For League of Legends fans, the best time of the year has started: 24 participants in the Season Nine World Championship have already started playing. The individual stages of the tournament take place in different European cities and end with the big final in Paris on 10th November, 2019.
The boom in esports is fascinating, as more and more people are excited about the championships for virtual sports. Looking back at last year’s viewership numbers, League of Legends 2018 world finals attracted more viewers than the decisive games of MLB World Series, NBA Finals and the NHL Stanley Cup. This resulted directly in strong revenue growth for the industry. Esports revenues are forecast to reach upward of $1.7 billion by 2022 from a projected $1.09 billion in 2019.
U.S. Sports Viewership vs Esports Unique Viewers
Esports Audience Growth 2014-2022
Sources: Sports Media Watch, Statista.com, ESPN.com, ProgrammingInsider.com, Riot Games, dotesports.com, lolesports.com, Newzoo Global Esports Market Report 2019, 2018, 2017. Newzoo The Global Growth of Esports 2014. Past performance is not indicative of future results; current data may differ from data quoted.
* Projected as of 2019.
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