The eSports industry has been growing steadily for the last couple of years, with 2015 being the most successful ever.
In line with its growth is also the real money eSports betting market, and even though it grows at a somewhat slower pace, it’s also doing very well.
Companies like Unikrn, AlphaDraft, Bet365 eSports and Vulcun, which represent the most famous participants in the esports betting sites environment, have all had their ups and downs in the past year, but did experience their fair share of success in the industry. Despite the legal environment limiting their growth to a certain extent, all these companies were able to expand and grow their different businesses in the market.
bwin announces amazing eSports betting escalation
Another company that got involved in the eSports market is the bookmaker bwin, a well-established online betting company, which began offering its services in June 2015. Since then it has seen a huge rise in these markets in 2016. League of Legends, one of the most popular games in the competitive gaming industry, equates to 69 percent of its eSports betting and is expected to surpass the Champions League winner market if it continues at the current rate.
bwin reported fascinating statistics on the rate this market is growing; only 66 days of 2016 represented a staggering two-thirds of bwin’s total eSports takings – an enormous increase of over 312 percent.
Besides League of Legends, the popular shooter CS:GO accounts for 15 percent of bwin’s eSports betting volume, followed by Dota 2 at 10 percent. Starcraft 2 represents roughly 6 percent. With major tournaments being announced on an almost daily basis, there is a lot of betting to be done in the near future, which will definitely benefit the eSports betting industry.
UK is only a small slice of the pie
When looking at the geographic split in terms of which countries bet the most on eSports, Germany represents bwin’s largest turnover across eSports betting with 41 percent of the total volume. The UK lags behind and represents just 2 percent.
With a viewership of around 188 million and growing, it’s no surprise that the industry is having such a good time. Increasing prize pools across most major titles in the competitive gaming industry are a sign of how positive the industry is being perceived by the public.
Even though there is still a long way to go in terms of catching up with mainstream sports like the NFL, NBA, and others, the competitive gaming industry is reaching new milestones almost every day.
