Technology improvements moved many industries online, and the gambling industry is not different. Few of us could predict just a decade ago that online gaming would become so popular. eSports is the fastest-growing trend in the betting sector, and it keeps accumulating more income each year. The massive increase in the viewership, number of tournaments, and prize pools ignite the sky-rocket growth of the eSports sector globally. Of course, all these factors introduced eSports to the betting world, as it became interesting for punters too. But what made eSports betting one of the biggest trends in the gambling industry? Let’s explore it in this article.
eSports Industry Growth and Fanbase Expansion
eSports betting industry reached $1 billion worth back in 2019, and it is still growing. Its potential is so huge that experts see eSports doubling the industry worth in the next couple of years. In the next four years, the Market Insight Reports predicts that the eSports betting market will have a CAGR of over 13%. Translated into the money figures, the industry could reach $13 billion by 2025.
The initial generator of such tremendous growth is a vast increase in the fanbase. eSports became one of the most popular ways of entertainment. Only in the period from 2018 to 2020, the number of eSports fans soared from 170 to 250 million. eSports boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown. Since billions of people were at their homes and all traditional sports events have been canceled, the audience set its sights on online gambling. Online casinos became more popular than ever, and those who prefer playing roulette can find the best online casinos researched by roulettesites.org. eSports was in the center of attention for those who like betting, and the number of sportsbooks having it in their offer got dramatically increased. The UK Gambling Commission reported an eSports betting growth rate of 2992% during a single year.
Just a couple of years ago, one could place an eSports bet only at specialized sites offering these markets. Nowadays, bettors can enjoy putting their wagers on eSports events in traditional sportsbooks, and every reputable bookie included eSports in their offer. The way of placing eSports wagers is not different from other sports like football, basketball, and others. Nevertheless, there is still a massive potential ahead of eSports betting since bookies exploit possibilities of developing live betting on these tournaments and events.
The History of eSports Betting
At the very start of introducing eSports into the betting industry, it was a pretty unregulated market. After that, however, the eSports betting industry transformed into a regulated market that is not different from the traditional ones.
eSports wagering started as a so-called skin betting. Skins are visual items used in video games, and players could bet them on the outcome of the game or tournament. In addition, some websites accepted skins for playing other casino games. However, many controversies followed skin betting, and it almost vanished.
The eSports betting industry headed to the real money wagering instead. The market got more regulated, and punters could place their bets in the same way as traditional sports. Many markets are available for bettors, from single match bets to the futures.
eSports also evolved to fantasy betting. The principle is no different from other forms of fantasy competitions, as players try to assembly virtual teams and get points based on their performances in real tournaments.
What Are the Most Popular eSports Games?
At this point, you would definitely like to start betting on eSports, but before that, let’s see what the most popular games are. If you haven’t dipped your fingers into this industry yet, you should get familiar with the games you want to bet on. There are tons of video games out there, but the number of those available for eSPorts betting is considerably lower. The most popular eSports titles include these video games:
- League of Legends
- DOTA 2
- FIFA
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Fortnite
- Call of Duty
- NBA 2K20
- Overwatch
- Warcraft II
- World of Tanks
- StarCraft II
- Rocket League
Conclusion
Considering all these factors, it is not surprising that eSports betting enjoys such steep growth. Passionate games have numerous available platforms to showcase their talent, which wasn’t the case just a decade ago. As a result, they attracted a massive audience, primarily younger generations, who share the same passion for video games. All of this dragged attention to gambling companies that moved the eSports industry to another level. ESports betting made several giant steps forward during the past few years, and reports say it won’t stop here. We can expect this industry to continue growing and getting closer to traditional sports.
