Unikrn, Team Liquid partner to tap Brazilian market
Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and betting
Hi everyone, Cody here.
I’d be remiss not to mention one of the biggest events on the gambling industry calendar is happening next week in my backyard for iGaming NEXT NYC. I won’t be at the conference myself, but I’m thinking of making my way into Manhattan around that time. If any of my readers or peers are interested in meeting up, drop me a line!
Anyway, onto your Friday morning read.
In this week’s edition of Sharpr…
Unikrn, Team Liquid partner to tap Brazilian market.
SIS Content VP says esports betting is on the rise.
Abios releases esports betting industry report.
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Unikrn, Team Liquid partner to tap Brazilian market
Esports betting operator Unikrn has unveiled a partnership with Team Liquid.
The deal is set to focus exclusively on the Brazilian market, a region of focus for many esports-focused operators.
The first of its planned activations include a joint event hosted in São Paulo in April where fans can interact with and bet against Team Liquid players and influencers.
Fans will also see exclusive benefits such as “bonus rewards” that can be used on the Unikrn platform.
The Entain-owned betting platform recently relaunched in Canada and Brazil following a one year hiatus after its acquisition in 2021. The company says it intends to explore options to enter new regulated markets throughout 2023.
🦈 Sharpr Take: Relative to standard partnerships in the esports betting space, the terms of this deal are pretty solid.
Most of the team agreements we see in this space are limited to a logo on a jersey and—let’s face it—typically pretty awkward and low-quality content.
What I like about this deal is its regional focus. Bonus points for landing in Brazil where esports fandom is arguably the most passionate (often resulting in increased betting activity). Targeted campaigns seem to perform better for partners and advertisers where content and activations can be localized, and thus, more impactful.
My friend and former colleague Ollie Ring penned more thoughts on the deal earlier this week.
SIS Content VP says esports betting is on the rise
Esports betting is set for a “meteoric rise” in the next several years, VP of SIS Content Services Michele Fischer told SBC Leaders Magazine (page 40-43).
According to Fischer and data provided by H2 Gambling Capital, esports simulations are projected to outgrow traditional esports betting over the next five years.
Esports simulations reportedly account for 12% of esports GGR, and are set to rise to 20% by 2027.
SIS partnered with bet365 to rollout its esports product (consisting of NBA 2K, FIFA, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive content) in Colorado and New Jersey.
Interestingly, the article makes the claim that esports betting generates approximately $134M in the US.
This figure is considerably higher than I would have guessed (or believed), but the language implies that the esports betting handle as outlined in this example may also include other segments like sports simulations, peer-to-peer wagering, and player-vs-house. Sharpr reached out to Fischer but didn’t receive clarity on that exact point.
Esports simulations surpassing traditional wagering sounds like a longshot to me. Given the live action and storylines that typically drive betting activity are noticeably absent, it’s a forecast tough to digest, even with the 24/7 coverage SIS provides.
Sports simulation games like NBA 2K, FIFA, and iRacing were the products that drew the most betting activity and attention as content went offline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fischer concurred in saying that the SIS sports games appeal mostly to traditional sports betting customers.
That audience and the volume of content may be the larger opportunity at play here, but if the product isn’t tapping into esports and gaming consumers, isn’t that missing a core part of the value chain in esports betting?
Abios releases esports betting industry report
Esports data company Abios has released an esports betting industry report.
The company drew betting data from Kambi (partners of Unibet, Penn Gaming, 888 Sport, and more) to populate the study.
CS:GO, League of Legends, and Dota 2 generated the most betting handle in 2022 (no surprises there) while Valorant, and more interestingly Call of Duty, landed in 4th and 5th on the list, respectively.
The report states that in-play represented 60% of esports betting handle while pre-match was 40%.
The full report also includes information more broadly on rising esports teams and key events. It’s worth noting the data is consistent with a similar study conducted by Rivalry on the esports betting industry in December.*
⏱️ Worthy of your time
Before corralling everyone into the quick headline and data hits, I wanted to flag this story from our friends at Gaming News Canada.
Rivalry CEO Steven Salz* and Bayes Esports Senior Financial Director Christopher Bohlmann spoke to what many people are viewing as the upending of the esports industry–layoffs, executive exits, and profitability challenges.
But in this story lies some important context that, despite the industry undergoing a correction (like many other tech-facing businesses), esports and gaming consumption is still reaching record highs.
This has allowed select businesses on the esports industry spectrum like Enthusiast Gaming (media), Valve (game publishers), and Rivalry (betting) to keep growing at a steady pace.
🗞 In the news
Unikrn CEO Justin Dellario speaks to the Business of Betting podcast.
GRID and Oddin have expanded their partnership to include the Dota Pro Circuit.
GG.BET and Bayes Esports have extended their partnership agreement through 2024.
📈 By the numbers
Ohio sports bettors wagered $1.09B during the state’s first month of online betting – yet only Caesars and Betr landed in the black.
FanDuel handled $23.55B in sports wagers during 2022, up 109% from 2021.
PointsBet shares slid roughly 10% following its most recent earnings call.
Contact us
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Reach me directly at luongomanagement@gmail.com 📩 or on Twitter 🐦
*Disclaimer: I am a full-time employee of Rivalry.