While live streaming hours watched declined 15% from Q2 2021 to Q2 2022, esports hours watched is only increasing. From H1 2021 to H1 2022, world esports events hours watched in live streaming, excluding North American events, increased 18%. North American esports events also increased 16% in that timeframe.
The number of North American esports events being broadcast have also increased 130% in that time frame, going from 100 in H1 2021 to 230 events in the first half of this year. An average North American esports event in the last six quarters saw 741k hours watched.
This uptick in viewership and number of events might be partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to subside. More and more in-person events are being held as the world “returns to normal.” It will be interesting to see if this increasing viewership continues into the second half of this year and if the winter months will continue to see an increased esports popularity.
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