25 Mind Blowing Esports Stats (2024)
This article is a list of 26+ exciting Esports statistics for 2024.
Competitive gaming is becoming increasingly mainstream.
But is the popularity of esports peaking? Or is the industry forecast to continue its rapid growth?
Find out more in our up-to-date roundup of the Esports industry.
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Contents
- Esports Market Growth Stats
- Regional Esports Stats
- Esports Game Stats
- Esports Tournament Stats
- Esports Organizations Stats
- Esports Players Statistics
- Esports Viewer Statistics
- Esports US Viewers Statistics
Top 5 Esports Statistics (Editor's Picks)
- The total market value of the Esports industry is over $1.6 billion.
- The US Esports market has overtaken China's as the most vlauable.
- Dota 2's 2021 cumulative prize pool reached almost $50 million.
- The top Esports team by earnings - Team Liquid - has won almost $40 million in prize money.
- The top-earning Esports player has won over $7 million.
Esports Market Growth Stats
The Esports market is valued at over $1.6 billion (GlobalData)
Esports has surged in popularity in recent years. And its market value has followed suit.
In 2019, the Esports global market was valued at $957.5 million. This figure has grown to approximately $1.64 billion today - an increase of over 70% over the last four years.
This Esports industry growth comes in spite of a slight pandemic-driven dip to $947.1 million.
Esports sponsorship generates over $600 million in market revenue (Newzoo)
Esports sponsorships are estimated to account for $641 million worth of revenue in 2021. This is the largest contributing segment of total Esports revenue, making up around 60% of total revenue.
Media rights are set to be responsible for $192.6 million worth of revenue in the Esports space.
Here’s a full breakdown of Esports estimated market revenue by segment:
| Esports Market Segment | Market Revenue 2021 (estimated) |
| Sponsorships | $641 million |
| Media rights | $192.6 million |
| Publisher fees | $126.6 million |
| Merchandise and tickets | $66.6 million |
| Digital | $32.3 million |
| Streaming | $25.1 million |
Regional Esports Stats
The US has the largest Esports market in the world (Statista)
The US Esports market is worth an estimated $871 million.
By comparison, the Chinese Esports market is valued at $445.2 million.
Western Europe’s Esports market is estimated to be worth $205.8 million.
As predicted, the US has the top Esports market share as of 2023 (Statista)
Forecasts predicted the US to have an Esports market share of 28.7% in 2023.
This is 6.9% higher than the then-market leader China (21.8%).
South Korea ranks third in the Esports market share forecast with a share of 18.2%.
Esports Game Stats
Dota 2 had the largest cumulative prize pool in 2023 (Esports Earnings)
No game had a larger cumulative Esports prize pool in 2023 than Dota 2. The online battle arena offered a total prize pool equating to $29.56 million in 2023.
Shooters dominated cumulative prize pools in Esports competitions.
Here’s a list of the top ten cumulative prize pools of Esports competitions in 2022 and 2023:
| Game | 2023 Rank | Cumulative prize pool (2023) | 2022 Rank | Cumulative prize pool (2022) |
| DOTA 2 | 1 | $29.56 million | 1 | $32.85 million |
| Fortnite | 2 | $19.11 million | 4 | $16.35 million |
| PlayerUnknown’s Battleground Mobile | 3 | $15.94 million | 3 | $23.43 million |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 4 | $14.99 million | 5 | $16.17 million |
| Rainbow Six Siege | 5 | $8.9 million | 9 | $8.04 million |
| VALORANT | 6 | $8.5 million | 11 | $7.06 million |
| Arena of Valor | 7 | $8.42 million | 2 | $32.73 million |
| Rocket League | 8 | $8.4 million | 7 | $9.42 million |
| League of Legends | 9 | $7.64 million | 6 | $7.71 million |
| PlayerUnknown’s Battleground | 10 | $7 million | 8 | $8.42 million |
Fortnite is the most streamed game on Twitch (SullyGnome.com)
There is some overlap between the games with the largest prize pools and the most streamed games on Twitch. Fortnite, VALORANT, and League of Legends each feature in both top 10 lists.
Fortnite was the most streamed game between November and December 2023 with 1.6 million streams - the only game to tally over 1 million views on Twitch during this time period.
