The year is not over yet, but sports analysts who keep an eye on sports betting say that eSports will continue to explode. Since the Supreme Court ended a ban on sports betting in 2018, the industry has continued to expand. This year, the pandemic put a lock on many events, and the impact was huge to the sports world.
Sports betting that had already launched in the U.S. got creative with eSports and avoided a huge loss. All in all, eSports betting has just been a tiny part of the overall sports betting market, but sports betting experts say that it is trending upwards.
Due to the sudden surge in eSports betting demands, many sites that did not offer eSports betting decided to wisely take another look. According to new reporting from Newzoo, 2020 is shaping up to be a banner year for eSports. The data suggests that by 2021, eSports will have more than 250 million regular players and another 305 million semi-regular players.
eSports Gaining Popularity
According to the new report, most of the eSports viewers and players globally are in Asia. The totals for eSports in 2020 is estimated to be close to $2 billion.
It’s a big increase from prior years, but sports betting analysts are quick to point out that that number is still a very small amount of the sports betting market. The sports betting market as a whole brings in a whopping $250 billion yearly.
Sports betting analyst Wendall Baker, based in Chicago, said, “The eSports betting market has surged no doubt in part as a direct result of the pandemic. Being able to give players other alternatives to fill the void during the sports lock down. But it still only amounts to about 1% of the total sports betting market.”
The biggest reason that the eSports Betting market is so small is because it doesn’t have a worldwide market, Baker said. Until the eSports betting industry starts to draw in players from different locations worldwide, the demand will be relatively soft compared to sports betting. Many sportsbooks that do offer eSports currently offer the main events like NASCAR.
eSports Bettors are Young with Less Cash
Another huge issue for eSports is that the client base tends to be a younger one compared to traditional sports betting. Younger players generally have less disposable cash at the ready, Baker added.
Some huge eSports betting fans are also below the age of 21, and can’t place a legal bet. However, sports betting experts have reported that eSports has been seeing a steady rise in the last 10 years, well before the pandemic of 2020. Since eSports has seen a rapid increase this year, it may have just got the quick jolt it needed.
Financial experts have also weighed in on eSports. Brink Webster, a broker with Charles Schwab who specializes in sports stocks, had an interesting tidbit to add to the eSports betting conversation.
Webster said, “When looking at businesses to invest in, anything dealing with eSports betting would take much less capital to invest in. That is a good reason that the industry will experience more and more and more growth.”