There are many different niches within gaming but one that may have caught the eye of people around Kenya and Africa is esports. This sees professional teams of players compete in online and real-world tournaments for big cash prizes. These events are watched in person or online by millions of people worldwide, via platforms such as Twitch. Indeed, industry insiders predict that the global esports audience figure will be 600 million in 2020 and that revenue of over US$1 billion could be seen. These figures clearly show how popular this type of gaming is – for players and fans alike.
While esports provides great entertainment and spectacle, that is not all it achieves. Many places where esports has flourished have seen their local economies boosted as a result. This has got many people around Kenya excited as it could be a viable way to bring revenue into local communities and national coffers. But just how can this type of gaming influence the economy?
Boost for sportsbooks and gambling firms
Everyone in Kenya knows how popular betting on sports is – this is also true around a lot of Africa. Online sportsbooks have also become very popular in recent times. This can be seen within online gambling in Kenya, where the number of top-quality sites available is impressive. Many of these online sportsbooks will offer customers the chance to bet on esports – this is due to the pro gaming sector becoming so popular and having an audience ready to bet on it.
But how can more people betting on esports help the economy? Firstly, it means that the sportsbooks they place bets with make more money. This in turn sees these companies having to pay more in government taxes and this gives the country they are based in more cash to spend on its citizens. If a sportsbook is making more profits due to esports betting, it will also be likely to take on new staff to meet demand.
This creates new jobs in the country they are based in and helps to fuel local employment. The last major way in which esports helps the economy through betting is when people win their bets. This gives them spare money to spend in their local community and helps businesses survive.
Esports boosts tourism and trade
Another positive impact on the economy that this sort of gaming brings is the increased levels of tourism. As already noted, there are many physical esports events that attract big crowds all over the world. Big competitions include the HALO World Championship or the League of Legends World Championship. Esports can also grab the news headlines, as the Italian PES esports win in May 2020 showed.
Of course, these physical events need to be held somewhere. Whichever location is chosen usually experiences a massive boost in trade and tourism revenue, due to the huge number of fans who attend. This can see local hotels, shops, cafes and bars bring in a lot of extra cash, which they can then re-invest into the business. It is not only local communities that can benefit from this. People may see one town or city in a country and be so impressed that they come back again to somewhere different in the same country. This helps the national tourism economy of countries and distributes the extra revenue that esports can bring.
Job creation
A major part of any economy is a thriving business sector and high employment levels. We have already noted how esports can help create jobs in the gambling sector – but this is not all it does. This type of gaming actually impacts on a number of other sectors and can help create jobs in a variety of industries.
For example, there is the hardware gaming kit that needs to be produced, the manufacture of branded team merchandise, the catering to big esports events and so on. A successful industry, such as esports, helps to bring a lot of other sectors up with it, helps associated businesses make more money and creates jobs at the same time. Even the fact that a person may develop a career as a pro gamer is something new that this sort of gaming has delivered.
Esports has a positive impact on the economy
As the above shows, this type of gaming can have a positive impact on the economy of a country such as Kenya. After all, success breeds success! The flow of money into the industry is not a one-way process, so esports can help to pass this revenue on to other countries and stimulate their economies.
