Esports, in which professional gamers compete in video games, have proven to be popular spectator events, prompting major corporations such as ESPN, Activision Blizzard, and Electronic Arts to establish esports divisions. The worldwide esports industry is predicted to expand exponentially to $1866.2 million by 2025.
While esports began as small-scale video gaming contests, it has grown into a multibillion-dollar business. It continues to deliver a new generation of fascinating content and novel branding options, and mainstream media is taking notice.
Below are the most recent esports statistics to remember as you consider where the esports business stands and where it is heading in the future.
E-sports Statistics 2023 (Top 10 Picks)
- There are 532.1 million e-sports audiences worldwide as of 2023.
- The E-sports market is valued at $1.44 billion as of 2023, and This number is set to reach $5.48 billion by the year 2029.
- China is the leading region based on E-sports revenue.
- With $47.79 million in prize money, Dota 2 is the leading e-sports game based on the prize pool.
- Currently, there are 7.63 million active streamers on Twitch.
- N0tail (Johan Sundstein) is the highest-earning e-sports player in the world.
- More than 60% of e-sports fans are aged between 16 and 35.
- The average age of an e-sports fan is 26.
- Twitch had an average of 2,578,000 concurrent viewers in complete 2022.
- Twitch viewers viewed over 1.34 trillion minutes of videos on the platform in 2022.
General E-sports Statistics
Below are some important statistics that everyone associated with E-sports should be aware of
- As of 2023, Over 2 billion people know what “esports” is. This is a huge growth since 2015, when only 800,000 people were aware of e-sports.
- Videogames and e-sports are projected to grow by 6% between 2020 and 2025.
- People aged 20-24 perform the best in e-sports tournaments. This has much to do with quick reaction time and sharp eyesight during early adulthood.
- With a valuation of $540 million, TSM (Team SoloMid) is the most valuable e-sports team in the world as of 2023.
Here is a list of the top 10 most valuable e-sports teams:
| Rank | Team | Valuation | % Change since 2020 |
| #1 | TSM | $540 million. | +32% |
| #2 | 100 Thieves | $460 million. | +142% |
| #3 | Team Liquid | $440 million. | +42% |
| #4 | Faze Clan | $400 million. | +31% |
| #5 | Cloud9 | $380 million. | +9% |
| #6 | G2 Esports | $340 million. | +94% |
| #7 | Fnatic | $260 million. | N/A |
| #8 | Gen.G | $250 million. | +35% |
| #9 | NRG | $240 million. | +55% |
| #10 | T1 | $220 million. | +47% |
E-sports Industry & Revenue Statistics
The eSports sector has grown enormously in terms of revenue throughout the years. The growing audience has largely led to this growth in revenue. Brands are now investing in eSports marketing more than ever.
This section highlights the statistics associated with Esports revenue as of 2023:
- The global e-sports market is valued at $1.44 billion as of 2023. This number is forecasted to rise to $5.48 billion by 2029.
Here is a table showing e-sports market revenue worldwide over the years:
| Year | E-sports Revenue |
| 2020 | $996 million |
| 2021 | $1.13 billion |
| 2022 | $1.38 billion |
| 2023 | $1.4 billion |
| 2029* (Forecasted) | $5.48 billion |
- Asia and North America are currently the biggest markets for Esports. As per the latest data, the e-sports market in the United States of America generated a revenue of $243 million.
Here is a table showing e-sports market revenue worldwide by region:
| Region | Revenue |
| China | $360.1 million |
| USA | $243 million |
| Western Europe | $205.8million |
- Sponsorship is the segment with the highest revenue in the e-sports market.
Here is a table showing eSports market revenue worldwide in 2023 by segment:
| Segment | Revenue |
| Sponsorships | $8737.3 million. |
| Media Rights | $207.8 million. |
| Publisher Fees | $130.7 million. |
| Merchandise & Tickets | $107.9 million. |
| Digital | $53.9 million. |
| Streaming | $46.3 million. |
- Around 80% of sponsorships to the e-sports industry are from the gaming hardware & peripherals industry. Other popular sponsors are energy drink companies and furniture manufacturers. Below is the list of a few other notable sponsors:
- Computer Hardware companies.
- Online Video Platforms.
- Mobile Phone companies.
- Athletic and Sportswear companies.
- Beer companies.
- Soft drink companies.
- And much more.
- Activision Blizzard Inc., well known for titles like the Call of Duty series and overwatch, controls an estimated 21.85% of the e-sports industry. Following Activision are Modern Times Group and Tencent.
