Ahoy there, fellow enthusiast! As someone who’s been around the block a few times, I can tell you with unbridled excitement that we’re standing on the precipice of an eSports revolution, my friend!
ESports, which originated in Asia and has rapidly grown into one of the most popular and heavily sponsored sports in the U.S. and Europe, is now leading the way in Germany with its club structures and successful international teams. Moreover, a staggering increase in revenue has been recorded here over the past few years. Despite many traditional sports clubs currently facing financial crises, eSports worldwide is predicted to have a flourishing future – even though some critics still question whether it should be called a sport.
Ein rasanter Umsatzanstieg im eSport weltweit
In the coming years, it’s unlikely that any other sport can anticipate such steep revenue growth: the global revenue was projected to be around 1.72 billion USD in 2023, but for 2024, a forecast of approximately 2.06 billion USD has been made. By 2032, revenues are expected to grow to nearly 9.3 billion USD, with most income coming from merchandise sales, ticket sales, sponsorships, media rights, advertising, game publisher fees, and more. The situation in Germany appears similar: the current year’s revenue is predicted to be around 277.7 million Euros, and it’s projected to reach a market volume of 367.1 million Euros by 2029, which represents an annual growth of 5.75%. What makes this sport popular and profitable, and what does the club structure look like in both amateur and professional realms?
Die Entwicklung des Begriffs „eSport“
The term eSports established itself in the 90s and, with the spread of the internet, became a fixed term in the computer and video game community. It solidified as an acknowledged sporting discipline with the World Cyber Games 2000 in Seoul. In 2005, the largest international competition to date, the CPL World Tour, took place. Although eSports is not currently recognized as an Olympic sport, it is a part of the Asian Indoor Games organized by the Asian Olympic Council (OCA). Starting from 2025, Saudi Arabia will even have its own Olympic Games for eSports, as members of the International Olympic Committee unanimously expressed at the 142nd IOC meeting in Paris. The games are planned until 2037, aiming to cater to the growing number of three billion gamers worldwide. This was mentioned in the announcement.
Die Popularität und Unterstützung des eSports in Deutschland
The current number of ambitious athletes in Germany is not clearly determinable, but estimates suggest it ranges from 1.5 to 4.5 million players, which could potentially rise to over 20 million by 2029. Also, a league structure has already emerged: the eSports-Bund Deutschland currently represents around 120 clubs, sponsors, and companies. This sporting sector is divided into both recreational sports (Breitensport) and competitive sports (Leistungssport). In the competitive sports sector, there are currently eight members listed, including Eintracht Spandau, TeamOrangeGaming from Bavaria, and Alternate Attax from Saxony. In international tournaments, teams like MOUZ from Hamburg, which has been a gaming organization since 2002 and competes in more than ten different games, also participate. Globally, BIG (Berlin International Gaming), known for playing Global Offensive and Counter Strike 2, is well-known. They have won in European and international tournaments, such as the CCT Online Finals at the end of 2023, where they took home a prize of $100,000 USD.
Yearly, the German eSports Bundesliga is now held as well, featuring numerous diverse tournaments such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Warzone, Apex Legends, FC 24 and more. These events are not only exciting for the players themselves but also for gambling: Online sports betting in Germany still holds the largest share of the currently rapidly growing online betting market, but eSports betting is predicted to reach a volume of 178.9 million Euro by 2024. In football, traditional sports and eSports are coming together: most Bundesliga teams have their own eSports team, with FIFA (now FC 24) being especially popular, but also League of Legends is played in other tournaments. The virtual Bundesliga will be held again in the 2024/25 season and officially started on October 20, with matches taking place in the North-West and South-West divisions. However, eSports favorites differ: In the previous season, the 1. FSV Mainz 05 topped the South-East division, followed by RB Leipzig, while FC Bayern only managed a sixth-place finish. In the North-West Division, SC Paderborn was in first place, followed by SV Werder Bremen, while Borussia Dortmund finished in tenth place.
Der wirtschaftliche Einfluss und die Zukunft des eSports in Deutschland
Athletisches Geschick braucht man beim eSport in der Tat nicht, weshalb Kritiker die Bezeichnung als Sport nach wie vor infrage stellen. Gleichzeitig ist die Popularität, das zunehmende Wachstum und auch das wirtschaftliche Potenzial von eSport nicht von der Hand zu weisen. Die Fans sind mehrheitlich jung und investitionsfreudig, die Sponsoren aus dem Technologiebereich zahlungskräftig, und auch von der Regierung wird der virtuelle Sport mittlerweile stark gefördert. Bereits 2019 sah die Bundesregierung die Chance Deutschland als technologischen Vorreiter im eSport zu etablieren: seit damals enthält der Bundeshaushalt ein Budget von 50 Millionen Euro für die Games-Förderung.
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2024-11-14 06:00