The eSports market is growing fast and rapidly worldwide, drawing large audiences of fans. The revenue is astoundingly increasing by the year, attracting more skilled players, sponsors, and advertisers.
In 2018, the global eSports audience size was 395 million viewers, and it’s estimated to increase up to 454 million in 2019 and to 644 million by 2022. As for the market revenue, the numbers were USD 865 million in 2018 and projections foresee it will reach USD 1.79 billion in 2022. This means that aside from fans (gamers and viewers) all segments of the trade – such as sponsorships and advertising – are getting involved.
In Latina America, the numbers are equally impressive and encouraging for those who evaluate seizing the opportunity, especially in Brazil and Mexico, the two main markets:
Living up to the fame of having passionate and dedicated fans, Brazil is leading the Latin American audiences and is scooping the top 50 world rank, holding the 3rd position.
When it comes to players, in 2018 Brazil had 75.7 million gamers *, 35.6% of the Brazilian population, and held the 8th place in the world rank of active eSports competition players. In addition to the margin of growth the numbers indicate, the market becomes even more attractive because the country has highly skilled Brazilian players in top-tier international teams, i.e., Gabriel Toledo, Epitacio “Taco” Pessoa and Felipe “brTT” Gonçalves, and strong local influencers, i.e., Fernando Alvarenga, Felipe “Yoda” Noronha and Alan “Alanzoka” Ferreira.
As Brazilian IT infrastructure improves so will eSports become more mainstream, drawing more audiences, and launching more professional teams and players – and such a potential of growth means a higher return on the investment, whether you’re a brand, a media & entertainment company, or a publisher.
No one is indifferent to those numbers, not even the traditional sports clubs nor sponsors that closely follow the global success of e-sports teams. But as attractive as this picture may be, it’s crucial to understand that across the Latin American countries the audiences have different preferences and habits.
It’s highly recommended for companies to partner with a payment aggregator such as BoaCompra both to evaluate and analyze each market, and to handle the monetization of titles that are popular and attract attention due to being played professionally in eSports tournaments and leagues.