Esports Numbers Skyrocket During COVID-19 Crisis

What was already a growing industry has skyrocketed in the past few weeks and months. Esports never had it so good.

Of course, we all want this pandemic to end as soon as possible, but being esports enthusiasts, we are happy to see the numbers of viewers, streams, and online tournaments go up.

Competitive gaming isn’t immune to the Coronavirus either, but being able to shift tournaments to an online format gives it a lot of freedom and stability.

People are using the time in self-isolation to play more games, watch more streams, and Bet on CSGObettingz, probably the best gambling website for CS:GO gambling.

 In the United States of America alone, domestic peak-hour usage for up 75% of playing video games in the first week of quarantine. Twitch, the biggest streaming platform, has its viewership up 30% in March alone.

The whole entertainment industry is finding ways to migrate their offerings to streaming platforms. It’s not only gaming, but we’ve also seen street performers, individuals, and even whole theaters turn to live-streaming their performances.

As more and more celebrities are staying in quarantine, they are turning to gaming in their free time. When they choose to stream what they’re playing, it attracts a lot of viewers who don’t usually do gaming. Just last week, we’ve seen Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc win the Formula 1 virtual Grand Prix for the FDA Hublot Esports Team.

ESPN2 broadcasted the race live, along with 12 hours of other esports content.

In Australia, professional rugby players, instead of competing on the rugby field, turned to Fortnite. Everything was streamed on Facebook. Additionally, the national hockey league playoffs weren’t canceled in Finland. They turned to the NHL 20 console game and broadcasted them on the national television. The UK had 5 million viewers of the thoroughbred jumps race, the Grand National. It was digitally simulated, and people could bet on it just like it was real.

Esports isn’t entirely immune to the Coronavirus, as all LAN tournaments are canceled, and all major tournaments that are held in stadiums are canceled as well.

Last year 19,000 people watched the 2019 Fortnite World Cup at the New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.

That won’t be possible this year.

Brands that weren’t using esports to advertise themselves are now turning to that option. It can broaden their audience and provide new revenue.  Additionally, traditional Sports organizations are turning to esports to get additional streams of income, as everything is dried out at the moment.

ESPN will host an NBA 2K2020 tournament with the likes of Durant, Trae Young, and other famous NBA players.

FOX Sports also aired a Madden 20 tournament that included many NFL athletes, and the winners presented donations of $100,000 to COVID-19 relief charities.

The trend of turning to gaming platforms, when the live games aren’t in place isn’t anything new. It’s been done for years now. The only difference is that it’s on such a massive scale at the moment.

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