esports: number of hours watched worldwide has tripled between 2017 and 2022

The esports competitions held around the world (with the exception of China) in 2022 accumulated 2.834 billion hours of views, more than three times as many as in 2017 (966 million hours viewed), according to a study by Esports Charts, a website specialised in esports audiences, published on 29/06/2023.

This total is down by 8.2% compared with 2021 (3.089 billion hours viewed), mainly due to the esports situation in India. "The local government has blocked access to many popular games (like PUBG Mobile), making it more difficult for esports to develop in the country." said Esports Charts.

Two factors explain this sharp rise in five years. Firstly, the covid-19 pandemic was a real boost to esports audiences, as competition organisers were already used to offering online events. "When traditional sport is at a standstill, we can continue. At a time when there is little content to watch, this is a major boost for esports audiences," said Nicolas Maurer, CEO of Team Vitality, to News Tank Football on 23/03/2020. Between 2019 and 2021, esports audiences grew by 27.3% and then by 42.1…