The Rise of Digital Sports: The Growth and Development of E-sports in Türkiye
The development of technology and the digital age has also affected several sports branches. E-sports, which has been increasing its popularity in recent years, is one of these. The use of the Internet by a wide audience gave an opportunity for people from different geographies to play matches together. E-sports is preferred by young audiences, as it can be easily played in digital environment and does not require huge financial resources. Important clubs of our country have also recently started to take their place in international organizations by establishing e-sports teams. The rapidly growing e-sports sector has also brought the need for new institutions and organizations. The recently established E-sports Club Association and the Turkish E-sports Federation have been involved in this development. With more than 400 million active viewers, e-sports is likely to lead to several changes in sports culture in the future as well.
With more than 400 million active viewers, e-sports is likely to lead to several changes in sports culture in the future as well.
Contrary to the popular idea, e-sports, one of the most important sports branches in competitive gaming world, is not so new. It is known that the first e-sports tournament took place in 1972, with the Spacewar tournament organized among Stamford University students. The introduction of internet and computer games has also breathed a fresh life into electronic sports. Of course, the biggest breakthrough in electronic sports happened after 2005. E-sports, which has moved with the times with Counter-Strike 1.6, has begun to become widespread throughout the world. Organizing million-dollar awarded tournaments for games such as Counter-Strike, PUBG, League of Legends has allowed the growth of the e-sports market and made this sport even more popular.
Türkiye, one of the countries with the most players in the digital gaming world, has also been showing rapid growth in the field of e-sports in recent years. The fact that the world’s most famous brands have allocated significant budgets for e-sports has paved the way for clubs to invest in this sport branch. The sector, which has been booming with the serious investments from major sports clubs such as Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, will perhaps enable us to have one of the most active e-sports leagues in the future.
E-sports fans watched 190 million hours of major tournaments of League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2 and Overwatch in 2018.
E-sports tournaments were watched for 190 million hours
The growth rate of e-sports has also started to be seen in figures. E-sports fans watched 190 million hours of major tournaments of League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2 and Overwatch in 2018. According to a report by gaming and mobile statistics company Newzoo, the number of views by e-sports fans has shown a big increase this year. Newzoo, which follows only grand finals and tournaments, also followed and analyzed live broadcasts made via Twitch and YouTube, by means of Game Streaming Tracker. Also, the Super Bowl final, the most popular sporting event in the world, reached 103 million viewers in 2018, while the League of Legends 2018 World Championship final managed to reach more than 200 million instant viewers.
