In our latest Beat Sport spotlight, our own Kevin Galvin delves into the rapidly expanding world of eSports.
eSports is a billion dollar industry, grossing over 150 million US Dollars in media rights, while in 2019, almost 100 million people watched the League of Legends World Championship, just a smidgen under the viewership figure for sport’s greatest television spectacle, the Superbowl.
In Ireland alone there’s an estimated 700,000 eSports players, but despite our country’s reputation as a tech hub, the eSports scene is far behind the rest of the world.
However it's not without its critics, with people citing the extreme stress put on top level gamers, and the bad influence the scene is having on young people already spending too long in front of their screens.
Across the week Kevin will be exploring various topics within the scene, including the issue of health, how one pro Waterford player juggles gaming and school, and Ireland's first eSports scholarship at the Waterford Institute of Technology.
