Chris Grove, the Senior Consultant for Eilers, says that eSports betting has managed to remain under the radar because there isn't much visibility available in terms of this industry's financial performance. Plus, there's a cultural blind spot that surrounds the existence of eSports betting as a whole. But it's also important to note that these forces are starting to diminish.

So, what can be gleaned from this research? There are a variety of factors that could influence the success of the eSports betting market. As of right now, it's considered to be an extremely friendly environment for bettng online wtih real cash, in terms of culture, logistics, technology, and demographics.

eSports Betting hasn't been able to penetrate the gamer community, and thus hasn't grown as fast as expected because of structural barriers that are weakening at the current moment. Also, eSports betting is starting to benefit from the tailwinds caused the positive macro trends for both the niche sector of eSports and the general online gambling industry.

As of right now, the world of eSport wagering is already a vibrant market, with a variety of different platforms for eSports bettors to use. Some of them include:

  • Conventional sports books that take wagers for eSports
  • Game-mediated betting which is based on in-game events and items. This is a huge market but was not included in Eiler's report
  • eSports betting on specific websites
  • Fantasy eSports which is also available in the United States 

It is also important to note that there have been three startups this year that should be highlighted because of their ability to raise almost $30 million investments. They are:

  • Unikrn: Sports betting
  • AlphaDraft: fantasy eSports
  • Vulcun: fantasy eSports 

This signifiant sum clearly shows that venture capitalists expect for this market to grow, which is one of the reasons it's important to have a bullish attitude about this industry. 

Although customer acquisition may be something that is considered to be something that could be an obstacle for the growth of the eSports betting industry, the costs of attracting clients is expected to be relatively low for a number of reasons, based on information in the Eilers report. 

There has already been a significant amount of momentum behind the eSports betting phenomena. In fact, Eilers estimates that there are over 2 million paid activities between fantasy eSports and eSports betting, and this number is expected to grow exponentially To make things even better, there's also a lot of information that points to the fact that the growth mentioned in the Eiler is sustainable for three reasons: 

First and foremost, eSports has a large and ever-growing fanbase of viewers which makes things even better for bettors.

eSports players and viewers are willing to spend money. For instance, League of Legends, which happens to hold the largest share of the eSport market, made over $1 billion from micro-transaction in 2014   

There's a huge number of players and viewers who are already betting:

Numbers

First and foremost, eSports has a large and ever-growing fanbase of viewers which makes things even better for bettors.

  • Over 200 million people either play or watch eSports
  • 2014 saw 89 million regular viewers of eSports, all together they accumulated over 3 billion minutes of watch time.
  • There are almost as many gamers on the planet are there are traditional sports fans
  • eSports is slated to surpass ice hockey in popularity this year
  • Experts project that eSports fans will number almost as many as NFL fans by 2017
  • Viewership of popular eSports finals is already higher than many major sports 

Money

eSports players and viewers are willing to spend money. For instance, League of Legends, which happens to hold the largest share of the eSport market, made over $1 billion from micro-transaction in 2014 

eSports Bettors are Already Betting

There's a huge number of players and viewers who are already betting:

  • Pinnacle: In the eSports category, this company is the leader in terms of conventional sports books. In their history that have taken over a million eSports bets
  • Vulcun: This company's prize pool exponentially, from $250,00 to $10 million, in 6 six months 
  • Unikrn: This eSports-only betting sites estimates that they will double the number of eSports fans they have access to within the next year. 

While all this information seems promising, it's important to understand that the prospects for eSports betting are not a guarantee. In fact, Eilers say that for eSports to realize its potential the industry will have to find a way to successfully navigate through a number of threats, like game integrity. 

Because this industry is in its earliest stages, there are a number of kinks that haven't been found, a fact that invites corruption and ruin. Another potential issue is the mechanics of how gambling regulations will approach the eSport industry, a situation that may have a dramatic influence on the market's ultimate potential. 

The Bottom Line

Even though the eSports betting industry will have some hurdles to overcome, it's potential to occupy a large section of the online sport betting sector cannot be denied, especially when you consider that the market didn't' exist five years ago. Interested in learning more about this exciting new gaming industry? You can find the latest odds here


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

James, a lifelong gamer, is a freelance writer who occasionally contributes to Ten Ton Hammer.

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