Although eSports is currently gaining much attention, it has been around since the 1980s, according to Michiel Bakker, CEO, Ginx.
Speaking in a panel discussion at the Dataxis NexTV Series CEE & DACH conference in Berlin, he added that it now has 200 million active participants and 200 million viewers worldwide.
It is important to understand that the two main types of eSports, namely League of Legends and Dota 2, are like completely different sports, such as football and rugby, for instance, and attract completely different audiences.
The scale and popularity of eSports was demonstrated at an event earlier this year in which the winning team was paid $10 million, with each player receiving $2 million.
Speaking about Ginx, Bakke said that it is a 24-hour channel, reaching 55 million homes around the world and claiming 5 million viewers a month. Although most of these viewers are in countries in Europe, it will soon be expanding to another market.
Ginx shows 750 hours of original content a year and an additional 750 hours of live sports coverage, delivered linearly.
Meanwhile, Mark Reed, director, Heaven Media, said that although 99% of eSport viewing is PC-based, with viewers using smartphones as a second screen, this will change as they age and change their method of consumption.
He referred to Twitch.tv, the Amazon-owned live streaming video platform that has 100 million visitors a month.
Interesting, Reed also said that while 35% of the eSports audience is female, it was only 15% eight years ago.
Ginx is backed by Sky and ITV and interestingly has its roots CEE, with Serbia Broadband (SBB)N having begun to offer the service in 2011.
In Bakker’s view, TV has a role to play to take eSports into the mainstream.
