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Up to a couple of years ago, esports betting was a rather exotic experience. Not many online bookmakers offered it and not many people actually took it seriously. However, the rapid rise of the esports industry changed that.
Nowadays, every serious sportsbook on the internet has an esports section and covers plenty of tournaments in games like DOTA 2, CS: GO, League of Legends, StarCraft II, and many other popular titles.
How Esports Became So Popular?
It’s hard to distinguish a single reason behind the insane growth of esports. One of the natural driving forces was the increase of the user base. Once upon a time, only geeks used to play computer games, but that’s no longer the case.
With the change of the generation, the number of casual and semi-casual gamers exploded. Most young people in present day spend a lot of time playing, whether it’s on their PC, laptop, or mobile device.
Another huge boost to the esports scene was provided by Twitch and other streaming services. The normies now had the chance to watch the pros play and understand their mindset and strategy.
Such platforms also became a nice source of income for pro players and proved that this is a viable career path. Many young games were inspired to chase the dream of getting paid to play their favorite titles and we see the results today.
The esports are growing at crazy rates and it’s even catching some of the traditional sports. While they have some time to match the likes of football, basketball, and soccer, the prize pools and popularity have already surpassed many of the more obscure sports.
The prize pool of the 2019 International, the unofficial DOTA 2 World Championship, surpassed the $30 million mark and you will struggle to find many sporting events in which there’s so much money on the line.
Considering the development of esports, it was only natural that it would spread to online betting as well.
How the Online Gambling Industry Embraced Esports?
When there are millions watching and playing certain games, it’s only natural for some of them to be interested in betting on them as well. Initially, there were specific platforms built for esports gambling. They would match people against each other or the house.
Most traditional bookmakers on the web were still cautious with esports, as it was a challenge for the industry. Compiling the odds and evaluating the probabilities for computer games was a whole new world to the betting sites, so they stayed passive for years.
However, the needs of the market always prevail in the end. A couple of years ago, a point was reached when so many people wanted to bet on esports that the online bookmakers simply had to oblige.
They haven’t looked back since and almost every sportsbook on the internet has an esports betting section. It features plenty of different games and tournaments, as well as special promotions for the fans of the niche.
The number of betting markets that are offered and the limits are increasing all the time. While there is a lot of room for improvement, the juggernaut can’t be stopped.
If you are among the millions of people who are interested, you can learn more about esports betting here. The signs are that the industry is only getting bigger in the near future. More and more games will be available, as well as new betting markets and promotions.