Dota 2 cumulative prize pools total over $340 million (Esports Earnings)
As of December 2023, Dota 2 has the largest cumulative esports prize pool ($340.57 million).
This figure has been spread across 4,810 players. And 1,855 tournaments.
Fortnite ($176 million), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ($158 million), League of Legends ($107 million), and Arena of Valor ($78 million) make up the rest of the top five.
Over 1 million people streamed Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2020 (Esports Charts)
At its peak in 2020, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was streamed by just over 1 million people.
The game averaged approximately 273,000 viewers in 2020. This figure may have been partly inflated by the pandemic but remained largely stable the following year.
In 2021, the average number of viewers of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Esports slightly dipped to 224,000.
Fortnite has been streamed by over 4.5 million people on Twitch in the last year (Sully Gnome)
Between December 2022 and December 2023, Fortnite was streamed by around 4.63 million people on Twitch.
This figure is around 2x more than the next-most streamed game by viewers, Just Chatting (2.32 million).
The cumulative PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds tournament prize pool surpassed $25 million in a single year (Strive)
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) tournament grew year-over-year between 2017 and 2023.
In 2017, the cumulative prize pool for PUBG Esports totaled $1.01 million.
The following year, PUBG’s cumulative prize pool for Esports grew to $8.19 million - a rise of over 8x in one year.
In 2023, PUBG’s cumulative prize pool for Esports tournaments was an estimated $27.53 million. That’s a rise of over 300% in five years.
Esports Tournament Stats
The most viewed Esports tournament peaked at more than 5 million viewers (ESC)
As of May 2021, Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore has been the most viewed Esports event with 5.41 million peak viewers.
The second and third most viewed Esports tournaments are the League of Legends (LOL) World Championships.
The 2019 LOL World Championships was viewed by 3.99 million peak viewers. While the 2020 LOL World Championships was viewed by 3.88 million viewers.
As of late 2021, six different Esports events have registered over 2.5 million peak viewers.
The largest Esports tournament prize pool exceeded $40 million (Esports Earnings)
The largest Esports tournament prize pools have been dominated by The International. All five of the top Esports prize pools to date have come courtesy of the annual tournament.
After being canceled in 2020, The International returned in 2021 with a record-breaking $40.02 million prize pool.
The International 2019’s prize pool totaled $34.33 million. This followed year-over-year rises from 2015.
The International 2015 had a prize pool of $18.43 million - $3.14 million more than the next highest prize pool, the Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 - Solo ($15.29 million).
The Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 - Duo rounded off the top eight Esports tournament prize pools to date with a total of $15.1 million.
Annual combined Esports prize pools surpassed an estimated $500 million in 2023 (Strive)
Combined Esports prize pools totaled $115.51 million in 2017. And rose to $159.34 million in 2018.
In 2019, it was estimated that cumulative worldwide esports prize pools would total $543.69 million in 2023.
Esports Organizations Stats
The top 4 Esports organizations are worth over $250 million combined (Forbes)
A 2020 Forbes study found that TSM is the most valuable Esports organization with an estimated value of $410 million.
Cloud9 placed second on the most valuable Esports organizations with a valuation of $350 million.
Here is the full list of the top ten most valuable Esports organizations:
| Esports Organization | Value |
| TSM | $410 million |
| Cloud9 | $350 million |
| Team Liquid | $310 million |
| FaZe Clan | $305 million |
| 100 Thieves | $190 million |
| Gen.G | $185 million |
| Enthusiast Gaming | $180 million |
| G2 Esports | $175 million |
| NRG Esports | $155 million |
| T1 | $150 million |
The top-earning Esports organization make over $90 million (Forbes)
Enthusiast Gaming was the top-earning Esports organization in 2020, bringing in approximately $95 million in revenue - over 2x more than any other Esports organization.
TSM ranked second on the list of top revenue-earning Esports organizations with $45 million.
FaZe Clan rounded off the top three Esports organizations by revenue last year with $40 million in revenue.
In total, five Esports organizations generated more than $25 million last year.
Team Liquid has won over $45 million as a professional Esports team (Esports Earnings)
As of December 2023, Team Liquid is the leading earner in the Esports industry with $47.9 million won.
Team Liquid is closely followed by OG with a total of $38 million earned in Esports prize money.
