by Stormtrooper on Sep 09, 2025
In the world of esports betting, League of Legends (LoL) and DotA 2 are consistently in the top three most popular games for fans to wager on, alongside Counter Strike. These games now attract millions of viewers for big professional tournaments, and billions of dollars in global betting handle. But what makes these two Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas, or MOBAs, so attractive to bettors?
From the insane amount of analysable data generated by MOBAs as they play out - making live betting incredibly popular - to the rise of official gambling sponsorships in League of Legends and other games, this is why the two biggest MOBAs are so popular with esports betting fans.
MOBAs generate a lot of data. A huge amount in fact. Traditional sports are only in the past decade or so even beginning to catch up to the amount of analysis possible in esports.
Luckily, you don't need to know your GP from your GPM (that's the LoL character Gangplank and Gold Per Minute) to have a casual wager at betway casino. Sure, you can bet on esports - but they have a massive collection of top tier slots, table games and live dealer games as well. Plus great bonuses to get you into the game with a bang. Simple.
In DotA and LoL specifically, these are just some of the stats that can be analysed to gain a betting edge:
Player win rate on certain champions Team gold averages Team win percentage playing certain comps or when they get ahead Average time before teams claim key objectives such as first tower, first baron in League or first Roshan in DotABoth games utilize scaling of player power as they get ahead, leading to sometimes almost insurmountable advantages for one team.
Both games are also susceptible to patch changes for champions and meta playstyles. A bettor well versed in the scene could predict an extremely dominant champion pick before it becomes popular and find value bets on players who are good with that character.
In fact some esports betting algorithms claim to have up to 75% success rate in predicting certain in-play markets in MOBAs under certain conditions.
This all seems to bring a lot of bettors to MOBAs. As they believe - rightly or wrongly - that their game-minded analytical thinking and willingness to use tech gives them an advantage over traditional sports bettors.
As bettors flock to esports, betting firms are more than willing to put significant amounts of the money they make back into the scene
The global esports betting market was worth some $100 billion in 2024, and only looks to be on the up in 2025.
That cash means more money for leagues, teams and players. LoL developer Riot Games officially sanctioned betting and gambling sponsors this year, and Betway has officially sponsored multiple popular DotA 2 teams like Invictus Gaming.
Some recent reports have indicated that betting sponsors now may make up around 25% of income for the esports business. If viewers, fans, players and teams want the professional competitive scene to thrive, then gambling sponsors will unquestionably have to be a part of that.
Some sponsors even take it a step further. In games that are more niche and don't have a developer-run or consistent tournament structure like LoL and DotA do, gambling operators have sponsored the set up of whole tournaments from the ground up.
With Riot Games' platform (including popular MOBA/FPS hybrid Valorant) now more popular than long-time dominant PC gaming platform Steam, streamers playing MOBAs get huge eyeballs.
And where they are viewers, sponsors soon follow. Some popular esports streamers or personalities who either moved into online casino gaming or took gambling sponsors include:
Former Overwatch pro xQc YouTube analyst and coach LS FaZe Clan members and their multiple gambling sponsorships across all parts of their business Adin Ross, who for a while played competitive NBA2KSome players have made millions from gambling sponsorships, and have openly discussed that on podcasts and in interviews.
However, not all of this has been without controversy. Although the esports viewing demographic does skew older than you might think, many games do attract a significantly underage audience.
On the other hand this is also true in traditional sports. And, esports orgs are taking steps to ensure gambling sponsors are integrated in a responsible way.
For example, organizations have popped up like the Esports Integrity Commission, who monitor partnered betting sites and competitive leagues for suspicious betting activity or patterns.
So, there you have it. From the huge rise of esports betting as a business, to its specific relationship with MOBAs like DotA and LoL, to the embrace of the wider streaming and esports community or the recent updates with Riot Games, this how betting on MOBAs got so popular - and why it is here to stay.