Marek Suchar, co-founder and managing director at Oddin.gg, argues that esports simply cannot be ignored by operators seeking to tap into next-generation audiences. Stressing that the future is already here, Suchar notes that Oddin.gg’s range of solutions are proven to work with Gen Z bettors.
You don’t win Gen Z with a Gen X product. And you won’t find them browsing static odds grids either. The new generation of bettors are tapping, swiping and expecting personalisation, live data and content that moves as fast as they do. And right now, they’re finding all of that in esports.
Across Oddin.gg’s global partner network, the average esports bettor is just 23 years old—and stakes, on average, significantly more per bet than the typical football bettor (€29 vs. €5). They’re younger, more active and far more demanding when it comes to how they engage.
Image: Oddin.gg
But this shift isn’t anecdotal. Oddin.gg’s data, drawn from hundreds of thousands of real bettors and millions of interactions, shows exactly how, when and where engagement is happening. From stake size to bet format to platform behaviour, the patterns are clear: esports is a driver of real, measurable engagement rather than an add-on.
Different Bettors. Different Behaviours.
If your sportsbook is built for bettors who watch the 6 o’clock evening news, you’re going to struggle with the ones who stream Twitch clips at 1.5x speed.
This new audience:
- Is 7–8 years younger than traditional sports bettors
- Places 93% of their bets as singles (not parlays)
- Stakes six times more per bet than football bettors
- Expects live stats, interactive interfaces and personalisation by default
They’re not browsing but they’re in constant motion. That’s why UX matters, but so does how you deliver it. Some operators embed elements into their existing setup. Others opt for a full-stack solution. Either way, the goal is the same: give these bettors a product that fits how they engage.
The Esports Engagement Era Isn’t Coming—It’s Already Here.
For years, esports has been treated as a “nice to have” bonus vertical. But the most recent data paints a different picture.
According to Oddin.gg’s Esports Betting 2024 Review, betting volume across the top four titles – Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Dota 2 and VALORANT – rose by 106% year-on-year (YoY).
To better understand how that growth plays out at the bettor level, Oddin.gg also analysed a tracked sub-sample of 161,706 active esports bettors across its partner network. Within this group, total betting volume rose by 70% YoY, highlighting just how engaged and consistent this audience can be when the experience fits their habits. It’s proof that esports betting isn’t just growing in volume, but in long-term engagement as well.
Esports also now ranks among the top five sports for many Oddin.gg partners—and in some cases, even higher.
In LatAm, many are seeing it rank third by volume after football and basketball. One Brazilian partner even ranks it second after football. In Europe, traditionally cautious state-level partners like Veikkaus (Finland) and Danske Spil (Denmark) have already added esports.
And in North America, Oddin.gg already holds six licenses and is actively working with regulators state by state—helping shape frameworks through data and education. That demand is already turning into action: regional giants like ESPNBet in the U.S. and theScore Bet in Canada are already live with Oddin.gg.
In short, the shift toward esports-driven engagement isn’t a future trend—it’s already reshaping how sportsbooks grow.
Give Them a Reason to Stay, Not Just Place a Bet
Millennial and Gen Z bettors aren’t short on options. What keeps them loyal is relevance—and features that match their pace.
Oddin.gg’s Esports Widgets offer live, embedded data and interactive overlays—so bettors don’t need to leave the stream to find what they need. Every stat, every insight, right where they’re already watching.
BetBuilder—the first industry tool built for esports like CS2 and eSims like eFootball—lets bettors create hundreds of thousands of personalised combos from a single match. Developed entirely around partner feedback, it’s designed to match how modern bettors actually engage—turning idle scrolling into active betting. Initially launched for pre-match, it now also supports live in-play bets—bringing that same personalisation into the heart of the action.
This is what modern engagement looks like: giving bettors more to do, not just more to look at.
eSimulators: The Silent Hero of 24/7 Engagement
There’s one format quietly outperforming expectations: Oddin.gg’s eSimulators, or “eSims.”
These are head-to-head, always-on matchups for eFootball, eBasketball and eCricket, powered by real players, not RNG or replays. They run 24/7, are delivered by ESIC-certified third-party providers and deliver odds in real time.
Long-time Oddin.gg partner, Tipsport, now sees esports in fourth place across their entire sportsbook by volume, with eSims driving strong bettor retention and average stakes almost matching football—and narrowing the gap month by month.
Odds Are a Commodity. Engagement Isn’t.
It’s relatively easy to list a few esports markets. What’s harder and what actually drives growth, is delivering an experience that bettors want to return to.
What sets leading operators apart isn’t just coverage – it’s the ecosystem behind the odds: live data, risk controls, user-facing tools and around-the-clock content that fits how today’s bettors engage. Oddin.gg brings all of that together into the only end-to-end esports betting solution on the market—flexible enough to fit into any sportsbook setup.
And it works. Partners using its odds and trading services, have reported up to +10% GGR improvement, with 2024 margin efficiency averaging 91%. When combined with customisable Widgets, BetBuilder and 24/7 eSims, it’s a full engagement engine.
If You Want Engagement, You Need the Right Setup
Long story short: esports isn’t a novelty. Instead, it’s a proven growth engine when it’s done right.
Today’s bettors expect more than markets. They want interactivity, real-time data and a product that matches the way they watch and engage with content.
That’s where setup matters. Oddin.gg offers the only full-stack esports betting engagement solution – modular, scalable and built for how today’s esports fans interact with betting.
Because growth is all about the right kind of content, delivered in the right way, not just quantity.
