Esports gains in importance

The Zurich University of Applied Arts (ZHAW) has conducted a study on eSports together with Sunrise UPC, Basler Versicherungen and the Touring Club Suisse (TCS). According to a press release, 1,000 people aged 16 to 74 years old were surveyed in Switzerland for this. Around 43 percent knew precisely what eSports meant, and 41 percent considered eSports to be a sport as well.

This means that eSports has further gained in importance compared with the year 2019. Back then, only 27.6 percent of those surveyed viewed it as a sport. Meanwhile, as much as 45 percent of the 16 to 29 year olds would like eSports to be promoted in clubs.

A total of 565,620 persons in Switzerland describe themselves as eSports players. Approximately 110,000 of these people also earn money through eSports. These figures have increased greatly since 2019 as well. In 2019, just 317,090 eSports players were counted and only 42,500 of them earned money with this activity.

Study author Marcel Hüttermann from the Institute of Marketing Management at the ZHAW is quoted, saying: “Esports is growing in all areas in Switzerland. This offers excellent opportunities for companies to appeal to a young, tech-savvy target group that is difficult to reach. The potential just needs to be utilized.”

According to the ZHAW, the rise in enthusiasm for eSports is not linked to the current coronavirus pandemic and is considered to be sustainable. The financial relevance of this area is increasing as well, with the global market anticipated to exceed sales of 1 billion Swiss francs this year.