Millennials Shifting Preference To Esports Instead Of Traditional Sports

The definition of “gaming” and its projected impact has evolved. New devices and platforms have not only created more opportunities to play video games, but they’ve also opened the industry up to new audiences who want to watch Esports. YouTube recently announced that a Fortnite Battle Royale event had record-high viewership with 1.1 million simultaneous viewers. As traditional sports teams continue to see a decline in viewership, could Esports soon put the final nail in the coffin?

To better understand how the gaming industry is evolving and the potential impact of esports, Limelight Networks has just released its latest consumer survey report, “The State of Online Gaming”, which finds that millennial gamers are making the shift from watching traditional sports to esports.

Worldwide, young gamers aged 18-25 spend an average of three hours and 25 minutes each week watching other people play video games online, nearly an hour more than the two hours and 33 minutes they spend watching traditional sports.

Other key takeaways from Limelight’s report include:

• Nearly half (47%) of U.S. gamers would not continue to play games or do business with a gaming site that has previously experienced a security breach.

• Worldwide, female gamers are more concerned about security, with 61% noting they will not continue to do business with a gaming site that has suffered a security breach compared to 53% of male gamers.

• A good chunk of U.S. gamers want to go pro — with more than a third (35%) saying they would quit their job and become a professional gamer if they could support themselves by doing so.

• Drilling into the young millennial male generation (ages 18-25), 50% said they’d go pro.

• Globally, gamers noted fast performance (ex. quick loading) as their top concern for video games.

• More than three quarters (77%) of worldwide gamers have reported frustrations with downloading video games.