Without doubt, the fastest growing betting market in the world can be found in esports as the audience continues to grow with more diversity as the demographic of viewers has shifted from just players interested and gamers with the view for it to an audience that would have been more interested in traditional sporting. As the gap closers between esports and traditional names as a growing number of players bet on esports, but there are plenty of nuances to understand before making the change as there are a lot of differences between what you may be familiar with and these new platforms – whilst a the same there are familiarities that will help you bridge the gap too.
(Image from esportsinsider.com)
Availability of games – The availability of games is another big reason for many of these games to succeed, and a large part of the success of esports betting as there is a huge diversity in what can be played – the big three titles on offer through Counter-Strike, League of Legends, and DotA make up the bulk of what is played and what is bet on, but there are a huge number of games emerging in recent times that are starting to fill additional spots and even familiar titles through names like FIFA and NBA which are bridging the gap between traditional sports and regular sports.
Regional and world play matters – Unlike most other sports which rely on having a big world styled event every four years through events such as the FIFA world cup, esports benefits from a yearly international tournament at the end of the year but also international events throughout the year too. For example, in League of Legends, the Asian teams from China and Korea are often much stronger than those in the west in Europe and the US seen most recently at the World Championships, but the opposite is true for other titles such as Counter-Strike, and understanding these nuances can certainly help identify what to expect in certain games.
Diversity in tournaments – Where traditional sporting events all rely on regular seasonal play that seems similar across many different sporting events, there have been some differences in esports. Although this is changing a little to become more uniform, there are very different ways in which tournaments and regular season play is managed – whilst there are tournaments handled by the larger official organisations, there are many community run events to watch too. And each have their own unique values and watching is the best way to figure it out.