Esports is the fastest growing theme in the gaming sector. These organized multiplayer video game competitions have enjoyed spectacular growth over the last decade, with thousands of fans filling stadiums to watch live events and millions following them on streaming platforms. Although esports currently caters to a niche audience – almost 10% of the global online population of around 4.5 billion – its reach is expanding rapidly.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Esports – Thematic Research’, states that the industry has proved largely immune to the COVID-19 pandemic due to its prompt transition into online formats and sudden spike in interest from traditional sports organizations, which pushed esports further into the mainstream and brought it to the attention of a wider audience.

Rupantar Guha, Senior Analyst of Thematic Research at GlobalData, commented: “Brands from a wide range of industries are investing in esports to reach a young demographic that is typically resistant to traditional advertising channels. The increasing involvement of non-endemic brands such as Coca-Cola and BMW is helping to legitimize esports, as well as bringing in significant revenue.”

GlobalData splits the esports value chain into six segments: games, events, teams and players, channels, sponsorship and investment and end users. The report discusses each aspect of the value chain in detail and throws light on how the industry will shape up over the next two to three years.