Esports arena: The road to success in 2021

Despite everything that happened in 2020, esports thrived. Or maybe it was because of all the things happening last year. One way or another, it’s hard to find someone who didn’t hear the word ‘esports’ thrown around.

But it will not translate into success for betting operators just because of the hype, unless they adapt to the esports audience. With that in mind, here are some predictions for the esports betting market in 2021.

Separation of esports betting

Esports betting will find itself in a separate location on sports betting websites. The differences between the needs of esports punters and traditional sports punters are clear. Mandatory streaming, Twitch chat, statistics and transparency; those are just some of the elements that esports fans require.

How to achieve the separation? Either via a separate tab or even esports-specific betting platform integrated into the betting site. Operators are coming close to realising that they are now serving two groups of customers. Once they adapt to the new situation, they will see drastic changes in volumes.

Content is the king

The key to success in 2021 will be differentiation from the rest of the market. As with traditional sports betting, it’s not enough to have the same offer as everyone else. Offering the same basic esports coverage as everyone and expecting any success is naïve.

Operators will need to provide constant live coverage with streams and something to constantly bet on. Esports betting is very close to casino products in a sense that it’s fast-paced entertainment. You bet on the pistol round in CS:GO, wait for the round to play out, take out winnings, place them on a map winner, and so on… Good luck trying to keep customers interested with markets being closed half of the match.

Esports-only brands

Seeing the success of esports betting operators, some major operators will launch their own esports brands. They have the resources, marketing strength, developers and experience to make it work. One big eye opener from last year was the volume peak during traditional sports shutdown. The second eye opener will be the release of marketing data from major esports competitions.

SPORTFIVE released their study on the audience of LEC – the European League of Legends league. The average age of fans is 23-years-old. The share of young fans watching LEC is stunning – over 95%. Compared to traditional sports, having their share of young fans only between 20-30%, it shows how huge this gap in the market is.

Market consolidation

My last prediction is more long-term. I see the esports betting ecosystem going through a phase of consolidation. We have seen the esports landscape has gone through major growth from infancy stage.

Everyone now understands how difficult it is to develop complex esports betting algorithms. The raw number of data inputs that we have to analyse and check each second is massive. The betting market is coming to realise that there is not enough space for everyone trying to make their own esports odds and trading. Compared to football, you have lower betting volumes, but much more complex problems to solve. The market will solve this by consolidating sooner or later.

While 2020 caught many operators with their trousers down, they will learn their lesson. Some have already started to rethink their approach to esports. That process will continue, especially with no clear date of getting back to normal life. Combined with the further generational surge of esports fans, 2021 brings a lot of opportunities to grab.