The year has been an unpredictable and interesting one for the esports sector. Esports betting has witnessed a boom due to the current situation of the world, with the NBA 2K and FIFA at the forefront of the entire thing, and with approvals for major leagues granted by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, signaling the huge shift in the esports betting sector.

In recent years, esports has surged in popularity and the only way forward is up, as more of the younger generations are becoming both gaming and betting conscious. To this date, one of the most popular esports to bet on has been CS:GO, thanks to sites like https://csgobook.com/ where you can bet with both skins and real-money on your favourite players, teams and leagues from around the world.

Looking into the smaller details involved in the rise of esports betting, EveryMatrix has come up with the 2020 report on the state of esports. This report explains what the esports betting market has experienced since the traditional sports have been on hold, and what it will look like beyond that.

40x Growth for the Sector

Talking about esports betting, the report says that it has grown by 40 times and that is because of the NBA 2K and FIFA occupying the center spot. The fact that the traditional sports like soccer and football are on hold for now at least, has made the online alternatives to come to the mainstream. According to EveryMatrix, up to 80 percent of the amount of revenue coming through bets is racked up by the NBA 2K and FIFA.

Another important thing to know is that the esports scene mostly revolves around the NBA 2K and FIFA. In FIFA almost everything you witnessed in the professional football world has been replicated virtually, so you will experience all the big teams in the traditional leagues in the eLaLiga, eSerie A, ePremier League, and others. This is the third season of the NBA 2K, and it has succeeded in luring in some serial esports firms like Gen.G esports, even when all the NBA franchises had previously joined the fray.

Because of these, the growth in popularity of the two titles are not surprising to many because bettors who used to wager on the traditional versions can easily relate with their gameplay.  Just bring in very strong esports settings to the entire scenario and you will see that NBA 2K and FIFA were ready to cash in on that. Through this, the tournaments are able to build some bond with the bettors and viewers of the games, which may have given it a central role in the betting world from now on.

Prior to the lockdown, which was brought about by our current situation, the value of betting in traditional basketball and football stood at €25 (£21.94) and €14 (£12.29) respectively. However, by the time the lockdowns were eased, the values stood at €21.80 (£19.13) and €12.50 (£10.97). But for the NBA 2K and FIFA, the bet value after lockdown stood at €22.50 (£19.75) and €15 (£13.16) respectively.

The Age Intervals of Bettors in Esports

The activity of punters between 26 and 35 years has hugely increased in the areas of watching and taking part in esports markets. Studies have also revealed that a major chunk of the people that bet on esports activities are people of this age bracket – it has grown from 27.63 to 43.88 in the recent past. However, when motorsport was relegated to the background, the driving seat was effectively taken by Formula One, paving the way for racing competitions between sim racers and prominent drivers, for the ensuing fan base. This simply reveals how betting and viewership has taken the center stage.

Transparency

The amount of transparency witnessed in the report of the study is rarely witnessed between the operators. Because of this, it is very surprising to see EveryMatrix, which is a supplier, reveal this much about the sector, and so all stakeholders in the sector should pounce on this. This does not just reveal how the present condition has affected sports betting, it also reveals where customers would prefer to turn to and what they would prefer to get involved in when traditional sports is out of reach or not available. It also also presents to the sportsbooks the best ways to ameliorate the negative economic effects that the absence of traditional sports will bring to their business.

The 2020 report on the State of Esports Betting is free and you can download it online.