Blog — August 18, 2025
As the Esports World Cup Wraps, Kagan Looks at the Growing Potential of Competitive Gaming
By Richard Berndes and Neil Barbour
Highlights
- Esports now has its own World Cup, is played at the Olympics and awards millions of dollars in prize money for the best teams and players.
- Competitions, teams and players attract major sponsorships from brands like Red Bull, Porsche, McDonald's and Amazon.
- The esports segment is a growing revenue opportunity nested inside of the broader $200 billion gaming market. We estimate that esports competitions produced $2.34 billion in revenue in 2024 from sponsorships, media rights, event ticketing, merchandising and other related business.
Esports has been growing and becoming more popular globally as the games and players gain traction with a wide range of consumers. Esports drove an estimated $2.34 billion in revenue in 2024, and prize funds for winning an event can be substantial.
The International in 2021 was worth over $40 million, while the 2024 Esports World Cup had a prize pool of $62.5 million. Live events can be extremely popular; the 2019 Fortnite World Cup sold out the Arthur Ashe Stadium for three days, filling all 19,000 seats.
The most recent Esports World Cup wrapped up Aug. 23 and included events for 25 games, such as Street Fighter 6, Counter Strike 2 and Crossfire. Prize pools for each individual event ranged from $500,000 to $3 million.
We define esports as organized, managed computer gameplay based around titles that are arranged into professional competitions played individually or by professional teams, such as Team Liquid.
The esports segment is a growing revenue opportunity nested inside of the broader $200 billion gaming market. We estimate that esports competitions produced $2.34 billion in revenue in 2024 from sponsorships, media rights, event ticketing, merchandising and other related business.
The total addressable market is set to grow at a 9.9% compound annual growth rate through 2030 to $4.12 billion as large-scale competitions become more common and more players rally around the live-service games that compose the competitive landscape.
Esports, like most sports, attracts revenue from sponsorships, brand tie-ups, media rights, and tournament money. Money is drawn by the exposure that esports provides to a young, tech-savvy audience that watches and plays.
Sponsorships form a major proportion of esports revenue as brands seek to reach an audience that consumes a significant part of their content outside the traditional media landscape of broadcast. While the gaming industry quite naturally aligns with esports as a significant partner, luxury brands like Louis Vuitton Malletier SA, Ferrari NV, and Guccio Gucci S.p.A. are also involved in the gaming market.
Esports events are highly featured on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Gaming. Some dedicated esports channels, such as ESTV and Ginx TV, have had varying amounts of success, as discussed previously by Kagan. Netflix has also made documentaries about esports, including "7 Days Out" and "Free to Play." The BBC has featured the Esports World Cup on its "Tech Now" series.
Game developers create, manage, and maintain the games that are played by professional teams; these games are also available to the public. Game titles include League of Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, and EA Sports FC. Publishers include Electronic Arts Inc., Riot Games Inc., Epic Games Inc., and Tencent Holdings Ltd. These organizations have complete control over their products and, therefore, set the rules for how the games are played and the competitions in which they are used.
This creates a unique type of relationship between the game, tournament, and players; in effect, an organization that is providing the "equipment" is controlling the game, not an independent governing body such as the Fédération Internationale De Football Association governing soccer. It is like Nike Inc. or Adidas AG taking control of global soccer.
Kagan clients can access the full with deeper data cuts into the top revenue driving institutions, sponsorship landscape and winningest teams.