Esports Milestone: Gambling On Esports Will Double To $14 Billion In 2020

from the wanna-bet? dept

We've chronicled the many milestones esports has hit on its way to becoming the mainstream cultural occurrence that it is today. From having participants gain notoriety and fame by being featured on mainstream sports publications, to universities handing out esports scholarships, to esports being broadcast on ESPN, to the major IRL sports leagues getting involved. Now, with the world enveloped in the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that has shut down many if not most of the world's traditional sporting leagues, esports is having something of a moment, rocketing in popularity as a result.

All of that being said, there has been one lagging indicator in the popularity rise of esports compared with its IRL counterparts: betting. You're not a big boy event until the gamblers get involved. Well, as we've seen with other indicators of esports' popularity, betting on esports is set to rise significantly as well.

Esports global gambling revenue is set to double to US$14 billion in 2020, according to new research from global consumer surveyors 2CV and market analysts ProdegeMR. The survey took responses from 1,028 gamblers aged 18 to 64 and looked at how the current climate is affecting gambling in the UK, as well as the potential role that esports could play in becoming a new revenue driver for the industry.

The research also reveals a shifting interest towards other betting properties such as esports, with 36 per cent of gamblers having made a bet on competitive gaming in the last three months. It also found that 30 per cent of consumers betting on esports have only started to do so within the last month. Moreover, 22 per cent of gamblers who have not tried betting on esports before revealed that they will consider doing so within the next three months.

Now, it is certainly true that this level of growth has been spurred on by the COVID-19 shutdown of IRL sports. Still, the trends were already in place for a rise in esports betting. And for those who regularly bet on sports, or esports, there is a certain degree of this bell not being able to be un-rung. Once gamblers fold esports into the portfolio of betting opportunities they have, it's not clear if or why they would fall back to IRL sports only once this pandemic is all over. On that note, it's the new adoption rate of betting on esports that is most illuminating in the numbers above.

And just in case you thought this was fringe operations getting into this stuff, it sure as hell isn't.

The forecast comes as the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a notice of approval permitting sportsbooks to offer wagers on the Call of Duty League through 2020. Licensed bookmakers may offer the following wager types: head to head, match winner, and overall winner.

With the Call of Duty League moving its operations online amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the Nevada Gaming Board has deemed that the esports competition can join Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Dota 2, iRacing and Overwatch League (OWL) as available markets. All of those competitions were approved by Nevada regulators during the last few weeks.

Whatever you think of esports, whatever you think of betting on sports, this is indeed a milestone of sorts. I, for one, look forward to reading the story of whatever the esports version of the Chicago Black Sox is going to be.

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Filed Under: betting, covid-19, esports, gambling


Reader Comments

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  1. icon
    Ehud Gavron (profile), 21 Apr 2020 @ 10:57pm

    Gambling will always be there

    eSports, Bitcoin, oil futures, politics.
    Gambling has always been there.

    The money will flow where two things align:

    • people who don't know what they're doing are gambling
    • people who DO know what they're doing will take their money

    Gambling has always been there. And it always will.

    PT Barnum is famous for the first part of his line "There's a sucker born every minute." He is less famous for his next line:

    "...and two to take him."

    E

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Apr 2020 @ 2:54am

    Obama was a gambler too.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Glorious Pomposness, 22 Apr 2020 @ 5:12am

    Reticulated Imagery

    Dudes, dont gamble on this stupid sport thing. you need to regularly contribute to your mortgage and pay your house off early, real early, like 15 years early. No gambling till the house and car are fully paid off dudes , like NO.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Atkray (profile), 22 Apr 2020 @ 12:25pm

    Re: Reticulated Imagery

    Noted.

    Thanks Karen!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Jerry Phillips (profile), 22 Apr 2020 @ 7:53pm

    Gambling On Esports

    It ûndersyk ûntbleatet ek in ferskowende belangstelling nei oare betting-eigenskippen lykas esports, mei 36 prosint fan gamblers hat yn 'e lêste trije moannen in weddenskip makke op kompetitive gaming. It fûn ek dat 30 prosint fan 'e konsuminten wedzjen op esports allinich begon te dwaan yn' e lêste moanne. https://skateboardcave.com/ Boppedat die 22 prosint fan gamblers dy't earder net besocht hawwe te wedzjen op esports iepenbiere dat se dit yn 'e kommende trije moannen sille beskôgje dit te dwaan.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anna, 1 May 2020 @ 10:35am

    Gambling On Esports Will Double To $14 Billion

    In fact, I am very glad that they are writing and talking about this, because gambling must be official and allowed, so the fact that they will increase by 2 times is great. In my opinion, any type of gambling, especially online casinos, which often offers bonuses as described on casinospieles, is eligible for development. I would read such news more often.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Forietincee (profile), 8 Feb 2021 @ 1:40am

    For all fans of video games, I want to remind you that you can make good money on this by making bets. Get your [url=https://twitter.com/FreeRoobet]Roobet promo code[/url] in order to get additional bonuses. Benefit from everything while we have the opportunity.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    DylanBaxter (profile), 7 Feb 2022 @ 5:38am

    Re: Gambling will always be there

    Indeed, gambling is very popular. But this is no longer a way to earn money, but ordinary entertainment. I am very pleased to see that there are gambling sponsors in the English Premier League. You can read more about this in various articles such as https://fanbanter.co.uk/growing-gambling-sponsors-in-the-english-premier-league/. I love both football and online games. It's cool that they help each other.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Ehud Gavron (profile), 7 Feb 2022 @ 6:32am

    Spam, Turing Tests, and A-holes

    Time to Turing-test these comments. The last three are clearly outside the scope of typical TD posters.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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