eSports could become an Olympic sport

Experts in the field estimate that eSports could become an Olympic sport by the 2024 edition.

China.- General manager of Sina Esports, Chu Yun Fan, said on Wednesday that he expects eSports to keep growing exponentially in the next few years. Experts estimate that by 2024, it could be recognised as an Olympic game medal event.

“Esports is getting more attention than traditional sport industries, and we see room for further growth,” said the Chinese-based businessman, and explained that it is estimated that eSports generate US$700 million in revenue, excluding operational revenue. China has approximately 20 percent of that share.

Wang Guan, Alisports general manager of eSports, said that the increase in tournaments in China continues along with sponsors and viewers, and said that there’s a rise in popularity in Chinese mobile titles in competition.

Earlier this year, Good Gaming Inc revealed that it will increase tournament play due to increased sign ups in Asian tournaments. As the company said, the global market is expected to increase 7.8 percent to US$108 billion, with Asia-Pacific countries totaling one quarter of those numbers in 2017 to US$27.5 billion.

Reports have recently indicated that Asian and Asia-Pacific countries are the fastest growing sectors in the world when it comes to eSports: eSport gaming’s compounded annual growth is approximately 36.1 percent, with an audience of approximately 10 million people in 2017, expected to double in just three years to 19.8 million.