Esports! What a concept! The organized competitive video-gaming world is projected to grow exponentially in 2025 and become a billion-dollar industry. All over the globe, hardcore video game fans are watching streams and gathering at conventions to see skilled players compete in arena-style venues on giant LED screens. The circuit has developed a league format, but some unaffiliated individuals also compete. (There’s even an ESports World Cup title.)
The esports sector is growing rapidly, with sponsorships, gambling, merchandising, sports marketing and hospitality revenue. Cash prize payouts to winning players (into tens of millions for the highest-level competitions in the world) have enabled competitive gamers to become professional gamers.
The U.S. market for esports is currently the largest in the world. Dedicated esports arenas have popped up all over the country, and the largest one in North America is Esports Stadium Arlington in Tarrant County.
In a recent study by the sports betting website BonusFinder.com, Google search query statistics were used to gauge the popularity of esports in the U.S. by region. The study factored in many related user search queries in their calculation — from the most general (simply the word, “esports”) to the more specific (“2023 League of Legends World Championship”). Dallas-Fort Worth was ranked the ninth-most-esports-engaged metropolitan area, and Texas ranked No. 9 overall in a list of states most interested in competitive gaming.
So what does that mean for North Texas? Likely, that your kids are even less compelled to play outside and touch grass. But also, that North Texans have a high-dollar industry boom coming via esports. Cheers for an economic revenue boost! But also jeers for the potential flocks of career-driven gamer transplants headed right for us.
Dallas is already a substantial tech city as home to the headquarters of Texas Instruments, where the first microchip was invented in 1958. As for the video game industry, the VR headset creator Oculus was founded in a Deep Ellum office space, and the National Video Game Museum is located in Frisco. Texas has continued to gain ground in the tech sector statewide with companies Meta, Uber and SpaceX building headquarters campuses in Austin. Though Meta is set to leave the state, the neighborhood-sized compound it built will soon be occupied by IBM.
If you want to check out the world of competitive gaming for yourself, the Texas Battle Bowl eSports and Tech Expo will take place in Midland on July 11, 2025.
