According to a recent international study that involved more than 4,000 respondents in the United States, Germany, the Philippines, South Korea, France, India, Singapore and the United Kingdom, young men and women in the United States currently watch eSports quite a bit more than traditional sports.
The new study, titled State of Online Video and conducted by Limelight Networks, an independent CDN service provider, targeted a mixed bag of demographic groups that included differences in gender, age, education levels and age in order to avoid bias.
It was found that of the 4,000 people targeted, more men and woman between the ages of 18 and 25 watch eSports and online video gaming than all traditional sports combined. The only things that men seem to watch online more than eSports are movies.
At the next age bracket of 26 to 35 years old, eSports was barely surpassed by traditional sports for men and women, showing that the eSports industry has gone mainstream.
Limelight also reported that of the 500 Americans polled, more than 20 percent of those in the millennial age bracket watch eSports regularly.
Disney, the MLB, NBA teams, the International Olympic Committee and former NBA players such as Shaquille O’Neal and Rick Fox have all shown an interest in or have holdings in eSports and eSports organizations.
Last year, one of the most popular competitive video games, the 2016 World Championship for League of Legends, attracted hundreds of millions viewers around the world, proving the pulling power of eSports.
