The world of sports betting and esports betting is ever expanding, with new platforms emerging and innovative ways to bet being rolled out. Mobile betting and online betting are becoming more accessible to the average person, opening up the market to a whole new group of people who might not previously considered gambling as an activity. This article explores how esports betting and traditional sports betting work, how you can get involved, and the opportunities that exist within the industry.
Traditional Sports Betting
Although modern-day sports betting didn’t exist before the 1900’s, the activity itself has been around for much longer. Ancient philosophers and theorists proposed that skilled betting on sporting events was a useful tool in predicting the outcome of a game, and some of them even went as far as to say that gambling on sporting events was morally okay, as long as you were sure of what you were betting on. Modern-day sports betting grew out of these ideas, with traditional sports books opening up in the early 1900’s and the activity becoming legal in the United States in the 1940’s. The first modern-day esports tournament was in 1979, and today nearly every major tournament is supported by a bookmaker who offers odds on the event. Over the years, traditional sports betting has emerged as a popular way to bet on sports, with many people getting involved because it’s simple to do, there’s always plenty of action, and the odds are always in your favor.
Esports Betting
Esports betting is a form of sports betting that emerged from the intersection of sports and video games. Instead of picking a winner between two teams of athletes, esports betting allows you to wage a wager on the outcome of a game, where the competitors are either humans or artificial intelligence (AI) controlled characters. The first eSport tournament was in 1979, with the first World Computer Chess Championship following two years later. While the overall gaming market started out small, with less than 1% of the population regularly playing video games in the early 1980’s, esports grew along with the industry, with dedicated fan bases following prominent games and tournaments. The 2020 edition of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) showcased over 200 projects and teams from around the world, many of which are inspired by the fast-paced nature of competitive gaming.
The first truly global esports tournament was the 1994 Game Developers’ Conference in Beijing, where participants from across China, Japan, and other Asian countries gathered to compete. The tournament consisted of a 64-player double-elimination tournament with a $300,000 prize pool and nearly 2 million viewers. The 2019 edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit featured over 70 speakers from around the world who discussed how to succeed as an entrepreneur. One of the main topics was the influence of technology on entrepreneurship, with a speaker calling esports betting a “perfect use case” for new technology platforms like TikTok, WeChat, and others. The 2020 Olympics and the 2022 World Cup are also supported by online betting companies, providing easy and accessible opportunities for people around the world to place bets on the event.
How Esports Betting Works
The esports betting experience is similar to that of traditional sports betting, with the main difference being the betting interface and the wide variety of games and tournaments available for betting. Here are the key points:
Traditionally, you would have to go to a physical location to place a bet on a sporting event.
The same goes for esports betting too, with many bookmakers having locations around the world where you can place bets. To place a bet on a game, you will need to head to a bookmaker’s website and log in or create an account. From there, you will be able to make your wager with either coins or credit cards. If you are using credit cards, you will need to confirm your identity before making a bet.
The Variety of Games And Tournaments Available For Betting Is Phenomenal.
The variety of games and tournaments available for betting is unmatched, with daily fantasy sports, online slot machines, and even board games like chess and go all being available for betting. Some platforms also allow for live betting or ‘skin betting’, where you can actually bet against the other players. This feature is mostly used for sports events that have an online component, where you can place a bet on the outcome of the game. It’s also possible to make an educated guess on the outcomes of games, with some platforms giving you odds based on previous results or statistical information about the teams and players involved. The growth of eSports has been incredible, with the number of games and tournaments available for betting doubling every year since 2014. While it’s still early days in terms of global esports betting markets, there are already dozens of platforms where you can place bets, with more emerging every month.
You Can Place A Profitable Bet On Major Tournaments.
One of the biggest draws of traditional sports betting is the ability to place a bet on some of the biggest tournaments in the world. This is also the case with esports betting, with some platforms offering odds on all of the big events, such as the World Cup, the Stanley Cup, and the French Open.
The 2018 World Cup was one of the biggest esports tournaments in history, attracting a peak audience of 1.64 billion people. The tournament was held in Russia and featured 32 teams, with fans in over 200 countries participating. The final between France and Croatia was one of the most watched events in history, with over 11.4 million people tuning in to see the Croation win the cup. The popularity of esports is such that the biggest tournaments can generate billions of dollars in revenue. The 2020 edition of the Intel ISEF, for instance, awarded $600,000 to the winning team, with a 24-person capacity audience watching the event live on Twitch. The 2020 edition of the Kids’ University of Essex eSports Festival (KUESE) was another huge success, with 462 participants aged between 4 and 14 competing in 25 sporting events and earning over 120,000 pounds (over $160,000) in prize money.
The Growth Of Esports And The Future Of Online Gambling
The growth of esports and the future of online gambling are inextricably linked, with many people seeing gaming and esports as a form of electronic sports that can be used to predict the outcome of a game. The 2019 edition of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair featured a special ‘eSports Pavilion’ where over 70 tournaments and exhibitions were held, attracting more than 20,000 participants from around the world. It’s an opportunity for people who love to bet and watch sporting events to do so in a new way, with competitions like the World Computer Chess Championship and the Intel ISEF also offering esports betting.
According to a study by TikTok, 80% of users between the ages of 18 and 24 are involved in esports, with that figure rising to 94% among users between the ages of 25 and 34. It would be a massive understatement to say that the world of esports and gaming is growing, with massive opportunities for people who want to get involved.