Denmark and Sweden watch the most esports content in Europe, with 8-9 per cent of internet users watching on at least a monthly basis, Ampere Analysis has found.
The region still lags well behind China, where 26 per cent of users watch esports at least every month. The League of Legends 2018 World Championship had a concurrent audience of 203 million in China, compared to just two million in the rest of the world.
The research also found that audiences are moving away from the traditional 18-34-year-old male stereotype, as 35 per cent of those watching esports in the last month (Q3 2019) were female; 43 per cent in China.
According to Ampere: “Amazon-owned Twitch is the principal platform for esports viewing, hosting a variety of channels through which fans can engage with their favourite games and gamers. Developers have also begun to explore hosting tournaments via their own platforms.”
“The rise of esports viewing on a global scale presents a potentially lucrative opportunity for new and existing players,” said Hazel Ford, analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Platforms such as Twitch and YouTube are currently market leaders but face growing competition from a number of newcomers, including the developers themselves. As with the traditional sports world, exclusive rights deals will become crucial for platforms looking to control high-growth esports audiences.”
