$10 Million from a Gaming Chair

The new generation formed by the media and online presences keeps finding new ways to make a revenue from home, whether it be a youtuber, tik-toker, or gamer, these former kids are now raking in high profit. Professional gamers are one group, but you do not have to be professional to be a live streamer. Live streamers mainly get their revenue from donations from their viewers along with any subscribers they've collected. An insane amount of money is cycled through this system, as some live stream gamers are making their entire living off of these donations and subscriptions. Live streamers turn into sponsored gamers who then turn into professional gamers, all from the comfort of their own chair. The most notorious live stream gamer today is Tyler Blevins, aka “Ninja,” who made almost ten million dollars in 2018 through sponsorships and live streaming subscriptions. Ten million dollars collected by one person in the esports world is getting too much for the tax collectors. The esports industry is growing rapidly and only just recently was some light shown on its own economic standings. Because it is so new, and this is an individually paid sport, bigger more classic sports are not paying their professionals even close to the higher paid gamers in the industry today. The curve for “salaries” in the gaming industry is steep just because it is a very niche sport, which is why there are some getting ten million a year and others only a couple thousand. Still the taxes collected do not stand close to those in the bigger more recognized sports as Ellen Zavion from The Washington Post explains:

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While professional athletes in the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA — and entertainers — have been an attractive target to state tax collectors due to their public schedules and high salaries, gamers have been performing under the radar, until now. According to Jeffrey Johnson, Communications Director at the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, the “department is aware that esports is a new industry and that is growing in popularity.” Furthermore, Johnson believes, in general, “the department has programs to help the emerging industry to understand and improve their tax compliance.”

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There is not yet a perfect system for collecting taxes from these highly profiting gamers, some instances of too much money or too little money is being taxed, but there are hopes for a more clear future for these newly established professionals.