Convention halls and traditional sports stadiums aren’t only home to big business meetings and traditional sports tournaments anymore. Nowadays, these venues are packed with bundles of wires, massive screens, and crowds held in suspense.
The industry of eSports has finally found its footing in a global marketplace where lucrative contracts and dedicated teams battle it out in a virtual arena. Top competitors playing Dota 2 are making millions, though Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, and League of Legends aren’t far behind. Players hailing from countries like the US, China, South Korea, Sweden, and Denmark are taking the lion’s share of earnings worldwide. But today’s elite eSports teams pool these talented players to build an unstoppable team capable of taking home multi-million dollar prize purses.
What began in 1998 with prize money hovering around $130,000 for top faceoffs topped off at nearly $200 million in 2019. In just over two decades, the world of eSports has revolutionized the concepts of both sports and what it means to be an athlete. But what does the future hold for the industry? And can it ever compare to the salary and fame offered to traditional sports athletes?
Comparing Earnings
Though eSports continues to gain momentum, the industry can’t yet compete with the popularity and money surrounding major league sports. Just look at the NFL’s top team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Currently, tipsters from OLBG predict the Chiefs will seize their second consecutive Super Bowl title in the US. But to do this, they’ll rely on quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who recently signed a record-breaking 10-year contract worth over half a billion USD. With an average annual salary of $45 million of Mahomes, top earners in eSports like Johan Sundstein of Denmark and Jesse Vainikka of Finland, who have earned $6.8 and $6.4 million in their entire careers, may not seem to earn that much in comparison.
However, both Sundstein and Vainikka are pulling in more than another NFL team’s quarterback, Kyle Allen of the Carolina Panthers, who makes “only” $495,000 annually. And the virtual ball seems to be in the court of eSports athletes. Christina Gough of Statista predicts global eSports revenue will reach $1.6 billion by 2023. In the future, athletes like Sundstein and Vainikka can expect major payoffs—so long as eSports continues to develop in terms of structure and fandom. Luckily, major league sports are there to lend a helping hand.
A Future in eSports & a Helping Hand
Looking ahead, eSports faces several issues. Though the International Esports Federation, based in South Korea, has helped standardize certain aspects of the industry, there’s plenty more to consider. Regulations of employment and eligibility, restrictions on trading eSports athletes, minimum salaries and caps still need to be standardized across the industry. But at the moment, many teams and companies are busy looking for a way to revitalize lagging interest and investment. Despite differences in the competitions, eSports will benefit from taking inspiration from league structure and competitions in the major leagues. Scheduling like the major leagues will offset the overlap of similar competitions, which benefits competitors and fans alike.
Additionally, major league sports are looking to capitalize on eSports—and they’re not afraid to invest to do it. At the moment, the Premier League and the NFL both sponsor their own league-like competitions for FIFA and Madden ’21, respectively. Competitions like this help garner interest from regular sports fans, as well as introduce them to the world of eSports. But major league franchises from English football to the US’s NFL and NBA teams are doing more than modeling eSports after themselves.
Premier League teams are signing on their own FIFA players to represent them in competitions globally. Meanwhile, in the US, the NBA’s 76ers own teams Dignitas and Apex, while the Golden State Warriors started their eSports teams, the Golden Guardians.
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