In order to measure how big the esports industry is and how much the media plays a role, comparing it to similar industries is a good way to do so. The MLS is an American soccer league that was founded in 1993 and played its first season in 1996. The 2020 version of the XFL is the second attempt to create a new football league.
When the numbers for the MLS are put up against the numbers of the esports industry, it gets a bit fuzzy. The numbers are still able to be compared, however, it must be kept in mind that the MLS encompasses 26 teams across two countries and one sport, while esports encompasses multiple games across the globe. This does not invalidate the numbers, but it is necessary to keep in mind.
In terms of revenue, the MLS falls short of that of the esports industry. The MLS’ total revenue was $644 million, while the esports industry’s total revenue for the same year was $655 million. When looking at viewership, it is easiest to look at the championship for one esports event and the MLS Cup. The average viewers of the League of Legends World Championship was 1 million people, with a peak of 3.9 million viewers, while the MLS Cup only brought in 803,000 viewers respectively.
Based on these numbers, it can be seen that esports brings in more revenue and viewers, despite getting less attention from the mainstream media outlets. Aside from the metrics, there are some similarities they share, and those are their struggles with public perception and their owners.
Looking at public perception, the MLS is seen as a retirement league by other European Leagues for older players to go to when washed up at the end of their careers, while the esports industry deals with many negative stereotypes, accusations of promoting violence, and more. As for the owners, the MLS has many owners with ties to other sports, such as Robert Kraft, James Harden, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and more, while the esports industry has some professional sports teams with stake in teams, such as the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and former NBA player Rick Fox.
The XFL, before it suspended operations due to COVID-19, was looked at as a model. The XFL was able to bring in an average of 3.12 million viewers for their week 1 games, which decreased to 2.1 million in week 2 and 1.6 million in week 3. Comparing this to the esports industry, the NBA 2k Players Tournament that aired on ESPN2 had an average audience of more than 350,000. The iRacing events that are taking place on TV in place of a typical Nascar race are also drawing in many viewers, with the first being the virtual Homestead Miami Speedway on March 22, which brought in 903,000 viewers, and the second event from the virtual Texas Motor Speedway brought in 1.3 million viewers.
While the XFL had more viewers and there’s no way around that point, it does show that numbers can rise and esports has a lot of room to grow on TV and in the eyes of the mainstream media. The XFL had the backing of the media companies and it was not something thrown together in the absence of programming to air.
After comparing the MLS and XFL to the esports industry, it can be seen that esports is a very competitive industry, but still has a long way to go. It also shows the model the XFL used can be a successful one for other industries: by getting mainstream media support, numbers can rise.
Sources:
Ahmed, Aashir. “The Biggest Esports of 2019 by Game and Hours Watched!” Recon. Published
February 23, 2020. https://www.ggrecon.com/articles/the-biggest-esports-of-2019-by-game-and-hours-watched.
Ayles, James. “Global Esports Revenue Reaches More Than $1 Billion As Audience Figures
Exceed 433 Million.” Forbes. Published December 3, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesayles/2019/12/03/global-esports-revenue-reaches-more-than-1-billion-as-audience-figures-exceed-433-million/#216e06f91329.
Chiari, Mike. “XFL Final Ratings Revealed for Week 1 Games, Highlighted by Vipers vs.
Guardians.” Bleacher Report. Published February 12, 2020. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2875907-xfl-final-ratings-revealed-for-week-1-games-highlighted-by-vipers-vs-guardians.
Lincoln, Darrelle. “XFL Viewership Drops Significantly in Week 3, Attendance on the Rise.”
Total Pro Sports. Published February 25, 2020. https://www.totalprosports.com/2020/02/25/xfl-viewership-drops-significantly-in-week-3-attendance-on-the-rise/.
Lukas, Mike. “NFL vs. MLS - Revenue, Salaries, Viewership, Attendance, and Ratings.” WSN.
Published September 17, 2018. https://www.wsn.com/nfl/nfl-vs-mls/.
“MLS Team Owners: Charlotte’s David Tepper Joins Burgeoning List.” MLS Soccer. Published
December 17, 2019. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/12/17/mls-team-owners-full-club-club-rundown.
Santana, Danni. “ESPN to Air League of Legends Championship Series Spring Split Playoffs.”
Front Office Sports. Published April 8, 2020. https://frntofficesport.com/espn-league-of-legends-spring-split-playoffs/.
Santaromita, Dan. “Bayern Munich, AC Milan Players Show Changing Perception of MLS.”
NBC Sports. Published July 27, 2016. https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-fire/bayern-munich-ac-milan-players-show-changing-perception-mls.
Weaver, Matt. “Texas eNASCAR iRacing Event Breaks TV Record for Esports Broadcast.”
Autoweek. Published March 31, 2020. https://www.autoweek.com/racing/nascar/a31996587/texas-enascar-iracing-event-breaks-tv-record-for-esports-broadcast/.