Why is eSports getting more gamers into sportsbooks?
It’s fair to
say that eSports is a huge industry that’s expanded massively over recent
years. While watching teams of pro players battle it out online or at real-life
events might once have been fairly niche, it’s becoming more widely accepted
around the world now. This meant revenue for this sector surpassed $1 billion
in 2020 and many predict it will rise further in coming years.
Naturally,
this sees more eSports fans around the world than when the industry first
started. As you’d expect, gamers are a large proportion of this and enjoy the
way the sector combines pro sports/gaming. One thing that’s started to happen
recently is more gamers getting into betting at sportsbooks through following
eSports.
Why is this
happening?
Why is eSports helping more gamers
get into sportsbooks?
One of the
biggest reasons why eSports is getting more gamers into sportsbooks is
sponsorship. If you take a quick look around the eSports industry, corporate
sponsorship is a big money maker. While this involves companies like BMW and
Red Bull, it also sees big sports betting brands back eSports teams or events
financially.
This
high-level sponsorship puts the sportsbooks these brands offer in front of a
new gaming audience and in turn sees more gamers give the sportsbooks a try.
This might be gamers who have never thought about betting before or didn’t even
know you could bet on sporting events.
The second
big reason for eSports getting more gamers into sportsbooks lies in how
accessible betting on this sport is now. As this BetMGM sportsbook review shows, many top betting platforms online
now offer eSports to wager on. This improved accessibility made it easier for
gamers to find events to bet on and made them more likely to use sportsbooks.
Why else might gamers be starting to
bet at sportsbooks?
To help
explain why more gamers are starting to bet at sportsbooks now, it pays to take
a more general view of what betting on sports online delivers. This could be
for eSports events which gamers might first be drawn to, but also for betting
on other sports digitally.
To begin
with, betting on things like eSports is lots of fun. For gamers, it can
give a similar thrill to completing a game or getting past a tough level. This
is appealing to those who play games and the enjoyment sports betting can give
is a big reason sportsbooks continue to attract more followers.
Online
sports betting is also convenient. Due to the nature of how betting this way
works, you can do it from home. This means you can integrate betting with
playing games or watching an eSports event online in your bedroom, without any
hassle. Mobile betting is also possible and makes it easy to bet on sports when
not at home. This can come in handy if you are watching an event away from the
home and suddenly fancy wagering on it.
Bonuses and greater personal
connection help
Another
reason why people love to bet at sportsbooks on things like eSports is the
bonuses available. Pretty much all decent sportsbooks now offer special bonuses
to players when they sign-up. This could be anything from odds boost tokens to
free bets or a matched deposit bonus. Most sportsbooks will give existing
players regular rewards for betting with them. This helps to make betting on
things like eSports more appealing to gamers.
You also
have to factor in the greater personal investment you have in a sporting event
when you bet on it. In terms of eSports, betting on a team to win a tournament
simply makes it more exciting to watch. This also helps explain why gamers are
flocking to bet at sportsbooks online.
eSports have shown gamers more about
betting online
When you
look at the highest earning eSports players and how exciting it is to watch
these events, you can see why the sector has grown to its current size. In many
ways, the growth of this industry also mirrors gaming’s recent growth. Gaming
as a whole has become not only more diverse in recent years, but also more
integrated. You no longer have the distinct separation between video gaming and
online casino gaming. Lots of gamers will enjoy both in the modern world and
many won’t draw a line between watching eSports and betting on it. This has
helped more gamers use sportsbooks lately and get into betting through eSports.