Earning big money with eSports - is that possible?

eSport divides the nation. On the one hand there are the under 30-year-olds who know team names, tables and scores by heart and chat about the last moves of their heroes or even bet on their abilities. And then there are those who are just wondering what this article is about.

It's about eSports, the professional form of video game, and what opportunities there are to make money with it.

eSportspeople now fill huge arenas

If you had told a die-hard sports fan and passionate Toto player in 1990 that it would one day be possible to become a millionaire by playing video games and even make money by betting on those games, you would at best have received pitying looks. Today, 30 years later, so-called eSports turn over billions worldwide, while the best players have long been millionaires and change teams for transfer fees that are otherwise only known from second division football.

eSports events now fill huge arenas and not only in Korea or Japan, where the best of the scene are celebrated like folk heroes. The Lanxess-Arena in Cologne, the Barclaycard-Arena in Hamburg or the Mercedes-Benz-Arena in Berlin are also filled to the last place when the top gamers are in the final competitions in Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or League of Legends measures against each other.

Online casinos discover esports betting

The trend is relatively new that more and more online casinos are now interested in the eScene and, in addition to gimmicks, as with some of the slot games, also offer betting on the outcome of eSport events. Detailed lists of providers who have recognized the signs of the times and have included eSport betting in their program can be found on selected casino portals such as Slots.com.de. If you click through these lists to the respective provider, you can be sure that you are dealing with a reputable partner.

A billion dollar market

The sums that are played out or earned are gigantic. A look at the top 5 esports prize money makes the viewer dizzy:

1. Dota 2: around $ 172 million
2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive: around $ 66 million
3. League of Legends: around $ 59 million
4. StarCraft II: approximately $ 28 million
5. Fortnite: around $ 19 million

Sports games like Fifa, Rocket League or Madden NFL are more modest. The prize money here is between $ 1 million (Madden) and $ 4 million (Rocket League).

The top five players worldwide have each made between $ 3.4 million and $ 4.1 million playing video games. The top earner comes from Germany and is called Kuro Takhasomi alias KuroKy.

Opportunities for hobby players too

Naturally, the air at the top is very thin and therefore reserved for the best without exception. If you can't or don't want to train several hours a day, want to be available for advertising appointments and also don't want to submit to all the other obligations that come with the job, you shouldn't even think about becoming a professional gamer.

But there are also plenty of opportunities for less professional players to make money with eSports. If you have enough followers on the popular streaming platform Twitch, for example, you can earn a few euros by integrating advertising. In addition, there is the possibility of winning sponsors who not only contribute financially to the project, but can also contribute one or the other part of the material. And last but not least, there is also the prize money that can be won in many small tournaments.

Conclusion

The eSports scene is young, wild and a billion-dollar market. Even if you are not one of the top players and earn millions, you can earn one or two euros with eSports, be it as an amateur player, streamer or when betting in the online casino. Experts estimate that the global eSports betting market will be worth around 30 billion US dollars by 2020. If you don't want to cut a thick slice of it, it's your own fault.