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2.4 billion

Hours of esports video watched last year, as millions around the world watched live streams. That figure is expected to reach 6.6 billion by 2018, according to market research firm

15,000

Seats in the world’s first dedicated esports stadium, due to open in 2017 in Hengqin, China

1972

Year of the first known video game contest. On 19 October Stanford University hosted students fighting it out in Spacewar. The prize? A year’s subscription to Rolling Stone

$1.1 million

Earnings since 2011 of of the Chinese team Newbee (pictured, second from right), which plays DOTA 2. He became the highest-paid esports player when his team shared a $5million prize at The International (see “Esports: Live from the world’s biggest esports event“).

Read more: “Esports: Video games jump from couch to stadium“

This article appeared in print under the headline “Esport by numbers”