The Future of eSports Betting

With the global eSports audience projected to surpass 641 million in 2025, there has never been a stronger time for the industry. This includes eSports, plus complementary ventures such as eSports betting.

But how is the future of eSports betting expected to unfold? Currently, eSports fans can visit a plethora of popular betting sites to make wagers on their favorite teams and games they play, and even watch the action live.

There is no denying that compared to online casinos and traditional sports betting, the industry certainly has room to grow. Below, we look at things that eSports betting sites need to do to secure their future and continue to experience growth.

More consistent coverage for a wider range of games

If you look at the market coverage on popular sportsbooks, you can usually find 20+ sports including more obscure sports like volleyball, handball, and curling. Most eSports betting sites still have a limited range of markets, often concentrating on:

• League of Legends.
• Counter Strike.
• Valorant.
• DOTA 2.
• Apex Legends.
• Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
• NBA2K.

In addition, betting markets are often confined to the top tournaments only, the CS2 Major Championships, for example. It is considered highly likely that eSports betting will develop in 2025 and a broader range of games and tournaments will be covered. The sports betting sites will expand beyond the most popular esports games and look at new ones to try and attract a wider range of customers.

Improved betting variety for individual matches

One area that eSports betting falls short compared to traditional sports betting, and that will improve in 2025 and beyond is the variety of betting markets available. With eSports games like Valorant, you can typically find:

• Moneyline (overall match winner).
• Round winner.
• Futures bets on tournament/league winners.

This is OK, but you only have to look at an NBA game on a sportsbook to see the difference. Look at any match, like the Nuggets vs Celtics, for example. You can find a heap of prop bets including individual player stats, team stats, over/unders and scores per match quarter.

The sportsbooks who offer eSports betting should look at implementing something similar and adding prop bets like these:

• Individual round scores.
• Longest killstreak.
• Map scores.
• Units used.
• Individual player scores.
• Number of assists.

A few sites already have these features, but the quantity, quality, and scope could certainly be improved. Betting sites now have a stable foundation to develop from, and it is sure to be one of the areas they will concentrate on.

Greater incorporation and cooperation with sports betting

It is expected that more traditional sports betting sites will develop their eSports betting sections. Some sites already feature eSports betting, but more often than not their eSports markets are merged into the sports betting section and can be difficult to find.

As the eSports industry flourishes and continues to expand, these multi-discipline sites will realize the potential value and revenue that can be generated. As a result, the eSports markets will be moved into a dedicated section and given as much importance and features as traditional sports betting and online casinos.

Customers will then benefit from sites that offer everything - whether it’s exploring strategies for betting on Fortnite, or extended betting markets for the NBA and European Soccer.

Greater promotional variety

When you look at online casinos and sportsbooks you can see the quality and variety of the promotions they offer. There is typically a high-value welcome bonus for new customers, plus regular promotions for existing customers including free spins, free bets, and cashback.

Comparatively, we think eSports betting sites have to play catchup in this area. You can usually find a welcome bonus, but the sites sometimes lack frequent promotions for existing customers. Loyalty or VIP schemes can also be scarce.

If the sites want to keep the same customers coming back, and attract new esports bettors, expanding the range and frequency of promotions is vital.

eSports betting is on the up!

As the eSports industry continues to grow, eSports betting is expected to follow a similar trajectory. Looking at the correlation between traditional sports and esports betting - when one succeeds, so does the other.

Change and prosperity will also be hastened if eSports betting is supported by more teams and tournaments. As already witnessed by the prominence of sports betting sponsorships within professional sports like the English Premier League and the growth boost this has created for sportsbooks.

From the perspective of the betting sites themselves, aside from promotion and cooperation with teams and tournaments, they need to look at bolstering their offering by improving market coverage, bet variety, and the quality of their marketing.