看別人打遊戲 一個十億美元的行業

Could people enjoy watching video game competitions more than watching professional sports? Yes.

人們對觀看視頻遊戲競賽的熱愛程度，會超過職業體育比賽嗎？確實如此。

According to new research from Newzoo and Repucom, professional video gaming (named eSports for electronic sports) is growing at a record pace—with a projected global audience of over 335 million fans (145 million active fans and an additional 190 million casual fans) by 2017. In comparison, the NFL today has a global fan base of 151 million, including 100 million American fans.

市場研究公司Newzoo和體育行業研究公司Repucom最新的研究顯示，職業視頻遊戲競賽（也被稱爲電子競技）正在以前所未有的速度增長——預計截至2017年，全球觀衆數量將超過3.35億人（1.45億活躍粉絲和1.9億普通粉絲）。與之相比，全美橄欖球聯盟全球的粉絲數量爲1.51億，包括1億美國球迷。

The report shows that on a global scale, there are 2.2 billion sports fans that each generate an average of $56 per year. ESports fans currently generate an average of $2.2 per person per year, without game revenues taken into account. Newzoo’s current eSports revenue projections use a conservative $3.2 average revenue per fan figure for 2017. With growth mainly driven by a larger audience, global eSports revenues will still rise to $451 million in two years from now.

報告顯示，全球約有22億體育迷，人均每年可產生56美元的收入。電子競技的粉絲人均每年爲該行業貢獻2.2美元收入，其中不包括遊戲收入。Newzoon對2017年的電子競技收入預測，採用了人均3.2美元的保守估計。在觀衆基數增長的帶動下，全球電子競技行業的收入將在兩年內增長到4.51億美元。

“This renders eSports comparable to a Top 10 sport, or globally renowned leagues like the NFL or Champions League,” Peter Warman, CEO of Newzoo, says. “If the average revenue per enthusiast grows faster and jumps to $7, eSports will be a billion dollar business by 2017 with even more growth potential going forward.”

Newzoon公司CEO彼得o沃爾曼表示：“這表明，電子競技可以與全球前十大體育運動或全球知名聯賽相提並論，如全美橄欖球聯盟或歐洲冠軍聯賽等。如果電子競技愛好者產生的人均收入以更快速度增長至7美元，那麼，到2017年，電子競技行業的規模將達到十億美元，並且擁有無限的增長潛力。”

As eSports continues to grow at a record pace, Warman believes it’s just a matter of time before big leagues like the NFL begin worrying about eSports as serious competition to sponsors.

沃爾曼認爲，隨着電子競技行業的持續飛速增長，它必將成爲與全美橄欖球聯盟等大型傳統體育聯盟爭奪贊助商的強勁對手，這只不過是時間問題而已。

“As the eSports market matures, its revenue mix will closer resemble that of traditional sports, which saw 57% of revenues come from sponsorships and selling media rights in 2014,” says Warman.

沃爾曼表示：“隨着電子競技市場日益成熟，其收入結構將與傳統體育更加接近，2014年，傳統體育57%的收入來自贊助和出售媒體版權。”

Big brands like Intel, Coca-Cola, American Express, Duracell, HTC, Nvidia, and Benq have already tapped into the eSports audience. And as this audience grows, more brands that sponsor traditional sports will be investing in eSports. Warman says a lot of these companies are already talking to his research firm about the best ways to connect with eSports fans.

英特爾、可口可樂、美國運通、金霸王電池、HTC、英偉達和明基等大品牌已經進軍電子競技市場。隨着觀衆人數增加，更多傳統體育的贊助品牌將投身電子競技行業。沃爾曼表示，許多公司已經開始與調查研究公司商討吸引電子競技粉絲的最佳途徑。

“The nice thing about traditional sports is that it is so organized and completely geared towards brand exposure and advertising,” Warman says. “ESports as a whole is fragmented, global, and for the most part completely online. Big brands find it hard to fit their traditional sports sponsorship and advertising models onto eSports.”

沃爾曼稱：“傳統體育的優勢在於，整個行業組織有序，完全面向品牌曝光與廣告宣傳。而電子競技行業則是碎片化的全球性行業，很大程度上屬於在線行業。大品牌很難將對傳統體育的贊助和廣告宣傳模式複製到電子競技行業當中。”

Warman says brands will have to embrace consumer participation across all digital channels if they want to reap the benefits of the low entry that now exists.

沃爾曼表示，各大品牌若想獲得目前的低門檻帶來的收益，必須考慮到消費者通過所有數字渠道參與這一事實。

One of the big differences between traditional sports leagues and eSports is the popularity of user-generated content via livestreams on Amazon-owned Twitch and YouTube videos.

傳統體育競賽與電子競技的主要區別之一，是用戶通過直播流在亞馬遜視頻遊戲網站Twitch和YouTube上創建的內容的受歡迎程度。

“ESports, including the amateur competitive gaming scene, already generates more video content and viewing minutes than the NFL,” Warman says. “It is not the top eSports championships that are a threat to traditional sports like the NFL, but the larger trend of consumers watching each other play competitive games. The amount of content is endless, as consumers love to create and share experiences, as well as organize themselves in communities around this content.”

沃爾曼說道：“電子競技，包括業餘遊戲比賽場景，所產生的視頻內容與觀看時間，已經超過了全美橄欖球聯盟。對於傳統體育行業來說，威脅並非來自知名的電子競技錦標賽，而是消費者觀看玩競技遊戲這一更大的趨勢。只要消費者願意創建和分享遊戲經驗，並圍繞這些內容形成社區，便會產生源源不斷的內容。”