Oddin enters U.S. market through Esports Entertainment Group Partnership
Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and betting
Hi everyone, Cody here, and greetings from Georgia.
I’m writing to you from the road as I head down south for a few days of R&R and can’t help shake this digital nomad feeling I’ve heard so much about.
We’re supposed to be taking the week off, but I wanted to check in this week with a brief issue on what’s happening before coasting off into the sunset.
In this week’s edition of Sharpr…
Oddin enters U.S. market through Esports Entertainment Group Partnership
Esports betting top of mind at ICE London
Latest news, headlines, and data.
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Oddin enters U.S. market through Esports Entertainment Group Partnership
Esports odds provider Oddin has entered the U.S. market through a partnership with Esports Entertainment Group.
The Czech Republic-based company has successfully submitted a gaming license application to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, and will now be operational stateside for the first time through an agreement with EEG.
Oddin will provide esports odds feeds for EEG’s betting platform, VIE.gg.
EEG recently completed its “soft play” phase in New Jersey, removing certain limitations imposed by the NJDGE on its esports wagering platform.
Oddin has been seen taking strong strides in the years, inking several commercial deals with operators across the industry and from different regions, including Sports Information Services, BetMais, and the Center of Betting Vietnam.
A hallmark agreement arrived in March when the company announced a strategic partnership with Betway, one of the market leaders in esports betting. Esports Insider Co-founder Sam Cooke described the move as “a major signal of intent” from Oddin and certainly a great show of faith from one of the most established bookmakers in the space, too.
🦈 Sharpr take: Remember, Esports Entertainment Group estimated its VIE.gg platform would generate up to $2 million in revenue in its first year of operation—that’s a lot of money for a platform that only offers esports wagers.
Oddin clearly has a competitive product its offering partners, and its integration with EEG should prove to benefit the company and its platform. There’s a feeling esports bettors are particular about their wagering experience, and not having enough action to keep them engaged is going to be a big issue. The partnership between Oddin and EEG should help avoid that. More markets and better action also means more insights into the esports betting consumer in the U.S. over the next year that we can attempt to take and learn from as EEG takes initial steps in the Garden State.
Esports betting top of mind at ICE London
ICE 2022 is underway at the ExCel London, and esports betting is top of mind for many folks in the audience.
The gambling expo has once again brought back its ICE Esports Arena, a track marketed as the “most complete B2B esports learning experience” and sponsored by UltraPlay, Esports Charts, and IMG.
UltraPlay Head of Trading Peter Ivanov fielded questions during his session on whether esports betting was gearing up to make its mark on the global gambling industry or simmer out as a passing fad.
Conversations with operators and stakeholders on esports betting has evolved over the years, Ivanov explained. From a highly unregulated space once incontestably linked to skin betting to its present, real-money form today with a level of promise behind it.
“We were trying to work with sportsbook providers and show them what they can actually offer to their customers and how esports betting is a very different thing compared to what they have at the moment.”
More to come today that we’ll be keeping an eye on.
🗞 In the news
Intema Solutions, owners of esports betting platform LOOT.BET, has rebranded to React Gaming Group to reflect its activities across the esports and igaming sectors.
Real Luck Group–operators of esports betting platform Luckbox–unveiled a partnership with online casino software supplier Microgaming at ICE London 2022.
ESIC Global Esports Summit is taking place today at ExCeL London with publishers, team owners, data suppliers, brands, and many more that will be sure to kick up some excellent dialogue.
📈 By the numbers
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s MPL ID Season 9 topped viewership charts this month with 1.73M viewers, and League of Legends European and Korean leagues followed.
There will be 29.6M monthly esports viewers in 2022, up 11.5% from 2021, according to Insider Intelligence.