There is a direct correlation between how emotional people get when they view and experience content, and how likely they are to enjoy it again and share it with others. There’s no denying the emotional undertones of esports’ loyal fanbase are a major contributor to the rapid growth of interest globally. Esports’ diehard followers are emotional audiences, and they tune into the most successful esports content (helping it grow from there).

Below, we dive into the emotions and viewership trends surrounding esports. Still curious? Drop us a line and be sure to download our ESPORTS SNAPSHOT.

YouTube: Esports, Growth & Opportunities Galore

Videos expressly tagged “esports” on YouTube have generated a whopping 4.8 billion views alone, according to the social video analytics company Tubular Labs with an average view rate in 30 days of 28.5k per video. So far in 2018, 54,600 videos carrying an esports tag were uploaded onto YouTube from 11,300 accounts. In total, these videos generated 467 million views and 10.3 million engagements.

Using data from to Tubular Labs, here are five of the hottest YouTube esports videos based on total views, with viewer Emotional Reactions (ERs) data from Canvs, the emotion measurement company. In this case, Canvs observed Emotional Reactions from the words and tone used in YouTube comment sections to assess how audiences felt about the videos.

CS:GO but in VR 2 - Jameskii

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr2MI347WoM[/embed]

Canvs Says: The top emotions were love (28%), funny (27.1%), enjoy (13.6%), and crazy (7.5%).

New Assassin Gossen | Full Blade of Despair Build - Zeta Alpha

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIcLpIGXuMM[/embed]

Canvs Says: The top emotions were enjoy (34%), love (29.9%), crazy (12.7%), and funny (3.8%).

Crisis Action - Attack the Helicopter

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4My8RL4dIEA[/embed]

Canvs Says: Crazy was the overwhelming winner, accounting for 100% of Emotional Reactions.

Hot Tub Gaming Throne - Shonduras

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc6bxI6ZYyU[/embed]

Canvs Says: The top emotions were love (34.2%), enjoy (17.1%), funny (13.6%), and crazy (10.1%).

#HumGamerHain - The #UCypher Title Track - U Cypher

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtjBaWx09S8[/embed]Canvs Says: The top emotions were crazy (15.4%), enjoy (15.4%), hate (12.8%), and funny (10.3%). 

+Commentary from industry thought leaders

Ed Tomasi Managing Director, esports at Big Block: "The total views and emotions expressed around esports content is impressive, and it’s a reminder that gaming and esports represent a new lifestyle for brands to embrace. We’re beginning to see music, art and fashion permeate across the genre. And while brands are becoming educated on how to approach esports, brands’ embrace of esports is slow. For newcomers, it takes time to understand what it is, so they rely on outside experts to educate them on the community. This is moving toward the mainstream because brands are seeing the success of online video creators and learning quickly about how to engage with esports fans, and subsequently apply their advertising and audience targeting know-how to this group."

David Bloom Analyst, TV[R]EV: "One particular area to watch for growth is in virtual reality and augmented reality. The recent ESL/IEM championships in Poland offered spectators the chance to watch through VR, creating an immersive experience for fans with remarkable potential for deep engagement with teams, games and sponsors. And as the above video, “CS:GO but in VR 2” asks, how long before Counterstrike and other major titles are played in virtual reality during tournaments? Some augmented reality esports tournaments are already finding success and coming over to the U.S. (like HADO World Cup AR). As that trend continues, it will be another big step forward in the experience, and surrounding sponsor opportunities."