Global Esport and Sports Gambling Market Growth

15th February 2021

Betting at online and retail sportsbooks has been incredibly popular for the last couple of decades. And with the arrival of online wagering and online gaming, betting on eSports was born. Even if this branch or betting industry is rather new, it is incredibly popular. While many sports events faced an abrupt halt during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, eSports and eSports betting showed amazing growth. And even if the number of traditional sports betting is huge, more and more people are becoming interested in eSports wagering.

Bettors can find both sports betting and esports betting in the majority of online sportsbooks. As a matter of fact, the wagering process is mainly the same for both – the users need to check the odds, opt for a bet type, predict the outcome and place a bet.

Both of these have been evolving in the past, and both noted significant changes over the past few years. Let’s see how.

How Big is the Global Betting Market?

To get a clue of how big and developed is the global sports betting market you need to know that it was worth $142120 million in 2020, while the experts claim that it should reach almost twice that number in the next five years. In general, the gambling industry is one of the most developed and most profitable industries nowadays.

Before the coronavirus pandemic that hit the world in 2020, the leader of the global sports wagering market was Europe with almost half of the total market share. The runner up China holds 21.23%of the global wagering market. And the numbers started shifting significantly since betting laws started changing in the US in 2018 – thus leading to legalized online gambling in Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and dozens more. More and more US states are relaxing their online gambling laws and allowing new sportsbooks to operate.

Sports Betting Today

Even if there was a time where sports betting was limited and pretty much illegal, it is completely normalized nowadays – in most parts of the world. As a matter of fact, it has become so immersed in the mainstream culture of some parts of the world that almost everybody knows what it is, and how to bet on sports.

Moreover, wagering on sports has been made so accessible and simple with online betting platforms. Any adult person can sign up, deposit some funds and start wagering. Also, with the merging of mobile betting apps, bettors don’t even have to place wagers strictly via a desktop or a laptop. Everything is possible and available anywhere and at any time.

eSports Betting Booming

And the esports enthusiasts can finally bet on their favourite teams and competitions. Many sportsbook operators like the ones you can find at Luckynj offer betting on esports competitions. Playing video games competitively is a huge gambling trend nowadays, and it seems that it is here to stay. This newest addition to sportsbooks showed incredible growth over the past few years, and especially during the pandemics in 2020. Some of the most common esports wagering markets are Starcraft 2, Dota 2, CS:GO, FIFA, LoL, and more.

Fintech & Online Gambling

Another thing that affected the growth of the global betting market is definitely fintech. New banking methods like e-wallets, cryptocurrencies, and mobile payments are being introduced every day. What this means, are faster, safer, and better transactions. When betting online, many people rely on fast payouts, instant deposits and want to keep their banking and personal details safe. This is why more casinos and sportsbooks are investing in their security systems, anti-fraud systems and adding safer and better payment methods.

More Interesting Facts

When speaking about the gambling industry in general, sports betting is definitely the most profitable branch of all the existing ones. If we take into consideration casino games, lottery, horse races, sports wagering, the sector currently holds 70% of the global gambling revenue. Besides, the most popular sports are definitely football or soccer, and the majority of bettors bet on this sport according to various records. The second place goes to baseball, but soon enough this place might be taken by esports.

Conclusion

The sport and esport betting industries are yet to live up to their full potential. Betting on sports and video games competitions are one of the favourite pastime activities of 26% of our planet’s total population. So, who knows what kind of opportunities await all the bettors and sportsbook operators in this huge and wealthy industry.