high labor mobility of esports players internationally, with many teams in the US having players from Europe or Korea . These players are attracted to the high wages and better job security North American teams offer, and are physically able to do so. On the other hand, there are also other costs related with labor, such as coaches and other staff. While these are smaller costs individually, they are larger in number. The number of non-technical staff is starting to increase in supply with the recognition of esports teams as a fairly stable company, so wage growth for these non-player employees is unlikely to match the pace of superstar player salaries.
Capital Costs
In order to increase productivity of the players, many of these teams have chosen to take a " gaming house " system, where players live in the same house and train up to 12 hours a day while other living issues are all sorted out by staff including chefs and cleaners. In order to reduce costs in this section, teams like 100 thieves have signed partnerships with housing related companies like Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans . On top of gaming houses, other teams have purchased training facilities such as Team Liquid's Alienware training facility so that they can train in a setting specifically made for esports. This is another example of just how close esports is coming to traditional sports.
Advisement/Content Creation
As mentioned in the revenue section, while content creation is a source of revenue, it is also an area where teams invest a significant amount of capital and man power. Many teams have marketing teams working with the social media accounts of the team, and graphic design teams to make content such as posters of their players to advertise. The importance of content creation is almost equal to team performance as it is how the team can attempt to gain fan bases. For example, teams like Flyquest while lacking recent success, have managed to maintain popularity by producing content around their veteran players . Though players are the ones operating in the public spotlight, esports teams typically have dedicated teams operating behind-the-scenes to cultivate larger fan bases.
Franchising Costs
A recent big cost for NA LCS teams was franchising costs. The NA LCS changed the structure of the league by setting the team limit to 10 permanent teams, who will not face risks of relegation as they would have in the past. The cost in exchange for this right was $10 million , a sizable price tag for the organization. This cost is a fixed cost which could be amortized along the many years that the team competes in the league. The benefits of this $10 million is that they can expect to make long term projects around their esports teams, improving them from a mere short term investment. While there are concerns on the league's level without relegation, it is a format that many major teams in the US use such as the MLB or NBA.

Analysis of the revenue and costs of esports teams we can see that things are moving towards traditional sports with a lot of the costs becoming long term investments into the teams. It can also be seen that with 90% of revenues coming from sponsors, a lot of these costs go into the final goal of making the teams more popular. There are two main ways by which teams can do this, through better content creation and marketing, or by competitive success. The positives are that teams can meet these demands with long term planning now that traditional league structures such as franchising have been implemented. The franchising also incentivises teams to improve their competitiveness and viewership numbers through prize money distribution. The enthusiasm of new investors and the fact that is it in a small bubble phase right now will also contribute to making esports into a sustainable industry in the future.

A different concern is the demand side of esport, especially whether or not esports consumption will continue growing. Looking at the general trend, viewership seems like it will continue increasing exponentially as shown in the data provided by Newzoo. However it is necessary to understand the reasons for why these people view esports and if it will continue.

An interesting study shows the differences in esports and traditional sports' consumption. The report "What is eSports and why do people watch it?" by Juho Hamari, Max Sjöblom , attempts to explain the reasons for viewing esports through the Motivational Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC). They found that from the components of MSSC, watching sports as a means to escape everyday life, knowledge acquisition related to the sport, novelty of new players and teams, enjoyment of aggression and the aggressive behaviors the athletes exhibit, were the four highest positively and statistically significantly associated factors with the frequency of watching eSports. What is particularly interesting is that this last factor, the aggression enjoyed by viewers is something that become less visible in traditional sports as they become modernised. For example, Major League Baseball has taken major steps to reduce injuries at the plate, with them implementing the collision rule in 2014 which penalises physical contacts on purpose at home base. Many sports are also implementing video replay systems in order to accurately penalize rough plays, this being emphasised most recently in the Soccer World Cup. This aggression on the other hand is automatically implemented in most video games in the form of kills or attacks. Famous esport games that build around aggression include shooting games like Counterstrike or more mild games like Fortnite. What this means in economics is that esports and traditional sports are not substitutes to each other from a consumption perspective. Therefore there will be no need for esports to steal consumers from traditional sports, reducing one of the huge potential obstacles to esports expansion. However this also means that esports will need to make conscious efforts to amass their own consumer base as it will not simply be able to attract the same consumers as traditional sports, one of the major issues the franchising of League of Legends is attempting to tackle.

In conclusion, the demand (viewers) and supply (esport teams) for esports seem to be moving towards a more sustainable growth model with the supply side understanding what their priorities should be - competitiveness and popularity, and incentivising it through methods such as franchising and prize money distribution. It should also be noted that while using the word "sports", there are key differences in consumer behavior that push it into prioritising sectors such as content creation over merchandise. Performance may catapult esports players to initial fame, but it is personality that keeps viewers coming.

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The economics of esports - The Economics Review at USC

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Ten years ago, few people believed that playing video games as a competitive professional sport could become a billion dollar industry. Yet this is precisely what has happened. Within justContinue Reading

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The Business of E-Sports: Understanding the Industry’s Economic Impact

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E-Sports has transitioned from a niche hobby to a major economic force within the entertainment industry. Its rapid growth, driven by a…

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Having recently advised tech start-up, Yakkr, in relation to a six-figure pre-seed investment, Partner, Alex Wilby, outlines some of the legal considerations for the eSports sector.

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State of play: eSports and UK law | Sports Law | SO Legal

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The eSports industry has exploded over the past few years, giving rise to a whole host of legal and regulatory challenges. Our expert solicitors can advise eSports teams, competitors, and organisations. Contact us today.