Market intelligence firm Newzoo is reporting that worldwide awareness of eSports is set to grow 36% this year, with the number expected to grow to over 1 billion people by the end of the year.

The new information comes from a recently published report, which conducted a study in 16 different countries, finding that average eSports awareness had grown in each country from 53.7% in 2015 to 65.7% in 2016.

This growth in awareness has also led to a growth in viewers, with Newzoo predicting that the number of "eSports Enthusiasts" has risen from 131 million to 148 million.

584 million eyes on you

Combined with Newzoo's belief that there are 144 million "Occasional Viewers" of eSports, it comes to a total viewing audience of 292 million.

Newzoo attributes this growth to increased coverage of eSports, both in terms of the number of actual broadcasts, and the number of publishers pitching their games as eSports titles.

You can purchase the full report from Newzoo here.