E-athletes switch from racing to casinos - Reason for better earnings

Back in the early 2000s, children wanted to be firefighters and teachers. At the start of the second decade of the millennium, the most popular dream jobs included e-athlete.

Compared to this, the mass exodus of e-athletes from the playing field seems bewildering. What is happening in e-sports?

Casino gambling does not pay the bills

Athletes who have switched from e-sports to casino competitions have generally not done so because of casino gambling.

The vast majority of gambling is a game of chance where winning has nothing to do with skill. There are two options: win or lose.

Only the casino always wins, because it takes a slice of every bet. In Estonian casinos, for example, the house's share can be as much as 15% of each bet (i.e. 15 cents per euro).

However, this does not take away from the fact that every now and then a player gets lucky at a casino. The biggest online casino wins have been in the tens of millions of euros.

If it's a particularly fast casino, the jackpot can be in your account in minutes - perhaps even tax-free, depending on the licence.

However, the uncertainties and randomness of gambling winnings are such that it is not a good idea for an e-sportsman to bank his future on them.

E-sportsmen are attracted to casinos by streaming - the potential winnings are a plus.

Streaming casinos and eSports games pays off

Many athletes who have retired from electronic sports have turned to streaming.

This means that you can watch their casino games live on Twitch, for example.

Of course, strippers play other games than casino games. The games can be the same ones they built their previous sporting careers on.

Some of the most popular games include:

• Fortnite
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Apex Legends
• Counter-Strike

A stripper can earn much more than an e-athlete.

Income can be built up from a variety of sources, including advertising revenue and sponsorship income. For example, a sponsor could be a gambling company that wants visibility for its casinos.

E-sportspeople are admired, but this may not be reflected in their income. This can lead, for example, to the manipulation of e-sport competitions.

A few years ago, a case of match-fixing was reported in Singapore, which led to imprisonment and bans.

The chain of events was triggered by a $1000 gambling debt. The fact that well-known players cannot afford to pay this amount of money, other than through dishonest activities, speaks volumes about the income level of e-sports players.

E-sports careers remain short

Many eSports stars have changed careers in their early twenties.

Some of the stars who have recently retired include:

• Tyson "TenZ" Ngo
• Matthew "super" DeLis
• Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag
• Brandon "Seagull" Larned
• Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng
• Michael "shroud" Grzesiek
• Seth "Scump" Abner
• Tarik "tarik" Celik

According to Ilta-Sanomie, the esports industry is not only suffering from athletes dropping out of the game, but also from financial problems.

As it is difficult to keep profitable, leagues have been shut down and companies have gone bankrupt.

As a stripper and content producer, it is much easier to make money - especially if you already have a ready-made fan base.

For example, Tyson "TenZ" Ngo had 4.1 million Twitch followers and 2.3 million YouTube followers when he quit.

Ngo's last live broadcasts before announcing his retirement from sport had an average of 15,000 simultaneous viewers.

Such viewer and follower numbers make it easy to strike lucrative partnerships.

The future of e-sports at stake?

The mass exodus of competitive players is also reflected in the number of followers. Instead of becoming an e-athlete, young people have started to dream of a career in content production and streaming.

According to Ilta-Sanomie, this can also be seen in Finland. Many players who have the potential for a competitive career prefer to stream.

This also allows players to continue playing in rural areas or wherever they happen to live.

Becoming a professional sportsman would almost certainly mean moving to the city, if not abroad.

The less interest there is in becoming a racing player, the more uncertain the future of electronic racing looks.

However, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions.

It is possible that players will start to want to become competitive again - even if only for a short period - to improve their chances of success as streamers.

Summary

The income of a stripper can eclipse the earnings of an e-athlete. As a stripper, it is possible to earn more money with less effort and stress, and that's not all.

Strippers can set their own working hours and the content of their working days - things that are not possible as a racing player.

The lack of control is something that predisposes you to burnout. Indeed, burnout has become an occupational disease among e-athletes.

Several e-athletes have recently quit and become streamers. This trend can also be seen among promising player talents from all over Finland.

The loss of interest in sporting careers and the closure of leagues and bankruptcies due to financial difficulties are likely to undermine the prospects for e-sports.