In just a handful of decades, esports has leveled up from a niche, underground hobby to a heavyweight sporting contender commanding attention on a major scale.
Global streaming audiences reached 625.8 million in 2024, stealing home from the MLB’s 171 million-strong fan base and even dunking on the NBA’s audience of 155.9 million. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee recently unveiled the Olympic Esports Games, further strengthening esports’ credibility as one of the hottest tickets in town. Talk about a game changer.
But despite its staggering viewership, esports is often benched on the entertainment world’s sidelines. Peak broadcast slots—like ESPN and ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime shows—continue to be dominated by traditional sports. When it comes to marketing, the Super Bowl alone nets $650 million. And while the in-game advertising industry’s entire annual income sounds impressive at $6.7 billion, the sad reality is that this only accounts for 3.7% of all digital ad spend.
That’s a large chunk of change that marketers and media networks are missing out on because they don’t know how to tap into the behemoth that is esports. The medium is primed for the primetime—advertisers just need to know how to tap into esports’ unique participatory culture and global reach.
Grinding out more engagement
Despite short, sizzle-reel sports highlights racking up millions of YouTube views, data from YouGov has confirmed what many of us suspected: Youth engagement with live sports is dwindling. Less than a third (31%) of Gen Z sports fans watch live games on TV, compared to three-quarters of those 55 and over.
But these young viewers haven’t disappeared; they’ve simply jumped ship to gaming. As many as 89% of Gen Zers tune into esports, with 95% playing video games themselves.
