Esports: can it become a mainstream sport, or just a fad for a niche community?

Esports is now valued at roughly $365 billion globally, against the wider sports industry's $512 billion — a remarkable rise for an industry ESPN's own former president once dismissed as not a real sport. But recent layoffs across major esports organisations suggest the growth story is more complicated than the headline numbers suggest.

Why growth has slowed

Many esports organisations, often owned by larger corporations, have found the economics don't yet work — talent costs routinely outstrip what prize pools, merchandise and sponsorship can bring in, leading to layoffs at teams like 100 Thieves and Team Liquid. Esports' first appearance at the 2024 Olympics in Singapore is a genuine bright spot, though it's unclear whether that exposure will convert casual viewers into dedicated fans.

What esports has going for it

Unlike traditional sport, esports is borderless, low-cost to access, and offers viewers genuine control over how they watch — multiple camera angles and interactive spectating aren't possible in most other sports. What it lacks is the sense of enduring, place-based culture that traditional clubs have built up over decades — without a unified governing body, the industry still has real work to do on brand and identity before it can be considered truly mainstream.