Twitch Streamers and Esports vs. Sporting Events: A Comparison
Esports has been making headlines with its impressive viewership numbers, but how do these numbers stack up against traditional sporting events? A recent study by casino.ca delved into the impact of Twitch streamers on their online communities and compared the viewership figures of the biggest esports tournaments with popular sporting events worldwide.
At the top of the list is the Super Bowl LII, which drew in a massive 103.4 million viewers. While esports events haven’t reached Super Bowl levels just yet, the 2017 League of Legends World Championship came close with an audience of 80 million viewers. The study didn’t include data from the 2018 World Championship, which was estimated to have garnered 99 million viewers.
Esports Surpassing Traditional Sports in Views
Aside from the Super Bowl, the second-most viewed sporting event in the study was the NFL’s 2018 NFC Conference Championship with 44.1 million viewers. However, four esports events had higher viewership, including the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2017, League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2018, PUBG Global Invitational 2018, and the League of Legends 2017 World Championship.
Comparing Viewership and Top Twitch Streamers
While the debate between esports and traditional sports continues, it’s hard to ignore the comparable viewership numbers they both enjoy. The study also looked into the most popular streamers on Twitch and it’s no surprise who came out on top.
According to the study, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins had an impressive 24,263 years of collective watch time in the past year, making him the most-watched streamer on Twitch. In comparison, Riot Games, the game developer, had 11,446 years of collective watch time in 2018 and streamed for 1,853 hours.
The Growing Influence of Esports
The study sheds light on the rapid growth of esports. With these impressive numbers, it’s possible that 2019 might be the year esports surpasses the Super Bowl in terms of viewership.
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