Esports: From the Fringe to a Billion-Dollar Industry




Now & Next show

Summary: While you may think—and a lot of people do—that gaming is just something that too many kids spend too much time in their basements doing, you can’t get away from how insanely popular it is. The global gaming industry is worth more than twice the movie and music industries, combined.<br><br>Spurred by gaming’s massive popularity, eSports—or competitive video game playing—are rapidly gaining momentum. The industry is predicted to breach the billion-dollar threshold in 2019.<br><br>Furthermore, data released by GlobalWebIndex in July 2019 show that almost a billion people had watched an eSports tournament "in recent months." That’s close to a 50% increase over 12 months. The trend is increasingly noticeable among internet users aged between 16 and 24 years old. Within that group, 32% say they watch eSports. 31% say they watch traditional sports.<br><br>Because there are no borders on eSports, when a tournament happens, it’s a global event. And in some cases, like the League of Legends World Championship, audiences are bigger than the Super Bowl’s.<br><br>So, have eSports reached a tipping point? Where does it go from here? How does Canada fit into the global eSports scene?<br><br>On this episode of Now &amp; Next, Leora Kornfeld sits down with five time Counter-Strike World Champion and professional gamer Stephanie Harvey for an insightful chat about the fast-growing eSports industry.<br><br>For more about this topic, or to consult the show’s credits, visit trends.cmf-fmc.ca/