If anyone doubted the potential of eSports to draw millennials to casinos, they were erased when around 24,000 young gamers streamed into London’s Wembley Stadium over four days to watch teams take on each other in a computer video game.
The young fans cheered as players lined up at computers to wage a virtual war in a virtual world. According to a report on CNBC, the attendance and the enthusiasm is evidence of the growing power of eSports, and the growing potential for gaming revenues from such contests.
According to the CNBC piece, globally, eSports has around 134 million viewers, and it is still growing. The Wembley event, run by Riot Games (a subsidiary of Chinese media group Tencent Holdings), drew 6,000 each day at a ticket price of £30.
“I absolutely foresee a day when the eSports industry will be incredibly profitable,” said Whalen Rozelle, director of eSports for Riot Games. “It will just take time.”
