SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Superdata Research published its end of year report in December and in its assessment of esports it valued the betting sector at $58.9m (£47.9m).
This was a significant but minor portion of the overall esports pie, which Superdata valued at $892m (£727.9m) currently with growth expectations putting it at a $1.4bn (£1.1bn) industry by 2019. You can read a full analysis of the report at our sister publication, Esports Insider, here.
In terms of online bookmakers, the more established names that generally offer a strong selection of esports markets are Pinnacle, Sky Bet, Betway and Bet365. Pinnacle, the bookie which has been offering markets the longest and took its first esports wager back in 2010, won both the SBC Award for Best Esports Bookmaker last year and took home EGR’s one to boot.
2017 looks set to be a far more competitive year with a great number of operators adding some markets in the past six months as a testing phase. A number of these will undoubtedly expand their selections and moreover the promotion of them and brand awareness with esports fans. Last year saw team sponsorships such as Betway’s six figure investment with NiP (Ninjas in Pyjamas) and GG.bet create a number of partnerships with orgs including Fnatic, Luminosity and Ad Finem.
New markets will also emerge with new well backed competitions such as The Overwatch League, whilst the more established CSGO, Dota and League of Legends will continue to attract more bettors and attention.
