Online Gambling Website Pinnacle Shows Impressive Esports Betting Figures

[toc]Pinnacle, one of the largest online sportsbooks, recently released its 2016 betting figures, showing an impressive growth in esports wagering.

Year-over-year, the Curaçao-based company witnessed a 127 percent increase in esports bet count and a whopping 403 percent increase in live bet count.

Dota 2 leads the way

Valve’s popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) Dota 2 has shown the highest growth on the online wagering platform. The number of bets placed for this game increased by 205 percent in one year.

Volume growth for bets on the first-person-shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive followed closely, increasing 166 percent over the previous year. Bets on League of Legends, the game that has shown incredible growth in the last couple of years, increased by 66 percent year-over-year.

The only reported drop in betting volume was recorded for Blizzard’s StarCraft 2, which decreased by 21 percent compared to 2015.

Pinnacle bets big on esports

Back in 2010, Pinnacle was among the first bookmakers to get involved in esports betting. While joining the competitive gaming industry began as an experiment, the company soon realized that it was a very good bet. By 2014, the market for esports gambling doubled in size for four consecutive years.

Marco Blume, Pinnacle’s head of trading, said in a statement:

“When we took our first bet on esports in 2010 there was no market at all – but through persistence and developing our odds and limits in line with the needs of the growing esports fan base Pinnacle is now growing esports betting volume at over 200% per year.”

In 2015, esports represented the seventh largest market for the company in terms of volume. This exceeded golf and rugby. Considering the company’s massive success in 2016, the volume of esports bets will surely surpass other traditional sports soon.

“I expect esports to surpass ice hockey, in terms of bet count, by the end of 2016,” Blume said.

Additionally, the company’s efforts were also praised during this year’s EGR 2016 Awards, where it received the Esports Operator of the Year Award.

Harry Lang, Pinnacle’s marketing director, said in a statement:

“We’ve invested a massive amount of time and effort to become a leader in the esports betting field, so this recognition is greatly appreciated. We’re happy that Pinnacle is still seen as the front runner in esports betting and we hope to maintain this position in the future.”

“This award is a great validation of that success and supports our ongoing intent to lead integrity in esports betting,” Blume added.

EGR editor Gerard Starkey also offered compliments and congratulations.

The judges considered Pinnacle to be the gold standard in esports betting and were impressed by Pinnacle’s promotion of esports betting as a product in its own right, particularly through the offer of its dedicated esports hub,” Starkey said.

The EGR 2016 Awards are organized by the eGaming Review, an organization that covers iGaming regulation topics and online betting industry news.

Esports gambling has great potential

The esports betting industry is expected to continue to grow in the next couple of years. Market experts project the industry to grow to nearly $17 billion in wagers by 2020.

It’s no surprise to see many established gambling companies exploring the esports betting market. Some companies are trying to bridge the gap between esports betting and live casinos. Others want to enhance the experience by offering superior analytics.

Whichever model will be successful, Pinnacle’s figures show that there’s increasing interest in betting on competitive gaming, and the industry is ready to fulfill the needs of hungry fans.