Online games have gone beyond home use. Now esports is not something incomprehensible and not worth the attention, but a global industry with huge prize funds. 

Back in 2016, it was impossible to find a single bookmaker that would accept bets on events in eSports disciplines. Although on a global scale there were already championships of various classes, divisions and ratings of the best players, said Darren Keane from Storm International. 

But starting in 2020, there was a breakthrough, and the best bookmakers began to accept bets on eSports on an “industrial” scale. 

The history of eSports bets appearance

Before esports went public, betting on popular online games like CS:GO or Dota 2 took place at home. Namely, in a friendly match, items in the inventory, stickers, and other upgrades were at stake. Betters could place bets on the site using skins and take the trophy into their piggy bank when they win. This is exactly what the sphere of esports betting was like before its large-scale globalization, added CEO of Storm International, Darren Keane.. 

But already in 2016, the developer of Dota 2, Valve Corporation, decided to stop such deals.  

Why esports has become a tasty morsel for betting companies 

You don’t have to be a great eSports expert to understand that modern life is increasingly moving into virtual reality. The majority of esports bettors are young people under 26 years old. Naturally, it is easier for such users to understand an online game in which they have “wound” a lot of hours than in football. 

In addition, all streams and online matches are usually available in live broadcasts on free resources such as YouTube or Twitch. By the way, you can also follow the rating esports events on the 1win website. 

A lot of fans, followed by large bookmakers, were attracted by the significantly increased prize money at such matches. For example, the first-ever Dota 2 International world championship had a prize pool of $1.6 million. TI 2022, which starts in Singapore on October 15, will share 13.6 million prize money among the winners. And this is not the limit. 

Reasons for the rise in the eSports popularity 

Since 2020, the whole world has been covered by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many offline sporting events have been canceled. Even the Olympics in 2020 was not held. 

And what was there to do for betters who were deprived of the opportunity to bet on sports and bookmakers, whose business was collapsing before our eyes. That’s right – pay attention to online sports, e-sports. Fortunately, the field for this has already been prepared all over the world. 

So the majority of fans switched from traditional sports events to online tournaments in CS:GO, DotA, LoL, etc. So, bookmakers’ interest in these areas has also risen. Some betting companies have created their teams in different disciplines.