What do the University of Akron, Georgia State University, and Miami State University have in common? They are among the growing number of educational institutions that now offer varsity esports programs.
What used to be a hobby is now a fast-rising professional career. According to Business Insider, viewership will likely grow by at least 9% annually until 2023. By the end of the forecast period, the sport will have over 600 million fans. That’s almost twice the figure in 2017.
The market revenue isn’t shabby either. Statista data revealed that it could hit about $1.5 billion by 2023 or twice the sales back in 2018.
In fact, the esports surge revived the laptop industry as the demand for a gaming PC laptop and accessories also significantly increased. Canalys reports shared that shipments for PCs went up by 11% between 2019 and 2020, which is equivalent to almost 300 million units. Gartner claimed the market performance has been the highest since 2010.
All these pieces of information should make one stop wondering why many want to venture into esports and become professional gamers. The potential of earning tons of money is there. But how much do they really earn?
Let’s Talk Numbers
One of the biggest misconceptions about pro gramers is they breathe and eat millions of dollars. According to industry estimates, their wages are not so different from an average American worker.
Team salary may be around $4,000 per month. Annually, they can receive between $60,000 and $75,000. This depends on many factors, such as experience, training, and types of games played.
But it isn’t only passion that fuels players to continue doing it. Esports can provide them a slew of opportunities that can translate to million-dollar revenues each year.
1. Tournaments
Tournaments, where players can compete by themselves or with a team, can carry a price tag worth millions. According to Statista, the Dota 2 International Tournament in 2019 awarded 18 teams $34.3 million. The winning team received $15.5 million, and every player got a handsome $3 million.
In the same year, the winner of the Fortnite World Cup Finals-Solo pocketed about $15 million. Even if it is taxable, the gamer can still take home way more than most American employees receive annually.
2. Subscriptions and Viewerships
Tournaments don’t happen every day, so pro gamers may need something to fall back on. This is where subscriptions and viewerships tremendously help.
One of the most popular platforms for watching e-games is Twitch, which takes 50% share for every paid subscription. The amount is fixed at $4.99 per month. About 30% goes toward the player.
The percentage may seem small, but the real numbers are big when gamers can play to at least 10,000 people per stream. The more paid subscribers one has, the bigger the income is. Shroud, which has about 9 million followers, generates amazing $60 million revenue for 200,000 of average viewership per week.
Pro gamers can also stream or upload their play on other platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. Statistics show that the video channel pays about $18 per 1,000 ad views or at least $3 for 1,000 video views.
Simply put, if a gamer receives 500,000 views on a single upload, they can already get $1,500 for that. Now, what if the player produces the same average views for the next 10 to 20 videos? Moreover, since these videos remain on the channel, this strategy is an excellent way to create passive income.
3. Sponsorships and Ads
Ninja, probably the most celebrated video game player today, earned almost $20 million in 2019. This is even if his total tournament winnings were less than $100,000, and he didn’t qualify for the Fortnite World Cup.
The reason is simple: gamers can also achieve the same status as other Internet influencers. Forbes revealed that the 29-year-old has over 22 million followers on YouTube, 14.9 million fans on Instagram, and almost 3 million followers on Mixer.
Some reports say that he’s the most-followed player at Twitch with at least 16 million subscribers. His live streams can generate over 75,000 concurrent views in 24 hours.
These gamers, therefore, are attractive to a lot of brands. In fact, a sponsorship deal could pay $1 per view for each hour. The likes of Ninja create a cool income of $75,000 in 60 minutes. But big companies like Coca-Cola and Intel can also reach out to players with lower viewer count as long as their number of followers is high.
The road to becoming a rich pro gamer isn’t easy. Most of the players train for 8 hours or more a day, especially when they have tournaments. But the industry also rewards those who are committed and strategic well.
