Even though esports is still in a formative phase, the market is snowballing – having become the ‘sport of choice’ for operators throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
For BETER, the increased interest in esports presented a myriad of new opportunities to expand the reach of ESportsBattle.
Let the ESportsBattle commence
The ESportsBattle platform is powered by BETER. This means that BETER provides odds, non-stop stable live streaming of the platform’s esports content with minimal latency and high-precision fast incident and data feed.
Since the beginning of 2020, BETER noted that ESportsBattle has significantly increased the number of monthly events that are sought after by bookmakers, with views also rising from 24 million in 2020 to 30 million per month now.
“A significant part of our business and product is our esports feed, trading of global world tournaments,” explained Alex Barkar, CEO BETER.
“The coverage we provide is one of the best in the world. In my assessment, we are among the five top providers in the world. BETER makes 15,000 ESportsBattle events per month ‘beterable,’ i.e., provides live streaming, live data, and odds for these tournaments, and covers 18,000+ international, national and local esports events per year.”
So as we make our way through 2021, esports is still on an upwards trajectory of growth. Last year, worldwide revenues generated in the esports market amounted to $950 million according to Statista. This figure is expected to grow even further in the coming years, with the market expected to generate almost $1.6 billion 2024.
These revenues include those from betting, prize pools and tournaments, but the majority is generated through sponsorships which brought in an estimated $641 million in 2020.
BETER powers esports tournaments
Since 2019, BETER has been powering and providing numerous esports events of ESportsBattle, which includes eFootball, CS:GO, eBasketball and eIce hockey.
BETER believes that ESportsBattle can help enhance sportsbooks’ performance by providing ‘fast and profitable esports content’. These fast, commercial 24/7 tournaments attract the attention of bettors in more than 150 countries being featured on more than 100 sportsbooks across the globe.
CS:GO is one of the most popular esports disciplines in the world
It’s hard to discuss esports without having a quick foray into the world of CS:GO – one of the major esports covered as part of BETER’s ESportsBattle.
Looking at some of the figures from 2020, CS:GO topped the Steam chart for the peak number of concurrent players on Twitch, reaching more than 1.3 million concurrent players. Meanwhile in 2021, the number of weekly hours of CS:GO content viewed on Twitch reached 16 million.
“Console sports are not an alternative to CS:GO,” said Barkar. “Within the company, we do not divide events into classic sports and esports. We distinguish between traditional sports, console sports, and esports. These are three different directions with entirely different audiences. And for each sport or esport, there are no less than three different types of viewers: players, fans, bettors.
“With classical sports, everything is clear: these are people who just love sports. Everything is a little bit different in esports, it’s all about young guys who grew up in the era of CS:GO, Dota 2, Valorant, etc. Therefore, this young audience of gamers has generated a demand for such content among bettors.
“ESportsBattle CS:GO provides day & night consistent tournament series, live analytics for each map, and spectacular esports content in addition to dynamic matches and day-to-day no-lags live streams from 6:00 pm to 4:00 аm UTC. Our platform holds 2,700+ events of three CS:GO formats (1×1, 2×2, 5×5) monthly and provides pre-match and live markets for each event.”
eFootball – what could be BETER?
Among the most popular ESportsBattle titles is eFootball. During 2020, the number of ESportsBattle eFootball tournament views skyrocketed, rising from four million in June to 22 million in December. Moreover, the total number of matches in 2020 exceeded 225,000 – compared to 63,000 events in 2019.
Barkar continued: “I guess each of us has played football on the console at least once in our lifetime. The events that we create do not contradict real sports and do not pretend to replace them. They complement real sports.
“Earlier, it seemed that betting on esports has a seasonal character or is a one-off character. But we have noticed the opposite.
“Both the rules of the game and the length of the match in classic sports have not changed for years, and not everyone is interested in watching 90 minutes of football. Let’s say a person has only 15 minutes and wants to place a bet on the whole match. Watch it, check the result and get a quick calculation of a bet.”
High-quality eBasketball streams
Joining eFootball on the podium of ESportsBattle’s most popular products is eBasketball. Hosting more than 1300 matches each month, ESportsBattle also produces live analytics for each match as well as 17 markets per event.
“The critical role of this content is to be an option during the absence of major sports events on the bookmaker’s website,” Barkar explained. “When the bettor is waiting for the next Champions League or NBA match, he can switch to an online casino and play some slots or take advantage of fast, clear, and dynamic console content.”
eIce hockey competitions
In line with classic sports, the esports variation of Ice Hockey has proven itself to be one of the most popular disciplines among console games.
For ESportsBattle, betting operators and their users can gain access to regular ice hockey tournaments in HUT mode streamed with high-quality & precise results, combined with live analytics for each match.
This format, BETER highlighted, includes more than 1,000 games each month, in addition to daily games that take place from 4:00 am to 2:00 pm UTC.
Even BETER times ahead for ESportsBattle
As the sporting schedule returns to some degree of normality, BETER has noted that the last 12 months have shone a light on its products – particularly on the benefits for sportsbooks.
With this in mind, the esports data provider has committed to keeping its “finger on the pulse of the needs of customers”.
Barkar concluded: “We develop an efficient schedule, constantly test and add new disciplines, formats and modes, and provide marketing support for events.
“We already cooperate with Fortuna, EveryMatrix and bet365. In addition, we work not only directly with sportsbooks but also with platforms such as Sportradar. This company distributes our events all over the world.”