eSports had a great 2020 as major events were still able to continue, despite the global shutdown caused by the pandemic. Although many eSports events could no longer be held in stadiums as planned, they still had the green light to go ahead online, giving fans the chance to still enjoy watching their favorite eSports stars in action.
Although major sports events have now resumed, the buzz surrounding eSports hasn’t stopped. If anything, eSports are even more popular than ever before and have seen significant interest from investors too. Total eSports viewership is expected to grow at a 9% compound annual growth rate between 2019 and 2023, from 454 million to 646 million.
The increased interest in watching eSports has also led to the growth of eSports betting. Like sports betting, eSports betting allows fans to place a real money bet on the outcome of a match. The amount of money being wagered on eSports events is increasing each year and is expected to reach a total of $13 billion a year by 2025. This rapidly growing market is inevitably an exciting opportunity for investors.
eSports Investment
With the excitement around this fast-growing industry building, several eSports companies have recently gone public on the stock exchange. Esports Entertainment Group was one of the first eSports companies to go public, and the Malta-based organization focuses heavily on the online sports betting market. Shares in the company increased by 250% since November 2020, and estimates say its revenue will reach $70 million in 2022.
Skillz Inc is another eSports company that saw significant investment over the last year. The mobile eSports platform helped to create a more serious mobile gaming market and expanded into a niche with little competition. Since it joined the New York Stock Exchange via a special acquisition company, Skillz Inc saw frenzied investment that valued the company at $3.5 billion. This investment was driven by the fact that Skillz Inc has been nearly doubling its revenue for several years and makes almost triple the average revenue per user compared to major mobile gaming studios.
A similar concept to Skillz Inc, Good Gamer Corp, also intends to go public later in the year. Good Gamer offers a skill-based real money tournament management platform, allowing mobile game publishers to create tournaments and generate additional revenue from their games. This type of business is especially valuable in a gaming industry that has shifted more towards mobile gaming and free games in recent years. By creating real money tournaments, game publishers can still generate revenues from games without charging a download fee. It also helps to make games more exciting to play, creating a larger playerbase.
The Good Gamer platform can be integrated into any Android or iOS mobile game based on Unity and gives players the chance to compete for real money prizes. Good Gamer plans to go public on the Toronto Venture Exchange and recently raised $4 million in capital ahead of the public listing.
Good Gamer CEO Charlo Barbosa had the following to say about the prospect of taking the company public “We’re very excited about the North American beta launch of our Esports tournament management platform and the closing of our $4 million funding round and GoodGamer’s upcoming listing on the TSX Venture Exchange. The online gaming industry has exponentially grown due to COVID-19 as more people stay at home and play mobile games to entertain themselves. This market is ripe for another player to enter this fast-paced industry.”
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