As the esports betting market continues to expand and jurisdictions such as Canada and the US open up to wagering, it presents an elevated opportunity to operators. 

Just last week, the Canadian Senate passed Bill C-218 by 57 votes to 20 and five abstentions, potentially paving the way for the first legal wagers to be placed later this year.

Meanwhile, esports organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the lucrative potential of striking agreements with betting operators, as the sector continues to expand and generate interest.

Dustin Gauker, Co-Host at the Legal Sports Report and Vice President of North America at Catena Media, spoke to Thomas Rosander, CEO of LuckBox, about opportunities in the esports betting space as the Canadian market emerges.

“There are a lot of numbers out there and guesses on how much this is going to be worth, but sports and esports betting is estimated at between C$1.5 and over C$2 billion,” Rosander detailed.

“What’s missing here for esports betting to really start generating money is we have a lot of traditional sports betting sites who are comparing the numbers directly with what they are used to from sports betting, and that’s a little bit unfair since its fairly new. 

“I think the thing that is really going to make a difference here is that this demographic that are part of the esports scene and who are our demographic for Luckbox, are the Gen Zs and the Millenials.”

This demographic, he argued, takes a different approach to traditional sports bettors with regards to what content they view and how they view it.

Whilst traditional sports bettors will attend a live fixture – or watch it on television – and place a bet either with a high street bookmaker or via an online vertical, esports bettors consume ‘a lot of content’ via streaming platforms such as Twitch, generally following the games, teams or esports they are specifically interested in.

Rosander added: “We as operators in the esports betting scene have to provide a betting experience that tailors for this demographic, and this is something that is happening and a lot of companies are realising this.”

The fundamental variation between esports betting and sports betting, Rosander continued, lies in the difference in format between video games and traditional sports.

Whilst odds for traditional sports take an almost ‘excel sheet’ style format with regards to odds, video games are ‘completely different experience’.

“I think the big esports betting experience for this demographic has to be more video game-like,” he concluded.

Source – mediaedgetv YouTube Channel