Do you think eSports is the new niche ?

[vitalbet]

Hello ,

As posting our first thread, we would really like to address it to the uprising market called eSports. Being one of our main targets we manage to create a really special product which was well accepted among the community of eSports punters. We would like to hear your thoughts about it. There is no doubt it did created a huge buzz all around the business.

[TheGooner]

I know hundreds of sports bettors, many also bet horses, some play poker and blackjack, a few even bet the novelty bets (will it snow? Colour of Queens Hat?) but I don't know anyone who bets on e-sports.

I know a few guys who play FIFA on Playstation or X-Box, but there is no thought / discussion of betting on it.

Are you able to tell us a bit more ?
- How big is the "community" of e-sports bettors at VitalBet? Compared to normal betting.
- Does it generate a significant percentage of turnover?
- What games are popular for betting?
- What countries are active?

[vitalbet]

There is a lot to be known about eSports. I am surprised that you haven't heard or know more about it. The market has significantly growth for the past few years. Pinnacle were the first one to offer real money wagers on eSports , and now a few years after there is websites dedicated to eSports only and have proven good turnover increasement. You can also see that the big guys have made a step in developing eSports platforms - companies like Sky bet , bet365 , Betfair , Betway. Vitalbet goal was simple - to have the most advanced eSports betting platform in the world. Creating a huge variety of markets adding all the teams logos making sure we cover as many events as possible. The next step was achieving the goal of having live in play bets on the major events and be the first one to do so.

The games that are considered most popular are - Star craft 2 , Counter Strike Global Offensive , League of Legends , Dota 2 , Heroes of the Storm , Hearthstone , World of tanks and Smite.
Games like League of legends has over 100 000 000 unique users , CSGO has over 50 000 000 , Dota 2 has over 30 000 000.

Turnover is still not as high as regular sports, but it is growing fast and constant. More and more operators getting involved with sponsorships of teams and tournaments proofs that this is something that will become big very soon. The Dota 2 final had 3 times as many viewers as the Superball in the US. The tournament had a prize of 12 000 000 $ , with the winner taking over 6 000 000 $.

There is many articles and materials to learn from if interested.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenhe...ce-to-explode/

[Aidan90]

This is really interesting. I used to play these sort of games many years ago, can't believe how big they've gotten.

Kind of makes me wish I still had the time to play - but these games take hours of time and real dedication. Ah, to be a student again!

[Voids]

I play CSGO at a good level, not anywhere near pro but I've found it pretty fun. A lot of the betting is on MOBA's which I cannot even begin to fathom.

[vitalbet]

Hi Voids ,

Our highest turnover is on CSGO. And CSGO has the most events and tournaments per season. Our definite favourite! We have created Live betting on CSGO ! And it is the most thrilling and intense game !

[TheSpry]

eSports were recently added to DraftKings as a daily fantasy offering. It's big already and seeming getting bigger. If someone out there is a video game nut and looking for a relatively untapped niche to get in on early, I'd vote on eSports being a pretty decent one.

[TheGooner]

I watched coverage of two streams on VitalBet last night. One was a platform fighting game - one was a Warcarft style layout.
Hadn't heard of either game - and only partially understood the commentary - so many "inside" references.
Definitely not my scene.

But I can see it as a good niche for someone with interest in gaming - so that they are able to generate good supporting content.

[Rostick]

ESports is definitely big. I guess it just depends how focused you are on this niche. Can you be number 1? Definitely Jackpot! If you`re just Ok, don`t know if it`s enough. All about targeting, as it`s always going to be big only in certain regions.

[Doolally]

eSports is certainly being touted as the next big thing and I'm planning a little investigation into the area as I have general gaming interests as well as gambling but I'm not sure how big a betting market there is for eSports in general. I'd think 3 or 4 of the bigger companies will try to corner whatever market there is early on and others may struggle.

[thebookiesoffers]

am i correct you lot are talking about betting on computer games? if so i've heard it all now

betting on sonic the hedgehog lol

[RacingJim]

am i correct you lot are talking about betting on computer games? if so i've heard it all now

betting on sonic the hedgehog lol

This is a total career option for some of these kids now though. Pro gamers can earn big money and people pay to go and watch other people play games. The term 'sport' is certainly stretching it to the max though. Different generation i guess, no wonder all the pubs are closing.

[thebookiesoffers]

This is a total career option for some of these kids now though. Pro gamers can earn big money and people pay to go and watch other people play games. The term 'sport' is certainly stretching it to the max though. Different generation i guess, no wonder all the pubs are closing.

i gonna put an ad on the village notice board then to see if anyone wants to come round and watch me kick some prostitutes in in grand theft auto

[vitalbet]

am i correct you lot are talking about betting on computer games? if so i've heard it all now

betting on sonic the hedgehog lol

Just to Update the games are much more advanced than Sonic the Hedgehog! And there is no Tennis or Poker tournament that pays as high as the DOTA 2 International with a prize pool of 12 000 000 $ and 1st one goes away with 6 500 000. A little proof of how big eSports are , and the organisations behind them.

