Esports Betting Market Review

Esports is an emerging market that has seen rapid growth due to digitalization and a growing awareness about gaming. Online sportsbook operators have new opportunities with the advancement of technology and the positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the esports industry. As revealed by the statistical data, the value of total bets on esports games was $ 9,3 billion in 2019, this number grew to $12,9 billion in 2020.

This article will discuss the current trends in the esports industry, provide information on why you need to incorporate esports into your sportsbook, and address some of the restraining and driving factors that affect the esports industry. Continue reading to learn more about the Growth of global e-sports betting market and how you can use it to grow your business. To learn more about this topic, we recommend that you also read our article on how to start a sportsbook in 2023.

Why should you incorporate esports in your sportsbook?

Incorporating esports in your sports platform can bring you many benefits. It opens up new opportunities that will increase traffic to your site and draw in new clients. Esports already has a large base of followers. Millions of people tune in to watch live streams and attend live events. To see the results, punters who bet on esports watch the whole event. You can increase viewership by offering various betting options for esports games and allowing your clients to view those events on your platform.

Esports offer many benefits that regular sports may not have. Esports events are accessible by viewers, players and fans 24/7/365. This is in contrast to sports events which can only be accessed during a certain time of the year. Many live esports matches are available on various streaming and gaming platforms regularly while traditional sportsbook events like football and basketball have a fixed schedule, unlike their console counterparts (efootball/ebaskteball).

In spite of the fact that traditional sports are still popular, it is evident that younger generations, like Gen Z, are moving away from traditional sports and choosing to play esports instead. Many young people prefer to stream esports games via streaming platforms like Twitch or YouTube. Esports tournaments are huge with thousands of viewers betting on their favorite teams. This is an opportunity for sportsbook operators who can attract new clients.

Driving and limiting factors of the esports betting industry

Over the last few years, the esports industry has seen a tremendous increase in its popularity. The global esports betting industry was worth more than 9 billion dollars in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19, multiplayer games have been a popular choice. This was one of the major contributors to the growth of the esports market. As a result, the revenue also grew for the sportsbook operators who were offering esports games to their clients.

Esports betting is driven by many factors. All of these factors positively affect the expansion of the market and consequently increase the number of sportsbook sites that offer esport games. The advancement of digital infrastructure is a major trigger for esports development. Esports betting is also becoming more popular in different countries and markets due to the increase in games and leagues. The increasing popularity of esports is due to the fact that both players and viewers are able to see the release of new games each year. There is a list of other factors that also spur the growth of the esports betting market, if you want to know more then follow the link and read about the driving and restraining factors of esports betting.

There are few restraining factors, if there are any, which could hinder the growth of the esports market. Government regulations and strict rules regarding the sports betting industry are the only thing that can slow down the growth of the market in certain areas. When it comes to iGaming activities there are three types of markets : white (regulated) iGaming Markets), gray (unregulated) iGaming Markets or black (prohibited) iGaming Markets. The type of the market significantly affects the infiltration rate of the esports games in those jurisdictions. For instance, in black iGaming markets betting on esports games is strictly prohibited, therefore, we must not expect high profit from such jurisdictions. You can read our article about the white, grey and black iGaming markets to gain knowledge about this theme.

Moreover, esports betting requires a license in order to operate on the regulated market. To set up betting sites, operators need to be licensed. This topic is also covered in our article about the online casino licenses.

Conclusion

You should consider the increasing popularity and importance of esports if you plan to open a sportsbook business. Thus, you should look for the best sportsbook software provider that offers esports games as part of its software solution. Upgaming offers a leading esports software that includes multiple esports games with various genres and more than 2 000 markets. If you are interested to find out more about the given topic, you can also read the full article about the esports betting market on our official site.