Almost half of e-sports viewers don't even play the games

It may sound crazy, but a huge number of people who pour eyeball time and money into e-sports don’t even play the games they’re watching. That’s according to gaming analytics firm Newzoo, which last week broke down its stats on the major e-sports franchises and who exactly is watching them in the U.S., Canada, Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. Key takeaways?

70% of viewers stick to one game.
69% of gamers play only League of Legends, CS:GO, or DOTA 2 (the overlap of all three is 8%).
42% of e-sports watchers of the big three games do not play any of them
191 million people will tune in to e-sports “frequently” this year; an additional 194 million will do so “occasionally.”
Howsabout you? Do you watch, play, both, or neither?

- Mendabar