A report published by research group Ampere Analysis noted that 26% of Chinese Internet users watch eSports programs at least once per month, more than double the rate of audiences in the U.S. and Western Europe.
According to the report, the League of Legends 2018 World Championship drew a concurrent audience of 203 million from China, compared with just 2 million for the rest of the world.
In addition, the 2019 Fortnite World Cup drew 20 million global viewers on Twitch (NASDAQ: MSFT); the FIFA 2019 eWorld Cup garnered 50 million global viewers across all platforms.
In the past few years, Chinese Internet giants have also doubled down on eSports. Tencent (OTC: TCEHY) subsidiary Riot Games, for example, specifically built its Pro View streaming service to carry League of Legends tournaments. In China, esports events also benefit from their apolitical nature. Unlike imported films or TV series, esports streams are unlikely to be censored by Beijing.
Twitch remains the principal eSports platform in the West, with some 65% of eSports viewers in North America and western Europe using the platform every month, according to Ampere. YouTube (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is a distant second, with around 35 percent of Esport fans reporting using the Google-owned video platform over the past month.
Despite of China's leading stance, audiences in Western countries are still substantial. Research by Ampere Analysis has discovered that between 5%- 9% of Internet users in developed Western markets typically watch esports on a monthly basis via online streaming services.
The audience for eSports appears to growing among demographics, as Ampere's study indicates. While the main demographic fo eSports is still males 18-34, females now make up 35% of viewers, while 40% are over 35 and 33% live with young children. China in particular is pretty well balanced, as 43% of its viewers are female.