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New Threat To Traditional Sports Leagues: Millennials Prefer Watching eSports (venturebeat.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the leagues-of-legends dept.

Professional sports leagues "officially have a millennial problem," writes VentureBeat, citing some interesting findings from L.E.K. Consulting.
  • 40% of millennials prefer watching esports to traditional sports
  • 26% of millennial eSports enthusiasts reported a significant uptick in eSports viewing over the past year
  • 61% of esports followers said they spent less time watching TV over the past 12 months, and 45% said they had cut back on traditional sports viewing
  • Together millennials -- ages 17-34 -- and Generation Z peers -- age 16 and under -- comprise 45% of America's consumer base

"At a certain point, this comes down to a new form of media better serving an upcoming generation of consumers," concludes VentureBeat. "Esports leagues are all online. Most matches stream for free on sites like Twitch. They are available on the web or through smartphone apps. Competitive gaming is easily accessible, and it lives where Millennials are already spending their time."

Maybe that's why Major League Baseball's video streaming company recently paid $300 million for the right to stream League of Legends through 2023.


3 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Anything that kills ESPN is fine by me by ThomasBHardy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Tired of the general populace subsidizing sports channels.

    https://www.outkickthecoverage...

    --
    Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
  2. Re:45% of consumer base is misleading by Jetstream · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm thinking that would be during the flush process, after the recently added "contents" are gone, but the water hasn't started filling back up. So there's a chance you can just towel it off and it'll keep working for you. ;)

  3. Re:Not stupid at all by cashman73 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Millennials spend most of their income on paying back their student loans, so they don't have the extra cash for $200 tickets and up. And GenX is currently too busy paying for their kids, and can't afford to spend $200 per ticket for a family of four ($800 and up) on a single game. That leaves the Boomers in the stands, who have been robbing their kids for years to pay for everything. Maybe one day, these old farts will retire and give us their season tickets,. . .