Once seen as just a hobby, esports has exploded into a billion-dollar industry worldwide. For many fans, the way they follow their favourite esports teams feels nearly identical to how others follow hockey, football, or basketball.
Many key factors led to this rapid rise in esports viewership and participation.
“The major factors that have contributed most impactfully to the insane explosion we see in the viewership of esports are ultimately the ability to view esports,” said Geoffrey Lachapelle, an esports academic who now teaches at Humber.
Esports have been around for more than 30 years. When they were first gaining steam, the main problem was the difficulty in finding a way to stream the games. The invention of the app Twitch allowed fans to actually watch live for the first time.
“When Twitch formalized and fully became a thing around late 2010, early 2011, that is directly in line with the explosion in popularity and viewership of esports,” Lachapelle said.
Twitch allowed fans to not only watch live for the first time, but with elements introduced, such as chat, that created participation and engagement. With big-name games such as League of Legends, Counter Strike and Dota heading to Twitch, it created growth and a couple of years later led to sponsorships, which brought the money and allowed them to scale, Lachapelle said.
A large difference between esports and traditional sports is the streaming aspect. Esports are streamed on free platforms like YouTube and Twitch, compared to traditional sports, where you have to subscribe and pay for multiple different streaming services just to see your favourite team play.
In 2024-2025, the Premier League pulled in $1.68 billion in sponsorship revenue compared to esports, which garnered $726 million in sponsorships in 2024, and a projection of more than $1 billion for 2025, according to a report in esportsinsider.com.
“I think esports is following exactly the same trajectory as sports. Which is why we call it esports,” Lachapelle said. “We call it esports because the competitive and monetary structure is very close and the viewership structure very closely resembles that of classical athletic sports.”
Over the years, there has been a debate on whether esports are real sports.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a real sport, but it’s still an activity which promotes competitiveness and the need to adapt to different situations,” said Dumitru Gortolomei, a Humber student who is in game programming.
Between streaming, sponsorships, viewership and business models, the similarities and differences show.
“I believe it’s becoming more like traditional sports, but in a few years' time, it may start carving its own path,” Gortolomei said.
Sports and esports already are showing similarities with viewership, media rights and event organization.
“I think there is already overlap as esports continue to scale. You already see it being mentioned and getting nods from major television networks,” Lachapelle said.
There is only room for growth in esports, with projections growing every year and with the Olympics potentially taking esports more seriously, there will be a big shift, not exactly in tech but in the public perception, he said.
“Streaming is the be-all and end-all and the way it changes how the audience really works,” Lachapelle said.
