Why it's time to embrace esports

The widespread cancellation of elite sporting events across the globe has led to some betting operators issuing grim profit warnings, while their customers scramble around searching for something left to bet on.

But there’s only so much Russian table tennis and Japanese baseball you can stomach. And while the sudden surge in interest in these fringe sports is likely to be temporary, we at Champion Sports see a trend that has some real potential staying power.

According to games market analyst NewZoo, the global esports audience is expected to hit nearly 500 million in 2020. These predictions were made before the disruption to sporting events, and we suggest these figures will need to be revised by a big margin.

One of the consequences of this crisis has been a huge surge in interest in competitive video gaming, and this is not merely because bettors have run out of things to bet on.

Physical athletes who are, like the rest of us, largely confined to their homes, are channelling their competitive instincts through esports. They are encouraged by sports leagues and bodies, eager to retain fan engagement during the coronavirus crisis.

Formula One led the way in quickly creating an online esports alternative after cancelling its races. Video game versions of every race of the season are being live-streamed across Twitch and YouTube, with real auto-racing stars controlling the consoles.

Wolves and West Ham took to FIFA 20 to slug it out after the Premier League was postponed. Meanwhile, more than one million total viewers tuned in to La Liga’s charity FIFA 20 Challenge esports tournament on the weekend of March 20.

It’s not just sport-based games that are seeing their viewership and participation balloon.

Day one of the ESL Pro League, which features Counter-Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO), reported 146,000 viewers, a 27% increase from last year.

On the same day, March 15, games platform Steam recorded an all-time record for concurrent users, with 20 million online and 6.2 million in-game.

According to research company Sensor Tower, there were huge surges in downloads of esports streaming platform Twitch in March, especially in areas hard hit by the virus. Greece, Italy and Spain reported week-over-week increases of up to 50%.

It’s clear that a major shift is underway.

All of this means gambling firms had better learn to know their Dota 2 from their League of Legends – and quickly.

Esports has been filling arenas and edging towards the mainstream for some time, but this really could be its moment. While land-based competitions have been cancelled, delivering a short-term hit to the esports industry, social isolation is fueling a new audience, much of which is likely to hang around once normality returns.

For esports teams, orgs and platforms, there is a real opportunity to harness this new enthusiasm and keep their new digital viewers engaged when we emerge from the crisis.

Betting will only increase engagement and, in the meantime, expect to see a big increase in gambling companies and many other firms sponsoring purely digital events during social isolation.

The message for the gambling industry is clear: embrace new trends and diversify your offerings because you never know when you might need them.

Some operators have been left horribly exposed to economic shock because of their over-reliance on traditional sports betting.

The industry has known for many years that its future was somehow intertwined with esports as it sought to engage the hard-to-reach millennial, but it wasn’t always clear exactly how.

Now, it is – and those that failed to embrace esports when they had the chance because they believed it was still too “fringe” may rue their decision.

Mark Robson, CEO and co-founder of betting platform provider Champion Sports offers a flexible approach to creating a product tailored for operators’ business needs. He previously held the position of head of igaming at Isle of Man Government between 2015 and 2017. Mark is a keen poker player. Champion Sports is a young platform that just entered the US market with a focus on speed, reliability and UX.