YouTubers Who Thrust eSports and Other Sports into the Mainstream

Over the last few years YouTube has become so much more than just a platform upon which video content is disseminated. Many individuals and businesses are now operating virtually full-time on the site as they go about chasing the lucrative advertising revenue that comes hand in hand with increased viewer and subscriber figures.

Piggybacking this trend are eSports and other smaller niche sports, who were previously marginalised by the mainstream media only now to find themselves able to break out in front of new and excited audiences.

Here are just some of the eSports and traditional sports that are having a renaissance thanks in part to YouTubers fighting their cause in viral videos.

Call of Duty and Other Battle Royale Games

Online battle royale games are a trend that, instead of going out of fashion, have just snowballed into something truly huge, and a large part of that is down to the free advertising such games like Call of Duty and Fortnite get from streamers, who make highlights of their content available on YouTube.

Some of the most exciting to watch at the moment are ZLaner and Dr DisRespect, who have been teaming up since the Doc was thrown off the Twitch platform for reasons unknown. However, he has since built a three-million-plus strong following on YouTube, bringing new fans to the game every day of the week.

With professional editing and sound teams working round the clock to ensure that their content is fluid and displayed in high resolution, games like Call of Duty could not ask for better exposure.

Many of the world’s best online gaming streamers condense their content into bitesize YouTube highlight videos

Table Tennis, Ping Pong, Or Whatever You Like to Call It

Although it is impossible to adequately gauge the meteoric rise of eSports in recent years, there are other more traditional sporting ventures that have clearly been given a fresh lease of life thanks largely to the sudden exposure they have received online.

One of these is table tennis, with everything available from top professionals giving masterclasses to novelty specialists releasing videos, all of which are capturing the imaginations of gamers and budding sportspeople alike.

Two of the most famous proponents of ping pong on YouTube are Pongfinity and Adam Bobrow, both of whom combine high level playing clips with ludicrously technical trick shots. You will even find table tennis odds online for games featuring Pongfinity’s Miikka as he tackles world ranked champions such as Benedek Olah.

Quick and frenetic points in table tennis are ideal for drawing large numbers of viewers on YouTube

FIFA Practically a YouTube Religion

Running close to the likes of COD and PUBG for likes and views on YouTube is EA’s FIFA series of video games.

It can be argued that the game being played by the likes of KSI launched both parties into their respective levels of popularity. This has led to FIFA even being played on YouTube by real life footballers such as Jack Grealish and James Maddison, who recently duked it out with the highlights quickly going viral.

Of course, FIFA is hardly a niche eSport, having been around for years, but there is no doubt that YouTube accounts have driven its popularity to new heights.

Extreme Sports Capture the Imagination

Prior to GoPro cameras and drones, many extreme sports were only followed by fellow athletes in the know who had either a mountain, beach or airfield close to hand.

YouTube content has changed all that, in much the same way it has for table tennis, with anyone from any walk of life now able to follow a world class rider through a downhill mountain bike course or a wingsuit expert as they glide between snow-capped peaks.

Some of the quirkiest and most entertaining YouTube footage to come out of the extreme sports world of late is from ShredBots, Jamie O'Brien, and Red Bull, all of whom bring a different approach and style to taking people to places they can normally only dream of visiting, such as Alaska or Hawaii.