22 organizations have won over $10 million in Esports prize money.
And 46 have won over $5 million.
Esports Players Statistics
The top Esports players have won over $7 million (Esports Earnings)
The top-earning Esports player as of December 2023 is Johan Sundstein (popularly known as "N0tail"). He's made a total of $7.18 million to date.
Currently, 10 Esport players have won totals exceeding $5 million. And a total of 166 have exceeded the $1 million mark.
The leading female Esports player has earned over $450,000 (Esports Earnings)
The top-earning female Esports player as of December 2023 is Sasha Hostyn popularly known as Scarlett with a total of $456,800 - over 16x less than the top male Esports player.
Currently, 4 female Esports players have won totals exceeding $100,000.
And over 250 female Esports players have won $10,000+.
Esports Viewer Statistics
There are an estimated 234 million Esports enthusiasts (VentureBeat)
Esports audience size has grown year-over-year between 2019 and 2021.
In 2019, there were an estimated 197 million Esports enthusiasts. And a further 200.8 million occasional Esports viewers.
In 2021, these figures grew to 234 million Esports enthusiasts. And a further 240 million occasional Esports viewers.
In 2024, there are expected to be 285.7 million Esports enthusiasts. And an additional 291.6 million occasional viewers
More than half of Esports views are from the Asia Pacific region (roundhillinvestments.com)
Estimates show that well over half of Esports views come from the Asia Pacific region - 41% more than any other region.
Europe is responsible for approximately 16% of views. While North America accounts for 12% of views.
The rest of the world makes up the remaining 15%.
Almost half of internet users in the Philippines watch video game live streams (GlobalWebIndex)
A 2019 survey found that the country with the largest proportion of internet users watching video game live streams was the Philippines with 49%.
Indonesia ranked second on the list for the highest proportion of internet users watching video game live streams with 40%. Followed by India with 39%.
A further six countries exceeded the 30% mark, all of which are Asian nations, including Turkey.
Mexico is the highest-ranked non-Asian country with 29% of internet users in the country streaming live video games. This figure is level with the worldwide average.
The highest proportion of internet users watching live video games in South America came from Brazil with 24%. And the highest proportion from Europe came from Romania with 23%. Level with Africa’s joint-highest Egypt and South Africa.
The United States posted a comparatively low 13% of internet viewers who watch live video game streams.
Esports US Viewers Statistics
Approximately 4 in 5 Americans have no interest or have never heard of Esports (Morning Consult)
Despite widespread popularity across much of Asia, interest in Esports in the US is still relatively niche.
As of April 2021, 59% of US respondents claimed they were “not a fan at all” of Esports. A further 20% of respondents claim to have never heard of it.
In total, 20% of those surveyed claimed to be fans of Esport with 13% identifying as “casual fans”. And 7% identified as “avid fans”.
Males are 3x more likely to be Esports fans vs. females (Morning Consult)
A total of 30% of male US respondents claim to have some level of interest in Esports.
Meanwhile, just 11% of female US respondents claim to have some level of interest in Esports.
15% of US male respondents claim not to have heard of Esports - 10% fewer than 1 in 4 female US respondents.
US Esports viewers surpassed an estimated 45 million in 2023 (eMarketer)
Viewing figures for Esports in the US have grown year-over-year since 2018.
In 2018, US Esports viewing figures totaled 25.7 million. This grew to 30.3 million in 2019. And 34.8 million in 2020.
This year, US Esports viewing figures are estimated to be 39.2 million.
This figure was predicted to climb to 46.2 million in 2023.
Approximately 1 in 7 US internet users will watch Esports in 2023 (eMarketer)
In 2018, 9.2% of US internet users watched Esports. This figure has grown year-over-year reaching 13.4% in 2021.
In 2023, it is forecast that 15.5% of US internet users will watch Esports.
Conclusion
That’s all for our list of data and stats from the Esports industry.
Clearly, Esports is a steadily growing industry across much of the world. However, the US still lags behind Asia in terms of both interest and viewing figures.
Having been negatively affected by the pandemic, the Esports industry looks set to continue its upward trajectory over the coming years.
If you enjoyed our Esports statistics, why not have a look at our list of emerging Esports startups or our summary of the top gaming trends right now?
