Registration for the new ePremier League 2019/20 season is scheduled to open on Monday 4 November. With Liverpool’s Donovan Hunt looking to defend his title, we decided to take a look at six things you didn’t know about competitive Esports.
For those of you who don’t know, an Esport is a multiplayer video game played competitively by professional gamers. They usually compete in front of live spectators, and it is also viewable for fans who wish to watch the event online.
There is a wide array of competitive Esports available, from professional Fortnite competitions, all the way to the new EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20 tournament.
Merseyside’s Donovan Hunt, otherwise known as F2Tekkz, is the current ePremier League Champion. He had won multiple FIFA 19 titles last season, however Donovan described the ePremier League Championship as the accolade that means the most to him.
.@F2Tekkz 🇬🇧 had the most dominant FIFA esports season on record.
Will someone be able to do it again next year? pic.twitter.com/NMYFIefMcv
— EA FIFA esports (@EAFIFAesports) August 22, 2019
With registration for the new ePremier League season fast approaching, we decided to take a look at 6 things you didn’t know about competitive gaming.
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The Esports industry is worth A LOT of money
This year is a major milestone for the competitive gaming industry. According to Newzoo’s 2019 Global Esports Market Report, the industry is projected to exceed the billion-dollar revenue mark for the very first time. In fact, revenues are set to reach an astonishing $1.1 billion, which is a 26.7% growth from last year.
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The world is watching
Furthermore, the Newzoo report shows the global Esports audience is set to reach a staggering 453.8 million viewers in 2019. That is more spectators than Liverpool’s Champions League Final against Tottenham Hotspur, the 2019 Super Bowl and the Wimbledon Final combined.
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They can earn more than most professional footballers
According to an article published by Forbes, the prize pool for The International 9, the largest Dota 2 tournament of the year, has broken the $30 million mark. This will officially make it the largest prize pool at a single Esports event ever. That equates to about $575,000 a week, which is more than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s weekly wages combined.
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You can even win a gold medal in Esports
Esports is going to be a medal event in the 2022 Asian Games. Also, there is a strong argument to also include competitive gaming in the 2024 Olympic games.
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They train like other professional athletes
Sure, they are not running laps or scoring goals, but they do spend hours each day practising and training for their next competitive event. In fact, many Esport teams have their own training facilities, where they exercise, train and even focus on nutrition to ensure they are at peak performance.
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There is even an Esports Hall of Fame
The Esports Hall of Fame not only reinforces the fact the competitive gaming has swiftly become a legitimate sport. It also highlights the fact that these gamers have performed at such a high level in their chosen game for such a long time. It is evident that there is more to competitive gaming than just picking up the controller.
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Featured Photo Credit – Phillip Keller – Creative Commons
