the e-sport market | Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The e-sport (electronic sport) characterizes the practice on the internet of a videogame alone or in a team via a computer or a videogame console (especially Playstation and Xbox). Electronic sports appeared in the 1980s, but the sector has now become more professional, with major tournaments organized and recognized worldwide, such as the Esports World Convention (ESWC), the Major Language Gaming (MLG), or the Cyberathlete Professional League. The value creation system is based on various sources of revenue: advertising revenue, post-broadcast revenue, sponsorship revenue, and so on. The e-sport market can be segmented according to those revenue sources or by regional outlook. 

The global e-sport market was valued at $1.1 billion in 2019, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.4% from 2020 to 2027.

In Italy, e-sport fans are around 6 million, and connect to each other using specific social networks, especially Facebook to share opinions, and Twitch to join the rest of the online community. The Italian e-sport audience is mainly composed by males (62%), with a medium-high level of education, mostly between 21 and 30 years old (44%), but with a fair incidence also between 31 and 40 years old (38%). Among the most popular games, at the top of the ranking in Italy is Fifa, which is the most played and known. Then, follow at equal merit Call of Duty and Formula 1, Fortnite and Pokemon. 

Dealing with the Italian market, growing audience reach and engagement activities, investments in infrastructure for league tournaments, and the increase in live streaming of games, are considered the key drivers of the growth. The professionalization of the industry has created lucrative opportunities for game developers, gamers, influencers, and event organizers. For these reasons, millennials are considering e-sports as a professional career due to the rise in popularity of game tournaments.