e-sports will be US$1,600 million in 2021

The e-sports boom in Latin America was another of the topics discussed during the Sportv Latin America Series. The panel was comprised of Ignacio Estanga, Content and Alliances director of the Spanish-Speaking Americas from Twitch and Raúl Fernández, general manager for Latin America of Riot Games and Leo De Biase, CMO of BBL.

Fernández from Riot Games revealed that the e-sports or electronic sports market currently represents US$900 million and is estimated to be US$1,600 million by 2021, while the universe of people in it is 350 million and by 2021 will rise to 500 million.

Estanga expressed that the statistics of games are easy to obtain because everything is centralized according to platforms, that is why the results of activation are immediate. He highlighted that Latin America is only behind China and the US in terms of audience. He added that bancarization is not a problem because there are many prepaid solutions for players. He also said that brands such as P&G and DHL, among others are already investing in this business.

Another discussion panel was “Live sports and bet platforms in Latin America,” where Fernanda Sainz, Marketing and New Businesses director of Caliente Interactive, mentioned that in sports bets, Latin America is a growing market. “In Mexico, the most popular bets are about US leagues such as the NFL”.

In the conversation, in which Rodrigo Carvajal, executive director of TeletrakTV and Ricardo Nogueira Magri, director of Business Development for Latin America at Sportradar, also participated, and mentioned that broadcasting rights for sports bets are very specific. “Clubs and federations sell them to those who are interested,” said Nogueira from Sportradar.