Companies need to understand how eSports work

Online gambling has undergone a massive growth period over the last five years. This is especially the case with sportsbooks. However, one area that seems to be regularly ignored is the eSports market.

Don’t lock out new ideas

Spicy Mango is one company that believes this shouldn’t be the case. A VP at Spicy Mango has publically gone on record to say that eSports needs to be understood more by the gambling community.

eSports has become very much the next big thing over the last three years. The growth is largely down to the advent of players on YouTube and Twitch streaming themselves playing games. This has led to a growing interest in competitive eSports competitions. It’s grown to such a level that the current estimates for the eSports market is that it has grown to be a billion dollar industry. It means that it’s currently well on the way to be a big player within all industries.

League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients are two of the biggest games for eSports right now, with Europe, Asia and North America placing themselves as the biggest markets. Every year tournaments take place all around these regions and the spectators have been increasing over time. It’s at the point now where almost 20,000 people will come to watch tournament finals for the big games.

How to join in the rise

Online gaming has been a big thing for over a decade now. Soldier of Fortune, Unreal Tournament and Doom are all names from the past that helped to start the current buzz. But tournaments aren’t an old thing. They are still relatively new and so casinos have only just started to offer eSports markets.

Juicy Mango have stated that they think more casino operators should be looking into offering eSports markets. While the audience is usually quite young people for gaming tournaments, there is research out there that suggests older people will jump on as it gets more popular. It will also require almost completely new algorithms in order to calculate odds.

A lot of people think that this offers a new market that could grow very fast, but it will also require a lot of work and effort to be put in.

Potential for fraud

One of the biggest issues that people currently have with eSports is the potential for fraud to take place. For example, online tournaments can have hackers taking over and stopping the favourite from winning, which can cause big returns on an underdog bet. This isn’t an issue with localised tournaments as they’re not over an outside network. But there are no regulations when it comes to eSports betting, so most online casinos will most likely wait until regulations are in place before offering markets full time.

Another problem is the issue of match fixing. Because the tournaments have prize pots of huge values, people are starting to worry that a criminal element may get involved. This is especially worrying as the competitors are not normally paid as well on the whole like they are in other sports.

What a lot of people are against is the worry of match fixing. The lack of regulatory body in place means that bookmakers are wary about getting involved. The only real way there can be a move towards this is if the gambling companies themselves work together with tournament organisers to ensure everything it legitimate.

What comes next

Just two years ago a member of the Olympic Committee said that they believed eSports would be an event at the Olympics within the next five years. While eSports could make a move forward without it, it would help people to see it as legitimate if it was an Olympic sport.

Over time the tournaments are becoming more and more professional. There are rankings being put in place, larger prize funds and big name sponsors getting involved. Juicy Mango believe that it won’t be long before eSports are seen at the same level as traditional sports.