[Doolally]

am i correct you lot are talking about betting on computer games? if so i've heard it all now

You've heard it all now. Right, I'm off to dust down Manic Miner.

[Muppet]

As someone who has enjoyed video games for a few decades now, I think trying to call video games a "sport" is ridiculous. Except maybe those dancing rhythm games. You could not pay me to watch other people play games when I could just go play and have fun myself. Clearly I'm in the the wrong culture or generation! Anyway...

From what I have read and heard from people in the know, match fixing and tanking is rife as it is so easy to do. I wouldn't go near it with my money, even if I was interested. eg...
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...ixing_ring.php

[xecutable]

My old domain name used to rank well on most esport keywords associated with starcraft 2, league of legends, dota 2. Few KEY concepts that went wrong were these:

- Primary markets are US & South Korea, both unable to deposit due to various reasons.
- Low player value, probably due to the fact many of them people are college kids, betting small time.

The only other region interested in those is the Scandinavian, but never had much traffic from there. Back then Pinnacle was the only brand offering such services, and they were really struggling to find a way to allow South Koreans make deposits.

Digibet was their competitor, have never worked with them, but they went all out on signing deals with ocelote a professional league of legends player and opening their page now says "Digibet closed its esports section".

So nothing new or innovating and at this point not worth investing your time or resources as many books have realized. At least not until the 2 major markets are unable to register or deposit or both.

[vitalbet]

As someone who has enjoyed video games for a few decades now, I think trying to call video games a "sport" is ridiculous. Except maybe those dancing rhythm games. You could not pay me to watch other people play games when I could just go play and have fun myself. Clearly I'm in the the wrong culture or generation! Anyway...

From what I have read and heard from people in the know, match fixing and tanking is rife as it is so easy to do. I wouldn't go near it with my money, even if I was interested. eg...
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...ixing_ring.php

It is called sport simply because the structure of one team is very close to what a sport team looks like. Most of the teams are large organizations with big surrounding of sponsors , having coaches , captains even training camps.

With regards the match fixing issue , we have also heard and investigated some of the most famous cases , but have never faced a situation like that for the last year. Many of the tournament organizers have taken this issue very seriously working together with bookies which does offer bets on eSports and banning and prohibiting teams accused in such activity. As mentioned above in the topic , eSports has exploded in the last year or so ,same as the attendance on actual tournaments. The prizes of which are very high , so it is important to secure the thrill for viewers fans and even punters.

[vitalbet]

My old domain name used to rank well on most esport keywords associated with starcraft 2, league of legends, dota 2. Few KEY concepts that went wrong were these:

- Primary markets are US & South Korea, both unable to deposit due to various reasons.
- Low player value, probably due to the fact many of them people are college kids, betting small time.

The only other region interested in those is the Scandinavian, but never had much traffic from there. Back then Pinnacle was the only brand offering such services, and they were really struggling to find a way to allow South Koreans make deposits.

Digibet was their competitor, have never worked with them, but they went all out on signing deals with ocelote a professional league of legends player and opening their page now says "Digibet closed its esports section".

So nothing new or innovating and at this point not worth investing your time or resources as many books have realized. At least not until the 2 major markets are unable to register or deposit or both.

From our own experience I can tell you that :
Obviously we haven't approached US and SK , as being restricted countries. We have found most of our turnover on CS:GO which interest is mainly European. Countries like Russia , Germany , Netherlands , Poland , Czech and Ukraine has shown high interest on wagering on CS:GO. Since we launched it hasn't stopped growing in both registrations and turnover. Advertisement methods though are quite different than the what we are used to from Sportsbook and Casino promotions. New ways of approaching customers are created , such as having popular streamers promoting your brand and announcing promotions and even explaining how to place a bet. Creating giveaways of rare items of the following games. Sponsoring tournaments , youtube channels and other social media groups and pages.
You are correct about the audience , but not only college kids place wagers , we have customers above the age of 30 , who are regular punters on eSports. The need of increasing the max bet options was changing every week due to the high demand.

We understand it is something far away from a traditional sport , but it is what sooner or later will be an integral part of all Sportsbooks , as many of the big names taking big steps in the last few months in developing eSports betting products. From my experience seeing those games grow through out the years form playing in local game clubs to have World Championships and audience 3 times than the NFL Superball final , is telling that it will only grow and would not settle as new games are being developed in more competitive formats to have even bigger audiences and fan bases.

[TheSpry]

I agree that calling them a sport is laughable. I'm down for the playing of the video games for sure, but gambling on their outcomes and picking daily fantasy teams to compete in tourneys is not something I see being really popular anytime soon. Maybe if you are passionate about the niche you could invest those energies in it but I don't feel like it's the next huge thing.