There are several colossal eSports leagues and tournaments in today's market. For an industry that barely existed a couple of decades ago to become one of the most prominent new professional sports markets is a remarkable achievement. As it is now a multi-billion dollar industry, multiple highly-successful individual leagues have sprung up and are fantastic success stories in their own right. Usually, a good measure of the success of a sporting industry is the size of the gambling market that underpins it.
In North America and Canada, there's been a wave of exciting new regulations which has allowed sports gambling companies to provide digital services to millions of Americas who have never previously been able to access the market. For decades, these markets have been primarily available in Las Vegas. However, there are now over two dozen states that have legalized sports gambling or are in the process of discussing legislation that will legalize it shortly.
How The Internet Continues To Fuel eSports Market Growth
Although sports gambling has flourished immensely since the internet started to permeate the industry in the early to mid-2000s, eSports finds itself in a unique market that has succeeded explicitly because of the internet. However, now that it has grown into a market with millions of keen audience members across the globe and a vast gambling market that helps buoy interest amongst this ardent fanbase.
Not only has the internet provided a suitable foundation for eSports to emerge as a legitimate and vast gambling market, but it also acts as a learning tool for people who aren't sure about how eSports works. It's a one-stop shop that grows and flourishes because of the internet. If you want more information about eSports and the news that impacts the market, you can find eSports and professional video gaming news at Thunderpick.
Recent eSports news articles have stated that billionaire investment from the Middle East is in the process of creating an eSports league for those gamers who enjoy playing cricket video games. Whether Cricket eSports will be able to catch on in the same way League Of Legends or Dota 2 has, only time will tell. Still, there's a lot of hype regarding the potential investment, how it will change the shape of the industry, and whether cricket eSports could emerge as a legitimate contender to established eSports leagues like FIFA or NFL Madden.
Are Cricket Video Games Popular?
Yes, cricket video gaming is popular in countries where the sport has a keen following. For example, plenty of Australians enjoy playing cricket video games, and there's a sizeable market in the United Kingdom too. However, the Indian cricket market is by far the biggest on Earth. Cricket in India is the biggest concentrated fanbase of one sport within one country anywhere on the planet.
The difficulty that cricket eSports providers face is that many Indians do not have the facility to play video games, as PlayStation and Xbox consoles are expensive luxury items. The disparity and poverty in India is still a severe issue. However, following the immense success of the Indian Premier League, and the Indian economy set to overtake Germany and Japan by 2030, this will undoubtedly trickle down and result in an economic boom within the country that should see a steep rise in the number of video gamers hailing from India.
There's room for plenty more eSports leagues to emerge, and this is where Cricket hopes to move into the industry. Given that the eSports industry and India's economy are both predicted to experience exponential growth throughout the rest of this decade, cricket eSports leagues could be the bridge that allows all of these industries to come together and unlock a market within India that could go on to become the biggest eSports market anywhere in the world.
Final Thoughts
As the Indian Premier League soars in popularity, huge money begins to pour into and the action on the pitch is some of the most spectacular in world cricket today. The IPL will likely act as the catalyst that sets the wheels in motion for the cricket eSports industry to become a serious global player within the next decade.
Tapping into the Indian cricket market via eSports might not seem like a financially viable decision at the moment. Still, once you weigh up the external economic factors involved and the economic analysis on how eSports will continue to expand, it seems glaringly apparent that cricket eSports will become a serious force in the market sooner rather than later. Although it's too early to say for sure, it seems inevitable that suitable investment and economic conditions will result in a highly successful cricket eSports market within the next ten to fifteen years.
