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SKY’S THE LIMIT It took the coronavirus pandemic to wake the sleeping giant of esports betting. Iqbal Johal looks at how far the vertical can grow in the upcoming year
Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a catastrophic worldwide pandemic for things to change. When businesses and industries are forced to adapt and look at alternatives to survive, they can unearth solutions that were right under their noses but were never acted upon. Sleeping giants can wake years ahead of their time but are more than ready to thrive. That’s been the case with esports in the gambling industry. A vertical that was considered a dark horse for operators and suppliers, which wasn’t expected to reach its potential for several more years. That was until disaster struck.
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The coronavirus pandemic led to the suspension of all major live sport in mid-March and the industry had to look elsewhere to fill the void. Some turned niche, with several operators offering marble racing and table football. Instead of competing on how obscure they could go, it turns out they really didn’t have to look very far to fill it. The esports product has been steadily rising in recent years. Statistics from Newzoo showed industry revenue grew by 22% year-on-year in 2019, and was projected to rise a further 15% in 2020 to $1.1bn. The total esports audience
was estimated to grow 12% in 2020, to $495 million people worldwide. These predictions were made before the pandemic. But the gambling industry wasn’t quite taking the plunge with esports before March, despite all the signs pointing to the vertical being a potential future moneymaker. “Before the pandemic, esports was extremely niche,” explains EveryMatrix CEO Ebbe Groes to Gambling Insider. “When you look at our existing clients, they would have had esports appearing alongside other minor sport offerings such as cricket, darts and futsal, somewhere down the list.
