Interest in eSports keeps on growing on a global scale. Currently, eSports betting is one of the hottest trends among people who love video games and gambling at the same time.
Shortly after the appearance of video games in which players pit their wits against each other, the idea of betting on who will emerge victorious started to loom. The first video game competition for an actual material prize took place at Stanford University in October 1972. In 1980, the game competitions garnered a great deal of attention after Atari held the Space Invaders Championship. Unfortunately, competitive video gaming experienced a major slowdown due to the lack of quality control.
Fast-forward to today, the eSports market was valued at nearly $1 billion, marking a significant year-on-year growth, according to an article in SportingPedia. Some of the reasons why eSports has exploded in popularity include the abundance of games as well as their quality and accessibility. The SportingPedia article said: “The rising popularity of eSports stimulated licensed sports betting operators to offer eSports betting services. Traditional eSports betting and skin betting are the two aspects of eSports betting. Traditional eSports betting is more straightforward and easy-to-understand as players wager real money on a given outcome. Bookmakers who offer eSports betting handicap all possible outcomes to make different bets worth the attention. The main advantage associated with traditional eSports betting is that players are well aware of the amount of money they risk.”
“Industry insiders believe that the future will open new horizons for the eSports industry development. New games with better quality will appear on the scene to cater to the constantly growing demand for new more engaging games. Some experts even consider that artificial intelligence will also find its place in eSports. In addition to that, more jurisdictions will regulate the eSports betting market. Recognizing the big potential of the eSports industry, a growing number of casinos started to accept wagers for eSports competitions. In 2018, Luxor Casino made the headlines after it was announced that the casino is ready to open the first purpose-built eSports arena on the Las Vegas Strip. We expect that this trend will continue and other land-based casinos will build such an arena.”