Esports has certainly been leading the way for the entertainment and sports industry over the past few years as the big events continue to post up huge numbers and draw in growing numbers of new viewers year on year, but there has been a big change in the past year or two as some audiences shift away from the traditional big three names and start to seek out opportunities in smaller titles, but the new look for esports may not be rooted in the typical video game style that many have become accustomed to, and may present itself in something a little more familiar.
The start of 2020 signaled many big organizations in traditional sporting to seek out an opportunity in the virtual space with the likes of FIFA and NBA doubling down on their existing approach to deliver football and basketball as an esports title to a wider audience, and with the physical sports being on a small hiatus at the time it led to many casual viewers tuning in to check it out. This had also been true in other sports as motorsports from the F1 and NASCAR did the same, and other big sports as the MLB tried their hand at a virtual tournament too, and as a bit of a surprise to some, to some huge successes.
Familiarity certainly played a part here, the growth of an esports betting market particularly within these games has helped a more casual audience to make the transition, and even where betting isn’t an option there are many that have had changing attitudes toward gaming as a whole as access to other platforms have grown an interest, particularly through some options like a lottery as PA Lottery Bonus Code options were widely used during this time too for example as an alternative – with some states even taking another look at online betting following the pandemic, opportunities may become more available too.
That’s not the say, however, that the top three games will be unseated from their firmly held positions, but instead that it may provide an opportunity for traditional sporting to start finding their own corner of the virtual gaming market, and for fans to develop an interest in a growing space in sporting – with broadcasting set to be the next big option to tackle as the biggest deals are set to expire in the next few years and many are hoping for a wider shift to different online platforms, the successes found in esports can certainly help develop the infrastructure for a primarily online broadcast game too, and all of the learning opportunities that come with that. Only time will tell, after all, but it does seem that some of this change is inevitable and that a new look for esports will be found in traditional sporting titles – it’s just the next step of getting the rest of the fans who haven’t yet to make the transition onboard and explore all the benefits that come with virtual options.
