The recent years have seen an explosion in the popularity of esports – gaming competitions that often take place in front of live crowds and on big, broadcasted TV channels. In fact, according to Esports Market Hub, an industry analysis firm, the worldwide esports market is projected to grow from $6.9 billion in 2017 to $16.2 billion by 2027.
While traditional sports like football and baseball have seen an explosion of popularity thanks to the increasing wealth and digital activity of millennials and Generation Z, esports have managed to capture the imagination of gamers worldwide, perhaps because of their interactive and entertainment qualities.
But how do these competitions work? What is a ‘leak forum’, and how does betting in a leak forum fit within this world of eSports?
What Do We Know About Esports?
First off, we know a bit about esports from a historical viewpoint. Back in the 1950s, computer technology was in its infancy, and even if you had a computer at home, it would take a lot of time to load and process the complex equations that made up modern day games like chess and Scrabble. This is why these competitions started out on smaller, homemade ‘electronic chess’ devices that could fit in the palm of your hand. Later, when the processing power of these devices increased, so did the complexity of the games – and the need for bigger and better technology to keep up.
What we know about esports today goes beyond the technology behind it. Thanks to dedicated fans and passionate players, we have an incredibly in depth understanding of how these competitions work, and this information can be used to successfully participate in matches and gamble on them.
The Growth Of Esports
You might be wondering how a game like Scrabble could grow so much in popularity given that you can’t really play it on your smartphone. Well, you can – as long as you’re willing to make some basic changes to the game! After all, the very first Scrabble game was actually a word matching challenge between computers, and it wasn’t until a few decades later that teams started competing against each other.
If you’re looking for an example of how esports have grown in popularity and relevance in just a few short years, you can look no further than football. Back in 2012, the most popular football game on the planet was still Football Manager. Since then, the game has seen a huge decline in popularity, as players realize how much easier it is to just use a football simulator. Still, the most popular football games today are all based on simulations of real-world matches.
Similarly, if you compare the most popular competitive gaming platform – League of Legends – to the now-defunct Populous, you’ll see that while the former is still popular, the latter had its peak years in the 2000s before becoming unpopular due to people realizing that it was impossible to win at Populous unless your team was favored by the Gods.
What Is A Leak Forum?
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re already familiar with leak forums – these are places where sports bettors come together to post and discuss information about upcoming games. Sometimes this information is provided by the teams themselves, but it’s more commonly found in a leak forum, where insiders share this valuable information with others who are interested in betting on it.
This is particularly useful for football fans, as information on the latest transfers, rumors, and all other relevant news is exchanged on these forums. Essentially, a leak forum is a place for people who enjoy gambling, but don’t want to risk losing their money on unreliable sources. So instead of risking their cash on unproven information, they can place bets on rumors, gossip, and other information that others consider to be reliable – meaning they might have some actual value and can be sold for profit.
The Importance Of The Source
One of the biggest debates that arise on leak forums is the question of whose information is worth relying on. Often times, these debates arise because users question the motives of certain posters, considering them to be biased or untrustworthy. Aspiring soccer journalists might find themselves in a similar situation when covering matches for popular European leagues, as certain teams and officials are known to be protective of their secrets and will go as far as to censor or delete posts that discuss their matches. This is obviously frustrating for fans who want to follow the action as it happens.
This type of behavior is common in sports, and it’s something that you should be aware of whenever you read or hear about a particular sport. Sometimes the media coverage can be so favorable that you might get an unfair impression about a team or an individual involved in the sport. Always remember: you’re reading or hearing about the sport through a biased lens, and this will affect the way you perceive everything about it.
An important point to make is that censorship and biased reporting isn’t limited to traditional media publications. Individual teams and leagues can be just as bad as publicly funded institutions when it comes to protecting their secrets, and this sometimes leads to unreliable and potentially dangerous information being circulated on social media.
The Rise Of The Insider
As previously stated, a big reason why esports are so interesting and exciting to follow is because we know so much about them. This is thanks to the rise of the ‘insider’, a valuable member of an esports community who has access to various kinds of information that others don’t. Often, this information is closely tied to the game’s popularity and revenue generation – both of which are important to sports fans looking to place a wager on it.
As more and more people get involved in esports, the importance of the insider continues to rise. The most valuable type of insider in esports is someone who has access to marketing and revenue information about a game. So, while you might not always need insiders to bet on sports, you certainly need them to place a bet on one.