The social media and digital age have brought about a huge change in global trends, from the way in which people communicate to the choice of services they use on a daily basis. Trends have become established across a range of industries and the sports gambling industry is a niche that has seen exponential growth within the online era, thanks in the main for its willingness to move with the times and recognize opportunities within the marketplace.
One such opportunity in recent times has been the emergence of esports, which has become the fastest-growing sport in the world – with millions of people across the planet participating in and watching various esports offerings.
Bookmakers worldwide have quickly jumped on board with the esports betting trend, offering a variety of wager options for punters at top gambling sites on BST to indulge in. Whether it be looking for the best League of Legends odds or the best Dota 2 betting sites, esports and gambling have now become intertwined in a way like never before.
Esports continuing to boom
In comparison to many different sports, the way in which esports has boomed within the global betting sphere has been exponential. Merely a decade ago, esports was seen as a fun, recreational activity for people from their own homes, with no reference or mention of it infiltrating the sports betting industry.
Fast forward 10 years and every bookmaker worth their salt is pinpointing esports has a viable sports betting offering, with markets across every variant of esports and the millions of bettors and online viewers make it the perfect breeding ground to create interest in esports betting, for new and experienced punters alike.
Tried and tested formula
Whilst the emergence of esports within the sports betting marketplace has been a new and innovative scheme, most online bookmakers have looked to keep the esports betting offerings in line with the rest of their output.
Punters can bet on match-winner markets, handicap bets, and total points betting when gambling on esports, mirroring plenty of the other markets served up by bookmakers on other sports.
That continuity has encouraged punters who perhaps don’t have the in-depth knowledge of esports to get involved with the growing esports betting market and the number of esports betting platforms has boomed as a consequence.
In-play esports betting
A huge part of the success enjoyed by esports within the sports betting industry is the ability it gives to punters to bet on the action as it is unfolding.
Betting in-play has revolutionized the way in which sports betting users are able to gamble, with players constantly having to adapt to the match that unfolds in front of them.
Esports is unique in the fact that it gives players the chance to bet on the action as it unfolds and without some of the physical demands of many other sports, a huge amount of focus is placed on the mental strength and concentration required by every player involved.
Effective esports punters are able to recognize trends as the games are panning out and predict what will happen next, in the cut and thrust of the in-play market.
A key component of the growth enjoyed by esports and specifically esports betting in recent times has been the crossover between esports and social media.
Esports fans are a huge part of the community within the esports world, and the connectivity and communication streams offered up by social media platforms enable punters to feel part of the action when betting on esports.
Platforms such as Twitch and TikTok enable punters to fully immerse themselves into all of the latest happenings within the world of esports and that has had a profound impact on the growth of the sport and the awareness of the esports betting market that run parallel to it.
The growth of esports within the wider world of sport has been remarkable in recent times, with esports expected to be represented at an Olympic Games before 2028 and with a burgeoning sports betting scene to accompany it, the future looks very bright for esports gambling and for all of the punters who are involved within it.
