In case it wasn’t obvious, eSports are one of the most important things that has happened to the gaming community. While there are still some skeptics of the phenomena, it can’t be denied that this is something that has been gaining traction in recent days. I mentioned that this is very popular among young people, but it seems it’s also popular with investors.

This study has been presented by the Business Insider Intelligence team. Business Insider brings a very perfect example on how to describe the current landscape of competitive gaming.

“To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for “lol” does not produce “laughing out loud” as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence.”

It’s incredible, right? Who would’ve thought that gaming communities would manage to make such a push in the right direction. In the early days, there was barely any notoriety within the eSports landscape, and now, it’s everywhere.

So it’s understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity. Considering that there will be a potential growth in audience, you bet that these numbers will continue to increase.

Now, the report is only accessible to people who have the money to pay up for it, so I can’t make a backup. You can buy the full report here and read a bit more regarding the insights of the growing eSports scene.