By Stephen McBride via Iris.xyz
A month ago, 25,000 fans packed into the world’s largest tennis stadium in Queens, New York. They came to watch 100 “athletes” compete for the title of the world’s best. Millions more watched online. But they weren’t there to see tennis stars like Serena Williams or Roger Federer. These crowds gathered to watch kids play video games.
E-Sports Is Going Mainstream
As you may know, professional video gaming—also called “e-sports”—is getting wildly popular. For example, 57 million people recently tuned in to watch the final round of a professional video game tournament. That’s four times more than the 2019 NBA finals!
A 16-year-old kid from Pennsylvania won the tournament and walked away with a first-place prize of $3 million. Let me repeat that… a 16-year-old video gamer won $1 million more than Tiger Woods got for his Masters victory. Video game competitions now pay out more in prize money than golf’s most prestigious tournaments!
Millions Are Flowing into This Industry
A lot of folks think e-sports is a silly fad. That it’s not a “real” sport. But the reality is massive sums of cash are pouring into this booming industry. According to digital research firm Newzoo, e-sports will generate $1.1 billion in revenue this year.
There are now American video gaming leagues modeled after the NBA and NFL. Instead of the Philadelphia Eagles, professional gaming has the Philadelphia Fusion. Like the NFL, e-sports has millions of hardcore fans who will happily fork over $100 or more for a ticket to watch a big game live.
And get this… the average salary in one American professional e-sports league is $320,000!
Read the full article at Iris.xyz
