1、Esports:leveling-upPhoto by Tarek AlKarsah Kearney,DubaiThe window is open for broad-casters and other investors to make smart,well-timed plays in online gaming.Esports has been growing in popularity and is now at an inflection point where the market structure and economics make it a mainstream plat

2、form for Millennials and those targeting them.Todays esports teams compete in front of massive global audiences.In fact,the most popular events attract the same size audiences as traditional top-tier sporting events.As far back as 2014,the NBA Finals drew an average of 15 million viewers while more

3、than 20 million people watched The International Dota 2 Championships,a multiplayer online video game tournament.By 2018,the global esports audience had reached 380 million people and in 2021 hit 474 million with an annual growth rate of 10 percent.And yet,many companies are still ignoring this grow

4、ing tidal wavedespite the worlds leading broadcasters losing hundreds of thousands of viewers each month as younger generations turn their attention to non-traditional sports.As the average age of viewers for mainstream sports creeps up,esports is rushing to fill that void.In the first 20 years of t

5、his century,the age of the average viewer has risen from 40 to 43 for the National Basketball Association,from 44 to 52 for the National Football League,and from 52 to 58 for Major League Baseball.Meanwhile,the average esports fan is 31.The pandemic has had a mixed impact on esports,which has not ex

6、perienced the unilateral uplift that might be expected from any digital-centric product.As with other sports,some esports events were cancelled,triggering a loss of revenues,and merchandise and ticketing revenues were down 30 percent in 2021 compared with 2018.However,sponsorship and media rights re