It looks like esports is about to get even bigger.

According to a report released by Newzoo, global esports revenues will, for the first time, exceed $1 Billion sans platform revenue.

“Global esports revenues will grow to $1.1 billion in 2020, a year-on-year growth of
+15.7%, up from $950.6 million in 2019,” reads the report. It also states that $822.4 million in revenues will be delivered by “media rights and sponsorship”, with the number to increase to $1.2 billion by 2023.

The report notes that the Chinese market is expected to deliver “total revenues of $385.1 million” this year, an 18% increase from 2019’s $326.2 million.

In addition, Newzoo expects the esports audience to hit a total of 495 million people this year, with 222.9 million being “esports enthusiasts” (a year-on-year growth of 11.7% and 10.8% respectively).

Here are some of the other key points provided in the report:

• “In 2019, there were 885 major events. Together, they generated $56.3 million in ticket revenues, up from $54.7 million in 2018.“
• “Total prize money in 2019 reached $167.4 million, a slight increase from 2018’s $150.8 million.”
• “The League of Legends World Championship was 2019’s biggest tournament by live viewership hours on Twitch and YouTube, with 105.5 million hours. The Overwatch League was the most-watched league by live viewership hours on Twitch and YouTube, generating 104.1 million hours.”

The report also mentions the most-watched games of 2019, taking into account platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Mixer. League of Legends came out on top on Twitch and Youtube in terms of “live esports hours”, but was only number two in “live non-esports hours” thanks to Fortnite.

Hearing that China, League of Legends, and Fortnite are dominating in their respective fields isn’t surprising,. But as someone who doesn’t pay much attention to esports, the numbers in the report are impressive. You can check out the full report here.