Esports arena: Time to embrace Gen Z

John is on it, Dignitas are playing Astralis in CS:GO, they are down 5-14, but he knows they can still win. He is ready to place a $50 bet on a comeback. Unfortunately, he cannot bet, the lines are suspended. He has been waiting for more than 15 minutes to bet now, and there has been no other side market to bet on in the meantime. Finally, the winner’s market reopens but Dignitas has already made a comeback. The value to bet on his team is already gone. This was not fun. He will reconsider betting on esports again in the future.

It is sad; but the above scenario is an experience 90% of sportsbooks provide to their esports bettors. Why so?

What’s so tricky?

Esports is a different breed compared to legacy sports. To have the lines correct, there are a couple of prerequisites that must be in place. It is essential to have the right infrastructure built for digital sports as it is extremely fast (CS:GO) and extremely complex (Dota 2). There are different expertise required for different esports titles, so you cannot just let football traders observe a Dota 2 game.

One also needs flexible data models since the meta game is constantly shifting through patches. Finally, you need access to official data since many of the streams on Twitch are delayed by two to five minutes. It is impossible for operators to provide accurate odds while watching what happened two minutes ago. Otherwise, losses are guaranteed.

These prerequisites lead us to a strategic decision that has to be made: are you going to build all these competencies in-house, or are you going to rely on the trustful partner with the right expertise and truly engaging esports offering?

Why offer esports?

Speaking to multiple leading brands, all of them identify esports as an important vertical to have, mainly to attract the younger generation and having additional content.

According to data from various bookmakers, esports bettors are around 25-years-old, while bettors from other sports move in a range of 32-37-years-old. Gen Z users, who are born in the mid-late 1990s, are considered to be the largest generation of esports fans. As they grow up, we can only expect that in the next five to 10 years the interest in esports betting will continue to grow substantially. In addition to that, esports has proven to guarantee stable content, even at times of crisis. It was not a magic pill, but it was at least something.

Slow acceptance

The chicken-egg problem: operators do not feel that esports is a significant part of their offering. A key reason for this is a combination of minimal marketing efforts to attract esports bettors and an underperforming betting engagement. With this approach, bettors are not motivated to stay with the operator and therefore volume is low. This creates a vicious cycle. The volume may then be directed to unregulated bookmakers.

Senior management just does not get it: “It is still video gaming, why should we embrace it?” I would suggest listening to kids and people around you that are 15-25-years-old. Is it more likely they speak about CS:GO, and Fortnite or whether Manchester United are mounting a title challenge? Do they watch Premier League or their favourite streamer on Twitch? I leave that up to you.

Big guns

There is a clear understanding of esports betting’s potential. For example, start-up Midnite has raised a seven-figure sum from Entain and Betfair. So, it is unquestionable whether or not the big guns see potential there. It can be rather a question of flexibility to navigate within the ever evolving esports ecosystem and space to make errors. Esports is still evolving, so without making errors, you will not hit a home run. However, you probably do not want to make major errors as a publicly listed company and there is still space for acquisition later on.

Where does this leave us?

Nobody knows yet, what that home run would look like. You have Midnite and Luckbox aiming for esports-centric UX, Rivalry with betting academy or Esports Entertainment Group building the entire ecosystem, including tournament organisers and partnering up with sport brands. Only time will tell which strategy was the best.

One thing is sure though: the esports betting experience needs to be truly engaging, otherwise your sportsbook will keep losing potential clients like John. And as the younger demographic in your clientele grows, John is going to become your main target. Engage him now!

Marek Suchar, head of partnerships at Oddin.gg, started his career in financial services where he held senior and managerial roles in various areas including business development and sales. His passion for esports brought him to the industry, specifically to the betting vertical. Leveraging the newest technologies at Oddin, Suchar aims to significantly improve the engagement within esports betting and build partnerships that will shape the future of esports and esports betting.