Esports Betting Online
No genre of sports is growing faster than Esports. There are at least a dozen games with leagues and tournaments throughout the year and that number seems to be growing exponentially. There’s no doubt that the future of Esports is bright and the betting options for Esports are becoming more and more widespread each year. So what’s stopping you from getting in on the action?
Esports History
The first Esports were conducted on three different platforms: arcades, video game systems, and computers. Because of the networking issues and problems with processing speed, most of the popular Esports were on either arcades or video game systems for the first couple decades.
Many of these early Esports, especially those on arcades, were single-player games where people would compete to see who could put up the highest score or fighting games.
The next evolution came as video game systems got better. Games like Halo and Call of Duty supported vibrant multiplayer communities and is was only natural to see these games soon have large tournaments. However, those tournaments and series struggled to stay afloat for more than a couple years as interested ebbed and flowed too frequently.
This decade started the current boom of Esports. Increased processing speeds meant that the computer was finally a viable option for big multiplayer games and almost all of the biggest Esports now take place on PC. The popularity in these Esports has shown no signs of abating anytime soon.
Who's In
There are numerous celebrities and high rollers involved in Esports in one way or another. There are at least a dozen NBA or NHL owners that have at least a small share in an Esports venture and that number keeps growing, while massive soccer clubs overseas have expanded into Esports wholesale. Schalke 04, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid all have at least one Esports team and are looking to add more.
Players are invested in Esports too. Magic Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Jonas Jerebko, Rick Fox, Jimmy Rollins, and Shaquille O’Neal are just some of the luminaries that have thrown their names into the Esports ring.
Of course there are brands that have become established in multiple games and have a big presence in the Esports community too. Fnatic, Cloud9, Afreeca Freecs, Team Liquid, Royal Never Give Up, Virtus.Pro, and FaZe Clan are just some of the many organizations that have successful teams across multiple games.
Different Games
While there are more than a dozen games that have Esports betting available in one form or another, there are some that are more popular than others.
League of Legends: There’s no doubt that League of Legends is the most popular Esport right now and has the brightest future. With leagues on every continent and a developer committing to expanding its reach wherever possible, there’s no doubt that League of Legends will only continue to grow. It’s only a matter of time before the World Championship catches up to DOTA 2’s The International and has the most lucrative prize pool in all of Esports. More
DOTA 2: The main thing that DOTA 2 is known for these days is The International. The International is the most lucrative Esports tournament in the world and had a prize pool of just over $25 million in 2018. That purse has grown exponentially since the $1.6 million distributed at the inaugural competition in 2011 and will continue to grow as it is subsidized by players purchasing champion skins in the weeks leading up to the event. There are a few other million dollar events, but that is by far the biggest and sets the stage for the rest of the season. More
CS:GO: Only one first-person-shooter has remained very popular for more than a couple years and that’s CS:GO. While other contenders like Call of Duty and HALO have come and gone, CS:GO has a very loyal fanbase and with a publisher like Valve behind it, the game was bound to be a hit. CS:GO is now entering its seventh year of gameplay, while the Counter-Strike series as a whole has been around for two decades, and continues to be the only FPS worth discussing on the competitive Esports scene. More
Starcraft II: The national sport of Korea continues to have two channels dedicated to it to this day. Starcraft 2 is an institution in Korea and is considered a pivotal game in the evolution of Esports. It was the first real-time-strategy game to become popular as an Esport and its simplicity makes it really easy to pick up to this day. Although it launched to replace the original StarCraft in 2010, two expansion packs have come out to keep the series fresh and interesting. Heart of the Swarm dropped in March 2013, while Legacy of the Void released in 2015. More
Hearthstone: Hearthstone was the first game of its kind to really make it big on the Esports scene and has since spawned other copycats. It’s easy to play, but hard to master, and that keeps people coming back for more. That has led to Hearthstone becoming one of the bigger Esports communities as viewers really want to know how the pros are so good and how they come up with their strategies. This is the one Esport that you can play anywhere, either on a PC or laptop, a mobile device or a tablet and that has led to people not wanting to step away from their game no matter where they are. More
Overwatch: The newest Esport on the scene is Overwatch. Overwatch was released in May 2016, but is already massively popular and is being treated as the new League of Legends because of how quickly it has taken off. There is already a lot of hype surrounding the future of Overwatch with all the money coming in to support it, and the franchise fees have risen significantly since the initial $20 million price to buy a team in 2018. More
Esports Futures: With so many tournaments across too many Esports to count at times, there are plenty of options available for Esports Futures betting. Things typically pick up around the summer and early fall, but there are tournaments year round if you know where to look. As Esports comes more and more into the mainstream, there will be more and more things to look forward to when it comes to betting on Esports Futures. More
Room to Grow
Now that colleges are fielding Esports teams and cable networks are airing tournaments, Esports are here to stay. There is no turning back at this point and it’s time to either get on board or be left behind.
With more and more people watching on Twitch or YouTube, especially in the key 18-35 demographic, big money is coming into the sport. These are no longer games that are tucked away in a small part of society, but are instead out in the mainstream. The sky is the limit for Esports.
At BookMaker Sportsbook, our team of writers breaks down every betting matchup on the wagering board. Esports are exploding in popularity and we at BookMaker have you covered for all of your betting needs. From League of Legends to CS:GO, BookMaker has all of the Esports Betting Odds and Esports Betting Articles you can hope for. Open an account and get in on the action today!
