Will eSports Betting Establish Itself as a Credible Vertical in the Betting Industry?

The challenge for sportsbooks is the lack of data on professional and semi-professional eSports teams

That's the burning question on the lips of many stakeholders in conventional sports betting as well as those involved in the eSports scene, which has seen competitive gaming evolve from an entertaining pastime to a lucrative profession. What does the data say and how can sportsbooks learn from what they've already achieved with eSports betting markets? It's important to note the shift that many sportsbooks have made towards eSports. On Unibet, which is considered one of the top ten sites for bonuses reserved for new customers, eSports is now listed as one of the six 'popular' markets to bet on. This is symptomatic of many other operators who are seeing rising liquidity in eSports betting.

Of course, that doesn't mean the eSports betting market is mature by any means. In fact, it's still very much in its infancy. However, as the year's progress, more of the next generation of bettors will acknowledge eSports as a credible betting option, with more competitive eSports events covered by the major sportsbooks. Its growth trajectory looks very promising. Furthermore, by 2024, eSports events are expected to have a global audience of around 577 million people. Even if a fraction of this contingent were to wager on these events, it will surely drive immense revenue for sportsbook operators.

The leading sportsbooks are working hard to enhance their exposure within the eSports community. DraftKings is one such operator to pair up with a leading US-based eSports team – FaZe Clan. Meanwhile, 1xBet also joined forces with the ESL – one of the biggest tournament organizers in the global eSports industry.

Although it looks like one-way traffic for eSports betting, there are one or two roadblocks still to overcome. The key to unleashing its full potential is harnessing big data to improve betting markets and the competitiveness of pre-event and in-play odds and lines.

The need for reliable big data in eSports betting

One of the biggest challenges for sportsbooks is the lack of data on professional and semi-professional eSports teams operating below the upper echelons of the eSports events schedule. With minimal data on players in these organizations, it's difficult – if not impossible – for sportsbook traders to accurately price up betting markets for the more modest eSports tournaments and leagues.

Real-time data is now being distributed by the biggest eSports organizers like the DOTA Pro Circuit and the ESL, but a lack of official data in the lesser-known events can cause serious headaches for bettors right now, particularly when live betting. The uncertainty surrounding players and their respective attributes can result in immense volatility in the live odds, resulting in multiple suspensions of the betting markets in play.

The other major obstacle for sportsbooks is securing accurate updates or broadcasts of live eSports events. Aside from the headline tournaments for games like DOTA 2, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, many low-key events are currently streamed only by little-known networks or even some of the players themselves via Twitch handles. All of which can lead to inaccuracies and inefficiencies in the markets.

With a lack of official data in live events, it can be hard for sportsbook traders to find reliable in-play statistics to run credible live betting markets. Without official data, some sportsbooks and betting platform providers are attempting to circumvent this issue by developing their own artificial intelligence (AI) led solutions. These solutions scrape live scoreboards and other on-screen elements to help build the most accurate picture of an in-play event possible.

The long-term vision for sportsbooks doubling down on eSports markets must surely be to fuse an AI-led solution with official event data to yield the most accurate in-play data for live eSports bettors – which can prove invaluable towards the back end of matches.

Just as online sportsbooks have successfully invested in real-time, ball-by-ball, or blow-by-blow data for conventional sports like soccer, football, basketball, or tennis, it's only a matter of time before this investment cements eSports as a credible live betting option. The industry itself is on the cusp of hitting the mainstream and now its betting vertical could become a bellwether for the next-generation sportsbook.