A new study from Juniper Research has found that the global esports and games streaming industry will be worth $3,5 billion by 2025; rising from $2,1 billion in 2021. This represents a growth of 70% over the next four years.
The new research, eSports & Games Streaming: Emerging Opportunities & Market Forecasts 2021-2025 Report, predicts that the market value will be driven by subscription spend to streaming platforms and advertising spend over streams. However, it urges stakeholders to invest in other revenue-generating areas, including broadcasting rights and live event ticket sales, and establish high-value sponsorship deals to maximise the market value of esports in the future.
The 1 billion people tuning into esports and gaming by 2025 will need reliable connectivity, and many will be looking for truly low-latency, high-bandwidth offerings, both on fixed and mobile networks. That puts pressure on the telecoms operators, to be able to provide that level of service, but it is also a big opportunity when you consider that many people involved in the esports market could well be willing to pay extra for a superior connection.
For now, the Asia-Pacific region is driving the market. The world’s most populous region will account for more than half of esports viewers by 2025, Juniper Research said. However, it notes that Latin America will be an area to watch from a growth point of view, becoming home to 130 million viewers by the end of the forecast period.
The company suggests that growth in viewing figures will stimulate competition between streaming platforms, namechecking the likes of YouTube and Twitch. It will be incumbent on those types of platforms to promote their content to new audiences, which they can achieve by aligning esports events with other industries, like entertainment, it noted.
