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While the esports industry is a relatively new marketplace, the potential for market growth in this field is substantial. According to Newzoo (2018), the global esports audience, which they define as “all people who watch esports content independent of frequency” (p. 11), is at 380 million. In terms of the economic size of esports, global esports revenue was estimated to be $906 million annually in 2018, with North America accounting for $345 million annually, and China for $164 million annually (Newzoo, 2018, p. 6). As of 2017, the League of Legends World Championship was the most watched esports event on Twitch with 49.5 million hours watched and ticket revenues of $5.5 million (Newzoo, 2018, p. 6). Other estimates have put the global esports audience at 567 million by the end of 2020, with expected growth to near 800 million by 2023 (Activate, 2020, slide 49).
The primary method of spectatorship and fan engagement for esports is largely conducted by live-streaming broadcasts such as Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook LIVE (Facebook, 2015; Twitch, 2011; YouTube, 2015). Although much of the fascination with esports consumption is based on the industry’s popularity with online viewership numbers, the physical attendance aspect should not be overlooked. Physical attendance to esports events such as League of Legends and Dota 2 have achieved record numbers. As Murray (2018) stated, “The first wave of tickets for Dota 2’s The International 5 at the 17,000-seat Key Arena were sold out within five minutes. League of Legends famously sold out the 15,000-seat Staples Center in under an hour back in 2015” (para. 3). The esports industry recognizes the potential for growth in this area as well, as North America’s very first set of esports-specific venues were recently built: JOIN Esports Arena in Orange County, California (JOIN Esports Arena, 2015), HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (HyperX Esports Arena, 2018), and Esports Arena Oakland in Oakland, California (Esports Arena Oakland, 2018).
Due to the newness of the esports industry, the economics and fan engagement that drive the industry is little understood, in terms of revenues, audience, and viewership. While this provides many potential niches within the space for individual organizations, this also means that there is uncertainty in what approach organizations within the industry should take to drive fan engagement and consumption of their product. The purpose of this research is to empirically link different aspects of esports fandom and motivations of esports fans to their consumption habits. More specifically, this research aims to extend findings from the extant literature by examining how esports consumers motivations and fandom relate to many different esports consumption habits, such as watching streams, attending live events, or posting on social media. In a sport management context, acquiring supportive information that focuses on consumer identification, motivation, and consumption behaviors within esports could help stakeholders in the industry better understand which aspect of the product consumers align with. This is important to note for marketing strategies and other tactics such as segmentation, which will help divide the heterogeneous esports consumer base when pushing marketing initiatives. Furthermore, having a clearer understanding of the predictive potential of fandom and motivations on consumption behaviors of esports fans could be essential to all participants in the esports space, from esports leagues to game developers, teams, streaming organizations, and marketers who will potentially conduct promotional and advertising in esports.