Here is a table showing the top 10 companies with the most market share in the e-sports industry:
| Company | Market Share |
| Activision Blizzard Inc. | 21.85% |
| Modern Times Group MTG AB | 14.15% |
| Tencent | 11.04% |
| Valve Corporation | 8.03% |
| Electronic Arts Inc. | 3.78% |
| Nintendo | 2.82% |
| Team SoloMid (TSM) | 2.1% |
| Cloud9 | 1.96% |
| Take-Two Interactive | 1.87% |
| Riot Games | 1.4% |
- The top-earning e-sports teams easily make over $90 million in a year.
Sources: Forbes, Statista, Esport Charts.
Esports Audience Statistics
There are over 540 million esports viewers globally as of 2023, and it is predicted that this number will reach 640.8 million in 2025. So, what does this rise in viewership mean? In general, it indicates that the love for esports is growing as we speak, and it is not showing any signs of slowing down.
For Marketers, it means that they have a new channel to target in their marketing mix. However, it also states they have a larger audience to target inside the eSports business. As a result, eSports marketing will assist companies in expanding their audience and delivering marketing messages through engaging platforms.
Here are some latest statistics associated with Esports viewership:
- The global e-sports audience size is 540 million as of 2023. In 2020, this number was 435.7 million, meaning that the esports industry has gained over 96 million viewers in that timeframe.
If we talk about the future, it is predicted that the number of Esports viewers will reach 640.8 million by 2025.
Here is a table showing the number of Esports viewers globally over the years:
| Year | No. of Esports Viewers |
| 2020 | 435.7 million. |
| 2021 | 489.5 million. |
| 2022 | 532.1 million. |
| 2023 | 540 million |
| 2025* (Forecasted) | 640.8 million. |
- 72% of the Esports audience are males, and 28% are females. It is important to note that this number is not global; it is only limited to the United States.
- Only 261.2 million viewers out of the 532.1 million are esports enthusiasts. The rest of them are occasional viewers.
Here is a table showing Esports viewers worldwide by type:
| Year | Esports Enthusiasts | Occasional Viewers |
| 2020 | 215.2 million. | 220.5 million. |
| 2021 | 240 million. | 249.5 million. |
| 2022 | 261.2 million. | 270.9 million. |
| 2025* (Forecasted) | 318.1 million. | 322.7 million. |
- China leads the way when it comes to engagement with Esports. Chinese people show a 47% engagement in the Esports sector. Indonesia is in the second spot with a 40% engagement rate.
Although The United States is the second biggest market for Esports, it has only an 8% engagement rate, according to Statista’s data.
Here is a table showing the top 15 nations with the highest Esports engagement rate:
| Country | Engagement Rate |
| China | 47% |
| Indonesia | 40% |
| Thailand | 39% |
| Taiwan | 38% |
| Philippines | 36% |
| Vietnam | 30% |
| Malaysia | 29% |
| Hong Kong | 25% |
| India | 22% |
| Saudi Arabia | 21% |
| Egypt | 20% |
| UAE | 19% |
| Singapore | 17% |
| Spain | 17% |
| Iraq | 16% |
This table is a clear indicator of South Asian countries having the highest engagement rate in the world.
- More than 60% of e-sports fans are aged between 16 and 35.
Here is a table showing the age distribution of the global Esports audience:
- The average age of conventional sports fans is around 50, whereas esports fans are 26.
- Approximately 50% of the global esports audience watches competitive esports more than once a month.
- Experts expect that by 2025, the Latin American area will have 130 million esports and gaming spectators.
- As per the latest data, the size of the esports audience in Europe is 92 million. This number was just 79 million in 2018.
US Sepcific Esports Audience Statistics
The USA is a huge market for Esports. Knowing the market-specific statistics will help marketers to get a clearer picture of the Esports scene in the USA.
- As per Statista, only 9% of US citizens are avid lovers of Esports, while 19% are casual fans. The majority of respondents of the survey (72%) said they weren’t a fan.
If we narrow down the statistics, we get the data for the level of interest based on gender. While 15% of the US males say that they are avid fans of Esports, only 3% of females said the same.
Here is a table showing the level of interest of the US audience in Esports by gender:
| Level of Interest | Males | Females |
| Avid Fan | 15% | 3% |
| Casual Fan | 26% | 12% |
| Not a Fan | 59% | 85% |
- 63.1% of fans in the US aged below 17 said their interest in Esports increased since the Covid-19 pandemic started.
Here is a table showing the Increase in interest in eSports since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among eSports fans in the United States by age:
| Age Group | Share of Respondents |
| 17 and under | 63.1% |
| 18-24 | 51.8% |
| 25-34 | 41.8% |
| 35-44 | 30.8% |
| 45 and Up | 31.6% |
Sources: Juniper Research, Statista, Infront.
