Global Esports Betting Monitor: Q3/24
Sharpr is a newsletter breaking down the companies, technology, and trends shaping the future of internet gambling.
Global Esports Betting Monitor: Q3/24
The Global Esports Betting Monitor is a quarterly edition developed in partnership with Abios to provide a holistic snapshot of esports betting trends and activity.
All data is captured from the Kambi network, spanning more than 40 operators in regulated markets across the globe, between July 1 - September 30, 2024.1
Abios delivers an odds feed with engaging features such as same-game bet builders, player props, and flash markets. Discover more today.
Click here to view the Q1 2024 and Q2 2024 report.
Counter-Strike extends share of betting handle; Valorant maintains upward trend
Counter-Strike’s lead as the most bet-on esports extended in the third quarter, reaching 58% of total betting handle, an all-time high for the year.
The first-person shooter is moving in on other title’s historical territory, taking share from Dota 2, which saw a 3% year-over-year dip in handle.
Valorant continues to see a positive trend in its share of betting handle, netting 5% in Q3 2024 (up 2% year-over-year), following a more impressive 8% peak in Q2.
Average esports bet size is trending up
The average size of an esports wager is up 6% since 2020, Abios data reveals.
If that figure is on par with Eilers & Krejcik estimates–which pinned the average esports bet at $27 in 2H20–it would now be up nearly two bucks.
As this Gen Z-heavy audience ages up, bettors are likely to have more disposable income to spend from their entertainment wallet, which may continue to push the average bet size up.
Live betting continues to dominate the market
In-play wagers continue to play a key role in the esports segment, driving 53% of handle in Q3.
Dota 2 consistently commands the highest amount of live betting of any esport, something Niclas Sundell, Sales Director at Abios, chalks up to in-play market availability being concentrated to “tier-one” events, adding that Dota has a smaller pool of “prominent” second and third-division leagues, relative to other games.
Valorant and League of Legends came in below Dota 2, but still demonstrated a strong propensity for live betting on esports matches.
BLAST Premier drives steep boost in Q3 Counter-Strike betting
The top three Counter-Strike events collectively drove more than one-third of this quarter’s betting handle – the BLAST Premier Finals in September driving a 13% boost.
The International, the largest event on the Dota 2 esports calendar once known for its consistently record-breaking prize pools, netted 3% of betting handle in the quarter, but still contributed 36% of Dota betting in Q3.
In its inaugural event, the Esports World Cup landed on the board of most wagered-on tournaments with the Counter-Strike segment driving 3% of handle; despite a record-breaking prize pool and lofty volume of content, that figure feels slightly below expectations.
Trendspotting
📈 Trending up: Video game execs pivoting into gambling
A pair of video game executives have recently taken on high-ranking positions in the sports betting space in what could potentially become a more normal career transition, says one newly-minted CEO.
In August, DFS operator PrizePicks named former Activision Blizzard executive Mike Ybarra as chief executive officer, replacing co-founder Adam Wexler in the role. Earlier this month, the company then revealed Marcus Sanford, former chief financial officer of Blizzard Entertainment, would step in as its new CFO.
In his first interview under the PrizePicks banner, Ybarra says “there are a lot of similarities” between video games and gambling.
“There is crossover in how you think about engagement, monetization and brand preference, and free-to-play games like Fortnite or Overwatch.”
“You have tons of people coming in. How do you get more in? How do you keep that product innovation first and foremost so that people come back to you,” Ybarra added. “People here are always thinking about the people using our application and our services, and how they can exceed their expectations. I think that is exactly the mentality the video game space has.”
The crossover between gaming and gambling has been well-documented, manifesting in various different ways over the years. From video game-inspired betting products and skin gambling to creators flooding the industry, loot boxes, and much, much more.
The list goes on and on, and while some examples are more contentious than others (or just down-right inappropriate), there are clearly some things the online gambling industry can learn from gaming as younger generations age-up into that goldilocks zone. I recently penned a collection of thoughts on that here.
Wexler, who now serves as the company’s Executive Chairman, added the following last week:
"When we commenced the executive search which led us to Mike Ybarra, I wanted to look outside of the broader industry that will be at G2E,” he said. “I knew we needed to bring in someone from a comparable industry where many of the experiences could be translatable. Pulling from the video game sector, who knows how to put players first, made complete sense.
In the meantime, we’ll be watching PrizePicks closely to see how Ybarra’s worlds may intersect; the company already has a fast-growing esports vertical, for starters.
After just a few months though, the Blizzard exec thinks we’ll see more talent pivoting from video games into gambling, and vice versa.
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*Disclaimer: I am a full-time employee of Rivalry
Market data may vary depending on the source.