ESPORTS GLOBAL ESPORTS MARKET REPORT

Transcription

1 ESPORTS GLOBAL ESPORTS MARKET REPORT TRENDS, REVENUES & AUDIENCE TOWARD 2019

2 ESPORTS 2016 CONTENTS 1. Introduction, Scope & Definitions 3 2. Global Esports Trends Esports Events Global Esports Audience The Esports Economy & Key Players Global Esports Revenues Value of the Audience & ROI Methodology Appendix 76 2

3 ESPORTS 2016 INTRO INTRODUCTION 2015 WAS ANOTHER GROUND BREAKING YEAR FOR THE ESPORTS INDUSTRY This was another huge year for esports with the industry garnering an increasing amount of attention from press, publishers, broadcasters, investors and advertisers alike. Following the huge interest in last year s Global Growth of Esports Report, we are back with the second edition. To keep up with the rapid developments in the space, this annual report has evolved into a service that also includes quarterly updated reports and a dataset with granular audience and revenue figures also saw many generalist research companies jump on the esports phenomenon. As a company, we always aim to be ahead of the curve on trends that impact the games market and, in this case, the media landscape as a whole. Looking back, our PC Gaming. Power to the People report, published in 2013, kicked off our focus on esports. Our esports intelligence now includes consumer research in 27 countries and the Esports Audience and Revenue Model that has grown in data sources, industry support and granularity ever since. Peter Warman CEO Newzoo 3

4 ESPORTS 2016 INTRO 1.2 SCOPE OF THE REPORT AUDIENCE & REVENUE SCOPE & DEFINITIONS This report aims to give a reliable and realistic overview of the current status and future of esports. Multiple data sources were used in shaping the Global Esports Audience and Revenues model, one that is continually updated. When it comes to audience, we have taken viewers of (online) amateur leagues and championships into account, but limited the Esports Enthusiasts numbers to the frequent viewers and active participants. For revenues, we have focused only on the professionally organized esports teams, leagues and events. ESPORTS Competitive gaming in an organized format; an event or league, organized by a third party, with a specific goal (i.e. winning a tournament or prize money), with a clear distinction between players and teams who are competing against each other for a chance to reach that goal. ESPORTS ECONOMY A model that incorporates five key components that are not mutually exclusive: Channels, Publishers, Leagues, Events and Teams. Revenues from Brands and Consumers feed this ecosystem. 4

5 ESPORTS 2016 INTRO ESPORTS AWARENESS Gamers who have heard of esports, including both the group of gamers who are aware of esports but no longer view it and the Esports Audience. ESPORTS AUDIENCE Gamers who watch and/or participate in esports. ESPORTS ENTHUSIASTS Gamers who watch esports more than once a month and/or participate in (amateur) esports leagues. OCCASIONAL VIEWERS Gamers who watch esports less than once a month. MOBA Multiplayer online battle area, a game genre that includes League of Legends, Dota 2 and Smite. 5

6 ESPORTS 2016 SUMMARY ESPORTS 2016 INTRO 1.3 KEY TAKEAWAYS NORTH AMERICA LEADS THE CHARGE IN REVENUE GROWTH There were 112 major esports events in 2015 and they generated an estimated $20.6 million in ticket revenues. The total prize money of all esports events held in 2015 reached $61.0 million, a 70% year-on-year increase. The global Esports Audience was 226 million gamers, a YoY growth of +11.2%, and the number of Esports Enthusiasts reached 115 million in 2015, a YoY growth of 27.7%. Global revenues in 2015 reached $325 million, a YoY growth rate of 67.4%. North America accounted for $121 million of this. Online advertising was the fastest growing revenue segment, up 99.6% on a global scale compared to The average revenue per Esports Enthusiast was $2.83 in ESPORTS AUDIENCE GROWTH 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 GLOBAL ESPORTS REVENUE GROWTH 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 GLOBAL OCCASIONAL VIEWERS ENTHUSIASTS MEDIA RIGHTS, MERCHANDISE & TICKETS, ONLINE ADVERTISING, BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, ADDITIONAL GAME PUBLISHER INVESTMENT 6

7 ESPORTS 2016 METHODOLOGY 8 73

8 ESPORTS 2016 METHODOLOGY AUDIENCE MODEL 2.0 NEWZOO S APPROACH & METHODOLOGY We have vastly improved our esports viewership model from our last report. The new model uses a number of different inputs and checks. But how does it work? Our esports audience numbers are estimated using a unique top-down and bottom-up approach. Our Global Games Market Report model tracks and projects population figures, economic growth, company financial performance and numerous other growth-related KPIs across 130 countries. Parts of this model and its KPIs are used as top-down view in the esports audience and revenue model. Next, our annual consumer research gives us insight into the exact degree of esports engagement across 27 countries across all major regions of the world. Specifically, we ask respondents whether they are aware of the esports phenomenon, and if so, whether and how often they watch or participate in (professional or amateur) esports. This allows us to size the Esports Audience within a country, as well as distinguish between Esports Enthusiasts those who watch or participate in esports at least once a month and Occasional Viewers. This also provides insights into the popularity of esports across the different global regions. However, consumer research is not enough and extrapolation needs to be approached cautiously. What people understand to be esports differs tremendously between cultures, and different socio-economic circumstances can make it difficult to get an accurate understanding of the average individual in less developed regions. Therefore, we match our estimates with actuals from the traffic of popular streaming websites such as Twitch, Azubu and Zhanqi. Where needed, regions are adjusted, but always within the bounds of either our consumer data or our streaming sites data. As a result of these extra checks, we have made some adjustments in comparison to our previous report. More specifically, we have lowered our audience numbers in the Middle East, Latin America and China due to a large discrepancy between our consumer research and actuals from streaming sites. Meanwhile, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Oceania audience numbers have been boosted to reflect the incredible amount of traffic originating from these regions. In order to forecast this data until 2019, our model creates trends based on our historic and current consumer and streaming data. Each quarter, we reevaluate the data and adjust the forecast if it proves necessary. 74

9 ESPORTS 2016 METHODOLOGY REVENUE MODEL 2.0 NEWZOO S APPROACH & METHODOLOGY We have also expanded our revenue model. We have worked on feeding more actuals into the model, allowing us to build up revenues from a granular point of view, and provide opportunities to verify growth rates every quarter of the year. Firstly, our regional divisions are clearer and more isolated. We have split up Rest of West into Europe and Latin America, allowing a more direct comparison of North American and European Revenues. Rest of East is now Middle East & Africa, Oceania and the rest of the Asia-Pacific countries, and will be further split in later updates. For Merchandise & Tickets, we keep a record of as many esports events in the world as possible. For these events, we calculate the amount of tickets sold, the price point of an (average) ticket, the location, game, prize money and many other variables. To generate regional ticket revenues, we simply add the ticket sales and multiply them with the average ticket price of the event. Data points on merchandising is gathered from our partners. The results presented in this report already show that ticket sales across Europe ($15.3M) are much higher than we had anticipated last year, and even higher than ticket sales across North America. In terms of Online Advertising, we have made two advancements. Firstly, our audience model now doubles as an input for this model. By providing the share and growth of the Esports Audience, we have a clearer picture of where the advertising income is being generated. This data is combined with regional differences in CPM to provide more informed online advertising estimates. Secondly, we have been pulling data directly from streaming platforms, allowing us to compare their growth both in terms of unique users and total hours watched. For Brand Partnerships, we keep a record of the highest performing teams and the sponsorships these teams have attracted, while our partners provide us with information about the average worth of these sponsorships. Meanwhile, Media Rights and Additional Game Publisher Investment will continue to be monitored through insights 75