Esports Tournaments and Games Statistics
- With a peak viewership of 5.41 million, Free Fire World Series 2021 Edition, which happened in Singapore, is the most watched Esports tournament globally. League of Legends 2019 World Championship took the second spot.
Here is a table showing the most watched Esports tournament worldwide:
| Game | Peak Viewership |
| Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore | 5,414,953 |
| 2019 League of Legends World Championship | 3,985,787 |
| 2020 League of Legends World Championship | 3,882,252 |
| PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0 | 3,801,998 |
| MBLL M2 World Championship | 3,083,245 |
| The International 10 | 2,741,514 |
| Free Fire Continental Series 2020 Asia | 2,566,046 |
| Fortnite World Cup 2019 | 2,334,826 |
| 2021 League of Legends World Championship | 2,232,979 |
| Free Fire World Series 2019 Rio | 2,016,157 |
- “The international 2021” is the Leading eSports tournament worldwide, ranked by overall prize pool. The event had a prize pool of 40.02 million. It was the tenth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports.
- Six editions of “ The International” hold the top six spots in the top ten eSports tournaments worldwide, ranked by overall prize pool.
- DOTA 2 is the leading eSports game worldwide by cumulative tournament prize pool.
Here is a table showing the leading eSports games worldwide by cumulative tournament prize pool:
| Game | Total Prize Pool |
| DOTA 2 | $47.79 million. |
| Counter Strike Global Offensive | $21.89 million. |
| PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile | $20.57 million. |
| Fortnite | $19.96 million. |
| Arena of Valor | $17.37 million. |
| PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds | $16.08 million. |
| League of Legends | $8.13 million. |
| Valorant | $6.65 million. |
| Rainbow Six Siege | $6.43 million. |
| Call of Duty: Warzone | $6.16 million. |
Sources: Statista.
Twitch Statistics
Esports has rapidly grown in popularity in recent years, with millions of people tuning in to watch professional gamers compete at the highest level. Twitch, the leading live-streaming platform for gaming content, has played a significant role in this phenomenon.
From the number of active streamers to the total hours watched, Twitch statistics offer valuable insights into the world of esports. In this section of our blog, we will dive into some of the most intriguing Twitch statistics and explore what they mean for the future of esports.
Let us take a look at Twitch’s trends and data below.
- Twitch had an average of 2.58 million concurrent viewers in 2022, a 6% decrease in 2021.
Here is a table showing Twitch’s annual average concurrent viewers from 2015 to 2022:
| Year | Average Concurrent Viewers |
| 2015 | 0.53 million |
| 2016 | 0.61 million |
| 2017 | 0.74 million |
| 2018 | 1.07 million |
| 2019 | 1.26 million |
| 2020 | 2.12 million |
| 2021 | 2.78 million |
| 2022 | 2.58 million |
- Twitch registered an estimated $2.8 billion in revenue in 2022.
Here is a table showing Twitch’s revenue from 2016 to 2022:
| Year | Revenue |
| 2016 | 275 |
| 2017 | 300 |
| 2018 | 880 |
| 2019 | 1230 |
| 2020 | 1890 |
| 2021 | 2675 |
| 2022 | 2800 |
- Twitch had 2,578,000 average concurrent viewers in 2022.
- Twitch users watched 1346 billion minutes of video on the platform in 2022.
- There were 92,600 average concurrent streamers on Twitch in 2022.
- 41% of Twitch users are between the age of 16 to 24. People aged 25 to 34 make up the second biggest share of Twitch users, with 32%
- 65% of twitch users are males, while 35% are females.
- Ninja is the most followed channel, and League of legends is the most-watched game on Twitch.
Best Esports Players in 2023.
This section highlights the best Esports Teams and Players in 2023. Let us see who tops the ranking.
- Team Liquid (Europe) is the leading professional eSports team worldwide by total prize money won.
- N0tail (Johan Sundstein) is the highest-earning e-sports player in the world to date. He has earned $7.18 million so far.
- Scarlett (Sasha Hostyn) has earned $423.94 thousand to date and is the highest-earning female esports player in the world.
Source: Statista.
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Conclusion: Esports Statistics (2023)
This was my take on Esports Statistics as of 2023. I hope I could give a clear picture of this booming industry. Esports will keep growing in the future; if you are a brand that can benefit from Esports’ growth, it is not too late to integrate Esports marketing into your marketing strategy.
If you like what you read, you can also check my other work.
