market wasn't saturated in 2012
no- I can't cite specific examples but Kotaku had a great article (https://kotaku.com/as-esports-grows-experts-fear-its-a-bubble-ready-to-po-1834982843) about viewership inflation. I spent about 3 months deeply involved with a major esports org this summer and heard anecdotal stuff that agrees with this. nothing I can cite or get more detailed on.
again, I don't trust the numbers. my org has a gigantic, heavy digital ad spend, for example (for an example of size, our operating budget is just under a half billion per year) and we, as a rule, do not trust any analytics for digital. we basically are going with our gut because the numbers are such bullshit
sorry, I wish I could give you quantifiable stats but if I had those magic numbers I'd be rich by monitoring access. the inflation isn't easily provable and the stakeholders involved have zero motivation to qualify bad numbers because it hurts everyones' bottom lines. advertisers are getting screwed because the senior people are just saying GET ME DIGITAL EYEBALLS and junior people don't want to rock the boat as long as the viewership # are right.