A Dominant Force in Global Gaming
A Dominant Force in Global GamingaIf there was any doubt that esports would take the gaming industry into a lucrative new direction, 2019 came along and crushed them all. What was once the pursuit of lone gamers, logging on to Xbox or PlayStation live in the early hours of the morning, esports is now a multinational, multimillion-dollar juggernaut.
The world can’t get enough of these competitive gaming tournaments, as they’ve worked a way into popular culture, with the sport’s top earners the Brad Pitts and Leo DiCaprios of the gaming world. Here are a few of the key developments that have happened during the first six months of this year, securing the future of esports on a global scale.

Source: PokerStars.com / Used with permission
Caption: Esports tournaments fill arenas across the world.
The International 2019’s Prize Pool Sets a New Record

There have already been several impressively high prize pools throughout the relatively short history of esports, but the new figures for The International 2019 have set a brand-new record for the industry.

The Dota 2 tournament, taking place this year in Shanghai, has so far amassed a total prize pool of over $25 million (at the time of writing, it stands at $25,630,800). That’s even beaten Fortnite’s $30 million record since technically the Fortnite World Cup is two tournaments, whereas The International is a single tournament. The prize pool is likely to spike again before the end of August, as Immortal Treasure II and III and the exclusive Battle Pass game mode have yet to release.
Esports Arenas are Everywhere

In response to the Overwatch League commissioner’s recent announcement that starting next year, all teams competing in the league need to be physically based in their home cities to play both home and away matches, several esports arenas popped up across North America and Canada.

The most impressive is undoubtedly the $50 million stadium that Comcast Spectacor plans to build for the Philadelphia Fusion team. Comcast Spectacor also owns the NHL Philadelphia Flyers, so it’s got plenty of reason to purpose-build a professional arena. It will later open in a 47-acre plot in south Philadelphia, which will also house facilities for baseball, hockey, football and live entertainment events.

A brand-new 100+ seater digital arena has recently opened in Richmond, British Columbia, that aims to become the “premier space for esports” in Canada. The Gaming Stadium opened its doors at the end of June, so it’s barely a month old, but it’s already established a competitive gaming schedule that will include a 12-week summer tournament involving Fortnite, Overwatch, League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Esports has even cropped up on campuses across the States, as several universities invested in facilities for competitive gaming. The University of North Texas was the first to do so back in 2017 when it opened a $200,000 facility for both student and faculty gaming and to provide competition training for professional events. Ohio State University will soon follow suit by opening an 80-seat facility before the year is out, which will provide a “first of its kind comprehensive esports program” to include online certification, elective course in esports content production and even undergrad and graduate degrees.
Team Liquid is Unstoppable

There’s always a moment in any team sport when one team does something that catapults the sport into the mainstream. For esports, that’s undoubtedly Team Liquid and that “something” values at $200 million — a figure that according to owner Ted Leonsis is worth more than the initial cost of the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

Team Liquid has been involved in the sport of competitive gaming since its early days, and they’ve always been one of the top teams in the world. In 2019, however, they’re proving to be unstoppable. As well as having generated an estimated annual turnover of $17 million during 2018, they trounced the reigning World Champions Invictus Gaming in the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, are firmly at the top of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive rankings and have scored several victories at Intel Extreme Masters Sydney and DreamHack Masters Dallas. They’ve also recently become the world’s highest-earning team and the most successful esports franchise to date thanks to scooping $26.8 million in prize money this year.