Esports betting is gaining massive popularity around the globe, thanks to the availability of convenient online betting platforms. This multi-billion-dollar industry is worth USD900 million in India each year, though far more is estimated as being spent on offshore accounts. Here we look at innovations in esports and its impact on esports betting.
Esports competitors
Esports has competitors from different leagues or teams that compete in games such as DOTA2, League of Legends, Counter-Strike:2, FIFA 2020 and others, the same games that are very popular with home gamers. Each event is supported by online betting websites in India that accept bets made in Indian rupee, the local currency. These esports events are watched online and in-person by millions of fans across the globe, some of whom are uninterested in the more traditional betting games such as poker or sports like soccer.
Double-digit growth
Already, the esports space is recording double-digit growth in viewers that is expected to continue through 2022. The increase in revenue is also expected to scale up significantly each year for the foreseeable future due to technological advances with network servers, cloud services, hardware and accessories. Improvement in gaming components from console's input devices such as monitors, speakers, graphics cards, gaming furniture and live streaming tools like Twitch and chatbot integration to moderate the feeds, keep players and bettors engaged for longer.
JetSynthesys, an Indian digital and technology company, has been developing games such as Sachin Cricket Saga. It has recently invested in NODWIN Gaming, one of the region’s most well-recognised tournament organisers, to increase the company’s global presence in esports, forging new strategic partnerships with gaming companies in Japan, the US, and Europe and offering further opportunities for those keen to profit from esports.
Vertical integration
The esports market is looking into vertical integration to further engage spectators and punters. This is being done through partnerships. Riot Games South Asia, a game publishing company, is trying to cater towards its esports community by partnering with Indian gaming platform Paytm First Games and has already hosted a Teamfight Tactics tournament in March 2020. It has also announced an INR750,000 Legends of Runeterra tournament and unveiled plans to launch VALORANT servers for India before the end of 2020.
Meanwhile, all companies are investing in headsets, microphones, and even 5G to make an online eSports environment more seamless, dealing with latency or lag which has to date stopped esports becoming a truly global sport and betting platform. A seamless live broadcast is more likely to create engagement and growth in the esports community. Augmented reality and virtual reality can show real-time statistics and diagnostics and created fun, such as the augmented reality dragon which flew overhead at one huge online arena-based event, that was viewed by over 40 million people worldwide.
Innovation in competitive sports
Esports has been helping in the training schedules of competitive athletes. Data is being used to improve performance whether Formula One drivers or basketball players. Using AI and machine learning a gaming strategy based on strengths and weaknesses can be created for an individual player or a team using data that can even be synthesised in real-time. In summary, 5G, augmented reality and virtual reality, AI and machine learning are all game-changing technologies in the esports industry and the extra data is helping punters make skilled judgements to win large on multiple betting options.
Mobile betting
Esports may have started on consoles and then PCs, but the latest innovation is the move to esports on mobiles, whether phone or tablet. This also means that betting on esports can take place anywhere at any time without the need to search out a niche product. Players are now ranked by age, region or competitive skill, with the very best earning millions of dollars. Because of these innovations, children in their early teens are looking to esports play as their career choice, either as an athlete, a streamer, or a content creator. This provides punters with a broad history from which to base their bets.
Going forward
The streaming of esports, and with events such as the Intel Extreme Masters drawing in upwards of 400 million viewers globally, there are many opportunities for those interested in esports betting to make a good profit. It is now possible to track each second of action. Watching a basketball game can see you track an individual player to find out their heart rate, the number of times they dribble, find out how many shots they have taken in their lifetime, what parts of the court they attempted to make a shot from and how many were successful. This can help coach players to improve but opens up the chances of further opportunities to win against the sportsbooks.
