Esports Finding Success with an Unexpected Partner

$40 million. This was the prize pool for The International 10 in 2021, a DOTA 2 tournament featuring some of the best Esports athletes this game has to offer. The prize pool was a paltry $1.6 million in 2012 in comparison to the amount shared by competitors in 2021, with the vast amount taken home by winners TSpirit. The prize pool is one indicator of the rise of Esports in recent years, backed up by the 2.7 million viewers of the event worldwide on streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.

However, there is another channel where Esports have also found a home and a thriving partnership that might not have been expected by many. 

iGaming, Assemble!

While Esports have been collecting followers in their droves over the past decade, other digital forms of entertainment have been enjoying their own steady rise in the last few years and making full use of the fertility of the online space.

Online casinos and online sports betting are two activities maximizing the tools and opportunities provided by the current digital movement and their popularity is also spreading to markets across the globe. Each of these iGaming branches are strong individually, but since online casinos have grown in recognition, Esports and iGaming enthusiasts in general have witnessed the collective capabilities of these activities. 

Popularity through Betting

The way online casinos are able to help drive the growing popularity of Esports is through the sports betting arm that most online casinos possess. Successful ventures have worked out the synergy between casino play and sports betting and with Esports joining the ranks of mainstream sports such as football, horse racing, NFL, and NBA, the offering of Esports betting markets on games such as DOTA, Call of Duty, and FIFA is reaching out to a larger audience and appealing to online casino players that stumble across the sports betting section.

Shared Digital DNA

The common factor between Esports, online casino, and online sports betting is the shared digital footprint they leave. Electronic devices and activities in the digital world are being used by people around the world more than ever before, and with technology and software keeping pace with the raft of new smartphones and tablets being released, more people of all ages are spending a larger amount of time in the online world. 

This is music to the ears of Esports and the ability to thrive in the current era offers us a window into the potential for Esports, and their partnering entertainment avenues, to grow exponentially in the future. Esports are not solely dependent on online casinos of course, but the success of online casinos and online bookmakers can contribute significantly to the continued growth of Esports. 

And with online casinos expecting virtual reality technology to bolster the live dealer games and thousands of online slots games with bonus buy features, the traffic bursting through the online casino doors is expected to increase. Many of these operators can be found at the Daily Star and the online sports betting sections found on these providers might have a trick up their own innovative sleeve.

Streaming to Take Esports Betting to the Next Level

Those in the Esports industry have not got to where they are now by resting on their laurels. To maintain a positive trajectory, those involved in the industry need to continue to innovate with their collaborative partners. And within this idea lies the potential next step for Esports betting in particular. There are already plenty of influencers and official streams of events and tournaments but incorporating them onto online sports betting platforms to compliment the live betting feature could add another interactive dimension to following Esports.

We will surely see and read more about Esports in the near future. Partnerships with globally recognised companies such as Red Bull and Microsoft give Esports and the teams and players greater exposure. But its success means there are other unexpected places to find Esports.

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