Whether you’re an avid gamer, a high-stakes tournament winner, or a fan watching from the stands, there’s no denying that esports is the world’s fastest growing sport. With annual viewer numbers set to exceed 500 million by 2024, eSports is poised to break through the “5 billion value barrier.”
Professional players compete in organized video game competitions, usually governed by a formal organization with standardized rules and massive prize pools. Teams can represent organizations, sponsors or cities and compete in a schedule of regular season matches, playoffs and championship events. They are ranked and promoted or demoted based on their performance throughout the season, similar to traditional sports leagues.
With competitions involving a wide variety of popular video games and genres, esports have become a global industry that attracts millions of fans. The highest profile events are broadcast live online and on major television networks, and sell out arenas such as New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Some esports are run by game publishers, while others have established governing bodies on a regional or global basis. Esports governing bodies can play several roles, from acting as regulatory agencies to offering financial support or acting as a public face for the industry.
Esports’ biggest event is the annual League of Legends World Championship, hosted by Riot Games. This year’s finals drew more than 100 million viewers worldwide, beating the Super Bowl. Other prominent events include the Counter-Strike tournaments at ELEAGUE and Intel Extreme Masters, and Valorant’s top-tier matches. Notable esports teams include Astralis, whose dominance of the CSGO scene has earned them hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes; OG, who broke through at the Frankfurt Major in 2015 and won The International back-to-back in 2018 and 2019; and Team Liquid, who pushed for the top spot in Dota 2 with an impressive $2 million payout in 2024.