The meteoric rise of the electronic sports industry
("Esports") is undeniable. In broad
strokes, Esports is a form of competition involving video games and
is frequently organized as multiplayer video game competitions
(i.e. tournaments or leagues). While Esports has been around for
many years, the recent global growth of the industry is worth
exploring.
In the fall of 2018, 99 million television and online viewers
tuned in to watch the League of Legends 2018 World
Championship Finals. The 2018 Super Bowl, often heralded as the
gold standard for sport viewership, boasted 103 million viewers,
barely outdoing its now-major viewership competitor. In July 2019,
16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf won the
Fortnite World Cup and took home approximately $3 million
in prize money. In August 2019, OG won the International Dota
2 tournament, with each team member taking home $3.1 million
of the $15.6 million first place purse. For perspective, Tiger
Woods and Novak Djokovic
