In the past few months, the epidemic has led to a large-scale suspension of traditional sports events, and sports betting is no exception. However, European and American gaming companies soon discovered a "trustworthy" business area-e-sports. After all, from the perspective of competitions, this is the least disturbed project.
It must be admitted that the overall income of gambling companies is shrinking because of the decrease of sports events, but one truth remains unchanged: gamblers will always find something to gamble on.
Since March, many people in Europe and America have started to participate in the gambling of sports e-sports and other e-sports events, and soon the business volume of e-sports betting has increased by more than 40 times compared with the past. However, the supervision of the e-sports gambling industry is a big problem.
E-sports betting will be second only to NFL and NBA.
"At the beginning, investing in e-sports was considered a novel idea, but now e-sports is king." Marco Bloom, the trading director of Pinnacle Pingbo, is outspoken. As the first platform to promote e-sports gambling in the industry in 2010, Pingbo has the right to speak in the industry.
Bloom revealed, "E-sports is the number one product in the company’s global business. In fact, many big gaming companies also launched e-sports betting during this period." Judging from the current development trend, this year’s global e-sports gambling revenue will increase greatly compared with the past, and the income is likely to reach 14 billion US dollars.
Since March this year, the regulators in Nevada, USA, have released the betting restrictions of 13 different e-sports leagues and tournaments. James tyler of the Nevada Gaming Control Bureau said that by mid-March, applications for e-sports betting submitted by casinos were almost daily, and the regulatory authorities approved most of them. "
Taylor also told the media, "As regulators, we hope that through effective supervision, the whole industry will achieve healthy growth." The implication is that at this stage, the attitude of the regulatory authorities is open.
Joe Arthur, CEO of William Hill, a famous gaming company in the United States, believes that "the development of e-sports reminds me of my childhood experience of playing Pac-Man (a small game). I tied my fingers with bandages because there were calluses, and people gave me coins to watch me play."
He added, "As long as e-sports continue to exist, the related e-sports betting will also continue to exist, which is obvious."
Seth Shore, CEO of Fifth Street Gambling, a casino management company, and founder of Nevada E-sports Alliance, predicted when talking about the current growth of e-sports gambling:
"I predict that in the next 5 to 10 years, in North America, e-sports will be second only to NFL and NBA in terms of total bet amount."
E-sports gambling helps economic recovery.
At present, the services that can be provided in the gaming industry are not only as simple as betting, but also include paid competitions based on e-sports projects.
A spokesman for DraftKings, a sports game giant, revealed that paid e-sports now attracts 20 times more customers and 50 times more participants than before March.
Cory Fox, vice president of FanDuel, a company under the same system as DraftKings, stressed that "the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated this trend, and people are now more willing to satisfy their desire for games and betting through online e-sports."
To a certain extent, just as e-sports is a user’s demand, e-sports betting will also become a demand-on the one hand, it satisfies the psychology of some e-sports enthusiasts who are eager to bet, on the other hand, it is gradually coming to the front because of the tax pressure of western governments.
In the United States, for example, the economies of many states are struggling, and many government departments begin to accept online gambling, especially e-sports gambling, as a source of tax revenue.
Bill Pascollier, a partner of Princeton Public Affairs Group, said, "I originally hoped that three or four States would join the ranks of e-sports gambling this year. Now I think this number can be doubled. "
In Nevada, the next step in the development of e-sports betting is also clear. Gambling for some e-sports leagues will be pre-approved by the regulatory authorities. Just like many traditional sports leagues, it is no longer necessary to apply case by case.
At present, more than 15 States in the United States allow some form of legal sports betting, and Colorado has the freest e-sports betting rules in the United States in the sports betting business released on May 1.
E-sports competitions are easier to manipulate. Who will supervise them?
According to the idea of gaming companies, under the influence of the epidemic, they can get more convenience-than if they don’t need the legal permission of any e-sports publisher, they can bet or compete on e-sports, so that gaming companies can quickly launch new bets without the specific approval of the regulatory authorities.
For e-sports publishers, some of them welcome the participation of gambling-on the one hand, they sell relevant data to gambling companies, on the other hand, they also hire integrity inspectors to ensure that related events are not manipulated.
At present, the gaming regulatory agencies in the United States, Britain and Malta, as well as gaming companies including William Hill, have strengthened their ties with the British E-sports Integrity Committee, which is trying to set up an organization to stop match-fixing and other corrupt practices, so as to help gamblers, e-sports users and sponsors.
Of course, at present, many large e-sports publishers still hold a wait-and-see attitude towards e-sports betting, at least they are unwilling to make a clear statement.
Some industry executives analyzed, "Publishers don’t want to give people the impression that they actively support gambling. After all, in some countries and regions, match-fixing scandals have subverted the image of industries, alliances and clubs. "
You know, manipulating e-sports competitions is much simpler than football and basketball. A poor intentional response of 0.1 second can change the outcome of the competition …
At present, two major companies, Electronic Arts(FIFA) and Take-Two Interactive(NBA2K), have refused to comment on the issue of e-sports betting, and Blizzard has also refused to be interviewed.
However, no matter how the e-sports industry reacts, the gaming industry’s embrace of e-sports may have just begun-the increase in e-sports gambling revenue is far exceeding the income of offline events, which is an unavoidable reality in any case.