The Rise of Virtual Esports Betting in 2020

At the beginning of 2020, the sports betting industry found itself in a position they’ve never experienced before. Out of a sudden, all sports events were cancelled, without any predicatble future insight. The pandemic has left arenas and stadiums empty and deserted. 

Furthermore, the land-based bookies were also closed. But bettors around the world almost instinctively made a natural switch to virtual betting. In some countries, mobile betting took over 80% of the betting market during the pandemic. 

Even though it was easy enough for players to find a way to bet online, they thought that is was for all for naught since all the sporting events had been cancelled. But were they? And that’s how our story of the rise of the virtual esports betting begins.

A Small Introduction To eSports Betting

Video games have been around for quite some time. The ever-growing internet technology paved the way to multiplayer video games that have taken the world by the storm. Especially among college students who are always looking for a way to entertain and relax after the exam period. Among the usual gambling and visiting free welcome bonus no deposit required casino online, students have discovered another way to have fun and get some additional money - by guessing which players will win in a match on their favourite multiplayer video game. Thus, esports betting was born. 

Naturally, the betting industry saw the potential in eSports and therefore supported the organisation of various tournaments for some of the most popular video games. 

Today, gamers in the United Kingdom, the USA, and other countries worldwide are celebrities with great influential power over their followers.

How Does A Person Bet On Esport?

One of the reasons why eSports have become so popular is that placing a wager on them is as easy, as for any other sport. But, if you ar4e a novice then you should probably start with the basics. Betting on eSports can be tricky and it’s recommended to know the basics of the video game that you are betting on before making a decision to invest money. 

So the first thing that you need to know is that there are several ways to bet on esports:

• Real money

• Social 

• Fantasy 

• Skin 

• Challenge 

Real money betting is very similar to the traditional way of sports wagering. The player places real money wagers on a certain odd, and if his choice was correct her will be paid out. Skin betting includes the use of items from a particular game as a currency. Social wagering is a form of unwritten agreement among friends, who make a wager based on the outcome of the game that they predict. We don’t recommend social betting, since it can lead to arguments and unpleasant situations. 

With fantasy betting, you don’t bet on the outcome of the game, but you build a roster by using esports players. And lastly, challenge wagering is similar to social betting, except it’s done among teams or individual players. Some websites organize events for these kinds of bets, where every participant has to pay a certain fee in order to enter. 

Why Is Esports on the Rise?

We are witnesses to the greatest shift in the history of mankind. There’s now a generation of young adults who don’t remember the pre-Internet era and their entire young life has been greatly influenced by virtual reality, social networks, and video games. 

Therefore, it was once unimaginable to a more older generation that there would come a day when someone would pay a fee to look at someone else playing a game.

Today, two of the most popular video games in the world, Counter-Strike and League of Legends, have their own events that include some of the best players from every corner of the Earth. 

The importance of these games can be best explained through their popularity on the streaming platform Twitch. Regardless of the day of the week or the time of the day, CS or LoL events can have tens of thousands people watching them from the beginning until the end. And as those numbers grow every day, so do the numbers of people who are willing to place a bet. 

So after the pandemic broke, many people spent most of their time at home. And with the lack of any sports events, many bettors worldwide turned to esports during the pandemic. Due to this crisis, bettors worldwide have finally found the time to get to know some amazing online events and to recognize the skills that lie in the core of esports. 

Conclusion

Image source: Pexels

Esports have already been popular among the targeted audience, even before the pandemic. Nearly 4 million people watch daily broadcasts of some esports, and it is without a doubt a booming industry.

The pandemic had only been an opportunity for this industry to reach some of the audience that otherwise prefers traditional sports events. As a result, bettors worldwide today have another seriously attractive option in the world of betting - the esports. 

Bio: Leslie Alexander is the Content Lead at Gamblizard, but also an aspiring writer for the iGaming industry. With a passion for becoming an SEO expert, Leslie delivers highly informative articles to her audience on a weekly basis. Leslie spends most of her free time reading motivational books.