Nearly all established sports are going through some degree of hand-wringing over attracting younger fans as their older core ages out. The death of monoculture and explosion of entertainment options, many accessible without leaving one's bedroom, have seen attendance drops across the board. MLB and NFL teams have fallen over themselves installing on-site daily fantasy lounges to lure second-screeners. Even the hidebound International Olympic Committee has made transparent plays for youth, most recently with the addition of skateboarding, surfing and three-on-three basketball to next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The demographic they're so thirsty for could be found in droves over the weekend at New York's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where three days of sold-out crowds turned out for the biggest video game competition of all time – the Fortnite World Cup – where a 16-year-old from Pennsylvania named Kyle Giersdorf (aka Bugha) brought home the winner's share of $3m with a dominant performance in Sunday's solos competition.

A trio of teens took the top awards at the Fortnite World Cup this weekend in New York. At the biggest "Fortnite" tournament to date, with $30 million in prizes awarded, Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf, 16, won $3 million Sunday by beating 99 others for the solo title. Those 100 made the cut from the 40 million players globally who initially entered the competition. The previous day, Emil "Nyhrox" Bergquist Pedersen, 16, of Norway and Thomas "Aqua" Arnould, 17, of Austria won $1.5 million each when they were crowned the top duo. Need more evidence that esports is big business?

After 10 weeks of open qualifiers attracting more than 40 million competitors, the Fortnite World Cup finals will be held this weekend in New York. Up for grabs for the 100 qualifiers – many of whom are between 12 and 16 years old – is a total prize pot of $30m, the largest ever for an esports event. With more than 250 million players, Fortnite: Battle Royale has become one of the most popular video games in the world since its launch in 2017. The World Cup represents the title's entry into the lucrative world of professional games tournament circuits, where revenues are set to pass $1bn this year, due to exploding sponsorship, advertising and broadcast rights. Epic Games has arranged a three-day festival around the finals, with thousands of fans expected to attend.