Market Trends in eSports and Its Establishment as a Competitive Sport

Development Status as a Competitive Sport

The global eSports player base is estimated to exceed 100 million, which is comparable in scale to soccer (over 265 million) and baseball (over 35 million).
According to analysis by the market research company Newzoo, the eSports market in 2019 is projected to reach a scale of 1.1 billion USD worldwide.
The breakdown includes 456.7 million USD from sponsorships, 251.3 million USD from media rights, 189.2 million USD from advertising, 103.7 million USD from merchandise and ticket sales, and 95.2 million USD from game publisher fees.

In the Asian Indoor Games, organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), eSports has been officially included as a competitive event since the second edition in 2007. It has also been decided that eSports will be an official event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Development Forms of Competitions

A distinctive feature of eSports is the distribution of competitions utilizing web content.
The events are broadcast worldwide through web video streaming services, and a culture has been established where players, whether professional or amateur, stream and commentate on their gameplay.
It is noteworthy that unique communities are formed as professional players respond to fan comments and interact through online matches.

Similar to traditional sports, offline tournaments that gather spectators at actual venues are also held.
For instance, the “Intel Extreme Masters” held in Katowice, Poland in 2015 attracted as many as 104,000 spectators. In 2018, an eSports-dedicated stadium with a capacity of about 7,000 was constructed in Chongqing, China, indicating steady progress in the development of competition facilities.

Trends in the Japanese Market

Japan, known as a “gaming powerhouse,” has been trailing internationally in the market size of the eSports sector. However, recent years have shown signs of change in this situation. In 2018 (Heisei 30), Yoshimoto Kogyo entered the eSports business, and the J.League hosted an eSports tournament in the soccer category. In October of the same year, Yokohama F. Marinos began participating in the “RAGE Shadowverse Pro League,” and SoftBank Hawks announced their participation starting in October 2019 (Reiwa 1).

Additionally, in 2018 (Heisei 30), eSports-related organizations were consolidated, leading to the establishment of the Japanese eSports Union (JeSU). In 2019 (Reiwa 1), the “Ikiiki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai” is set to co-host the “National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI” with JeSU, featuring “Winning Eleven 2020,” “Puyo Puyo eSports,” and “Gran Turismo SPORT” as competitive events.

Definition and Interpretation as a Sport

eSports (Electronic Sports) is defined as a competition using computer games or video games.
The International eSports Federation specifies, “Electronic sports (also known as sports or competitive gaming) is a term for organized video game competitions, especially between professionals,” clearly establishing its nature as an organized competition.

In Japan, there is some debate about considering computer games, which involve only the operation of a mouse, keyboard, or controller, as “sports,” due to the traditional view of sports as physical activities.
However, there is no clear definition of “physical activity” in sports, and the essential meaning of sport is not necessarily limited to competitions involving physical movement.
Rather, activities that involve competing and enjoying skills and abilities can also be recognized as sports.

In fact, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which hosts the world’s largest sports event, the Olympics, accepts organizations for chess, billiards, and Go as member or recognized organizations, acknowledging competitions that do not primarily involve physical activity as sports.