Why competitive video gaming is the biggest marketing battleground of the next decade

The prize pool at stake is larger than the Indy 500 and the Masters combined, and now it’s down to the final two teams squaring off for the lion’s share of the loot. But something is different about this tournament: the playing field is virtual and the tools of war are mouse and keyboard. Welcome to the world of esports. Esports is the collective term for the competitive video gaming industry, which has begun to cement itself as a spectator activity on par with many traditional sports in terms of scale and revenue. Mike and his friends are just some of the 76 million people who watched The International 2017 – the world championship of a game called DOTA 2. The International and its unprecedented $25 million prize pool (of which all but $1.6 million was crowdfunded) hammered home the reality that the popularity of esports is blowing up, and in a big way. Esports is the collective term for the competitive video gaming industry, which has begun to cement itself as a spectator activity on par with many traditional sports in terms of scale and revenue. Mike and his friends are just some of the 76 million people who watched The International 2017 – the world championship of a game called DOTA 2. The International and its unprecedented $25 million prize pool (of which all but $1.6 million was crowdfunded) hammered home the reality that the popularity of esports is blowing up, and in a big way.