Esports has been on the rapid rise over the past few years with the biggest games in the industry capturing hundreds of millions of viewers and starting to rival numbers even seen in the biggest traditional sporting events in the world, but how has the sport gone from a niche interest to a global phenomenon in such a short amount of time, and what is esports doing that traditional sporting isn’t?
A packed international competition roster – One of the big shortfalls for traditional sporting has always been in the international competition between big teams which remains rare outside of some regions – with many teams for the likes of football being a blend between regions, some may say international competition isn’t as needed, but esports shows that to be false. With multiple competitions per year pitting the biggest teams in the world together, it provides fans to all come together and root for their home team whilst also following the sport and showing the big differences in strength between regions.
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Free to watch, free to play – Whilst this hasn’t always been the case with playing, recently the biggest games have adopted a free-to-play approach if they didn’t already have this, which allows new viewers and players to play without restriction, combined with the livestreamed approach for events and games on Twitch or YouTube, there’s no restriction to participation locked behind paywalls or certain channels. With big broadcasting deals expiring in the next few years, many expect traditional sporting will follow in the same path and move away from traditional TV to a streamed platform, but the accessibility has certainly help set esports apart as a much easier to access option.
Diversity and familiarity – The biggest sports in the world are all deeply rooted in society, but that also means there’s little diversity in newer offerings to grow and become big which leaves some fans feeling left out – this is where esports is certainly starting to shine with a huge variety of titles from esports unique titles to familiar sporting titles. This has allowed for fans from all over to become involved in esports, and with familiar options in actions such as betting here at esportsbetting.site, there’s a lot of demand for the different aspects brought by esports to the sporting market.
The most important factor to remember is that esports is still so young, only really taking its current form in the past decade or so, as such it still has plenty of room for change and growth – and given that it is already starting to outpace traditional sporting, the future certainly looks bright for what esports could bring to the wider market as a whole.