From humble beginnings in internet cafés to the stadiums filled with thousands of fans of today, esports championships saw immense and steady growth during the past 30 years. Millions of spectators all around the world tune in to watch Counter-Strike 2 major playoffs, League of Legends, or a cool Overwatch match.
Competitive gaming has pulled in gigantic sponsors and mainstream attention from both the media and the public — and whenever audiences witness competition, betting inevitably comes into play. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that esports betting is becoming more and more popular.
But is it really the next big thing, or is it just a passing trend?
Esports on the Rise
Professional video game playing might have once been a niche idea, but not any longer. Esports has become an immensely popular, globally reaching industry with championships that draw audiences that rival traditional sports.
One of the foundations of this growth is the use of streaming platforms — especially Twitch — that turned what was otherwise seen as a “solitary” activity into a shareable moment for players, and allowed fans to follow esports teams in real-time. Features available on streaming sites, especially the live chat, helped create this closeness and make watching esports just as much of a social activity as watching a soccer match.
The most popular esports include Counter-Strike, which was already a hit in the early 00s, Dota 2, and League of Legends. Supporters fill arenas in cities all over the world, and big industry players sponsor and sometimes even create their own teams. For short, videogaming went from a hobby to a huge and vivid ecosystem supported by fans, investors, media companies, and thousands of professional gamers.
It’s because of this incredible rise, which happened in less than 2 decades, that betting entered the room. With attention and money flowing into esports, the next logical step for many is to treat it the same way as any established sport.
The Esports Betting Industry Begins
Sportsbooks quickly took notice of the opportunities available in esports betting.
One of the greatest advantages is the wide reach of games — matches are played around the clock during the whole year, so betting opportunities are almost always available. The lack of an offseason cannot be matched by the most popular traditional sports.
The sheer variety of popular titles is incredible by itself. Some of the most viewed games worldwide include:
- CS2
- Dota 2
- Overwatch 2
Another positive point is the speed of the matches themselves: esports often have constant action, which makes it a lot more intense than sports with built-in pauses, such as basketball. This opens space for live betting and microbetting, meaning players can place wagers on quick events like round wins or individual player performances.
Finally, the data-rich circumstances of esports allow for more detailed wagers than ever, from weapon choices to character picks, and it offers players a huge opportunity when it comes to analyzing performance and developing strategies.
Esports betting doesn’t necessarily mirror what’s happening in sports anymore, instead creating its own environment and attracting a whole new set of people that wouldn’t be betting otherwise. That potential explains why many view esports betting as a market on the rise.
Challenges
Of course, not all is without its challenges. One recurrent problem with esports betting is the age of the bettors. The nature of the industry — one that occurs mainly in spaces for the tech-savvy younger audience — raises concerns about underage gambling. This means that sportsbooks face the need to use strict age verification procedures to stop minors from gambling.
Industry players also worry about the possibility of match-fixing, since betting would create financial incentives for this. Previous scandals have already hit esports in the past — one example is the Counter-Strike scandal of 2014, in which six players were discovered to be involved in fixing a match and were permanently banned from the game.
Interestingly enough, this situation involved gambling with in-game skins, which could later be sold for thousands of dollars. This brings us to yet another challenge: the lack of regulation for esports gambling.
Some countries, like France, prohibit esports betting entirely. Others, like Germany and the United Kingdom, have esports betting fall into the umbrella legislation of traditional sports betting. In the United States, some states explicitly allow esports, while others allow for gambling on esports under normal gambling laws.
These problems are not exclusive to esports, but it’s important to keep them in mind amidst the growth of the industry.
Fan Reaction
Among fans, the opinions about esports betting tend to be polarized. Some people believe that real money betting on game outcomes is simply a natural continuation of the games’ internal economy, due to them already having in-game gambling elements (such as sweepstakes).
Betting would naturally add an extra element of tension to matches, considering the financial stakes involved, even in low bets. This could possibly attract new fans interested in the drama through word-of-mouth and on different kinds of media, generating buzz and helping solidify esports as a serious cultural phenomenon.
But some would argue that the financial element would change the focus from the game itself to the money involved, and that the capitalization of esports would ultimately turn it into something done not for the passion but for the profit.
Regardless of fan reaction, it’s a fact that esports gambling needs regulation and oversight, just like any other type of gambling — from slots to poker tables.
Esports Gambling and Technology
The very nature of esports makes it a very susceptible industry to move along with the evolution of overall technology. Some examples of how technology is shaping esports betting:
Artificial intelligence used by operators: Some betting operators utilize AI to make faster, live calculations of odds. This way, pricing is more accurate.
Integration with streaming platforms: Embedding Twitch streams and doing real-time data integration are some of the ways operators can allow for live betting and connection with platforms that esports watchers are already used to.
Data analysis: Bettors and operators can use all of the data produced by every single match, such as player accuracy, win rates, round speed, etc., to create better insights and better betting models.
Mobile betting: With better mobile apps, players can watch matches on the go without any problems.
Live betting: This type of wagering involves many different aspects of technology — mainly streaming integration and real-time data analysis.
Traditional Sports Betting vs Esports Betting
Between the two areas of betting, the main difference is the way sports and their championships are organized. Soccer, football, basketball, hockey, and other mainstream sports all operate under strict, predictable schedules; this usually means month-long breaks during summer, and that watchers usually know which championship will happen during certain times of the year.
However, esports are not like that at all. The variety of titles, the multiple categories, and the fast organization of new championships create numerous new opportunities to bet at quite literally all times of the year. The downside to this is that it can make monitoring the integrity of matches a lot harder.
Demographic distinctions also exist: according to a study conducted by the University of Sydney, more than 80% of esports bettors are under the age of 45, and the majority of the public that watches Twitch streams is under the age of 35.
These differences don’t mean there’s nothing to be learned from analysing the trajectory of traditional sports betting — cohesive regulation is the answer for most of the issues that have arisen.
A Market in Continuous Growth
The esports market, whether playing, watching, or betting, is still growing immensely. Betting on game titles seems to be following the general gambling trends. Constant tournaments and loyal fans prop up the billion-dollar competitive gaming industry, and betting operators are very clearly taking advantage of this incredible momentum.
It’s difficult to predict exactly what’s going to happen with the industry within the next few years, but using traditional sports betting as a base both for regulation and for trend analysis seems to be a good path. Growth doesn’t come without risk, but those risks can be mitigated with careful regulation and general scrutiny.
So, is it the next big thing? For short and in many ways, the answer is yes.
