People are making millions of dollars playing video games.
“A few years back, in New York, the popular game Fortnite held a million dollar tournament and this 15 year old kid won. He busted his butt through the whole tournament and got to first place, and he won millions of dollars,” says Ricky T. Rodriguez, the E-Sports Global Team Manager at University of Houston Downtown.
That’s inspiration for a generation of gamers who are mastering their skills of mental stamina, eye-hand coordination, focus, anticipation and competitiveness. They could be richly rewarded. The average professional e-sports player makes around $74,000 a year, and winners make more.
Global revenue for e-sports in 2020 was projected to be around $1.1 billion, $822 million of that in sponsorships, though when receipts are fully tallied it could be lower because of the pandemic. But make no mistake, watching players compete in Counter Strike, Dota 2 or League of Legends attracted an audience of 222 million fans. There is speculation that within a few years FIFA professional soccer may be the only sport with a larger following. And Rodriguez says you may be watching Olympic competition soon. “A few years ago the Olympic Committee, the ones who register and regulate the kinds of events that are going on with the Summer and Winter Olympics, started talk about introducing e-sports, especially League of Legends and Dota.”
It’s estimated 30 million people tune in daily to watch other people play video games. In the future, if you’re not already, you’ll probably be among them.
photo: Getty Images