Traditional sports struggle
The 2020 annual report of the International Football Federation FIFA shows that the total revenue from this 100-year-old sport is only approximately 267 million USD, a sharp decrease compared to 766 million in 2019 and more than $4.6 billion in 2018. In contrast, despite being born late, the revenue of e-sports in 2020 has reached nearly $ 1 billion, 3 times higher than that of traditional football. The number of esports followers globally also reaches approximately 500 million.
 |
In 2021, thanks to the vaccine, some major tournaments have been held after being postponed such as EURO 2020 or the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Although the number of online followers is very large, there is a sad fact that is strange. The prospect of economic profit of the two very large tournaments mentioned above was not achieved: the EURO had to be held in many countries instead of one host country, and many football fields were empty of spectators. Similar is the situation of Japan with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The 2021 Sea Games hosted by Vietnam has also been postponed to next year due to Covid-19.
In general, traditional sports rely heavily on the direct presence of spectators, on advertising on the playing field, etc. In volatile circumstances such as an epidemic, the main source of revenue for these traditional disciplines will be eliminated.
E-sports – a worthy investment in the post-Covid period
Internet connectivity, the commercialization of 5G, advanced technical infrastructure, the penetration of mobile phones into remote areas – all of the above factors have created a boost for the development of the economy. digital economy, digital entertainment, typically e-Sports.
 |
The concept of eSports (eSports) is quite new in Vietnam, but in the world, this is a huge industry with billions of dollars in revenue. This revenue is mainly from advertising money, sponsorship, game royalties, television rights and tickets to matches. Even eSports has become an official training field at many prestigious universities around the world in the US, Canada, and Korea. Even FIFA has had to focus on investing in the online FIFA tournament to make up for the revenue shortfall when it cannot hold major offline tournaments.
In 2020, FIFA estimates the cost of organizing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 football tournament is up to 1.7 billion USD. Meanwhile, a representative of the global events department of Riot Games said that they only have to spend about $ 100 million annually to organize League of Legends tournaments globally. And despite the Covid-19 impact, this eSports game brought in revenue of 1.75 billion USD for the parent company in 2020 (in 2019, this game’s revenue was 1.5 billion USD). Some other big eSports games like DOTA 2 also organize tournaments in the form of crowd-funding, so the cost of the organizers “spending” is only 2-3. million USD/prize.
n
Very attractive ROI has made esports an area that many countries are eyeing in recent times. This field even creates new jobs for the young generation, with incomes that can be up to thousands of USD/month. Middle Eastern countries also built their own special zones with policy incentives to promote video game companies, after realizing that this industry could replace oil as the new “black gold”. .
One reason why Esports has emerged as one of the spearheads of the digital economy during the pandemic is that organizing online tournaments is inexpensive and not as difficult as online tournaments. The number of people watching the semi-finals and final matches of a tournament can reach millions of people at the same time. The industry’s success also comes from the ability of the private sector to invest: operating an eSports game that creates opportunities for business participation: publishing the game; operation, tournament sponsorship, player training, product promotion, etc. An ecosystem will benefit through eSports.
E-sports in Vietnam – still has a lot of potential
Vietnam’s video game market in 2020 is estimated to reach 40 million players, of which 18 million have ever played eSports. With more than half of the population under the age of 25, e-sports is no longer a niche market but is gradually influencing other industries. Businesses in all sectors can leverage the growing number of players and followers to run advertising campaigns, provide products that complement the game experience, sponsor tournaments, and more.
 |
However, among Vietnamese esports game publishers, currently only VNG is enough to be a counterweight, while the rest of foreign publishers are still overwhelming in number. Obviously, we need a mechanism to further stimulate domestic publishers, to avoid this “fatal” market falling into the hands of foreign giants like the advertising and digital content market.
Currently, the number of 3G/4G subscribers in Vietnam accounts for 53% of mobile phone users. At the end of 2020, a series of three major carriers, Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone have officially deployed 5G testing, smartphone brands have also integrated 5G chips on the latest phone models. Thus, the coverage of 5G throughout Vietnam will be in the not too distant future. For eSports, the connection speed of the 5G network will be an important factor in enhancing the player experience and watching Esports content. Conversely, the huge number of esports players and followers will also help create an explosion in data traffic consumption for 5G networks.
.
