With entire industries collapsing before our eyes due to the ongoing global COVID-19 crisis, the digital space is holding up relatively well. However, even online businesses can expect to see some very real consequences sooner or later. Unfortunately, this will include the esports and esports betting industries. But, how exactly will the pandemic crisis hit the still maturing esports betting industry? Though we live in very unpredictable times, the LOOT.BET team has analysed the data available, and considered where things may go from here.

Audience

Despite all the disruption wrought by COVID-19, the esports industry has definitely lucked out in the fact that it can at least function, almost fully, in an online space that is unsusceptible to viruses (well, of the physical kind at least!). Of course, the part of the industry that can’t function is live events, and to this end esports operators have already lost a ton of money in terms of ticket and merchandise sales. Given this, we expect esports companies that rely on live events to suffer most from the pandemic, and some bankruptcies are likely.

However, esports in general won’t lose the ability to attract and engage fans, and will continue to see rapid audience growth. Illustrating this, key tournaments including ESL One Los Angeles and ESL Pro League 11 have migrated online and avoided cancellation. And, even if the COVID-19 situation worsens, we expect to see more major events shift online, but continue to operate.

One thing we can say with absolute certainty, is that the lockdowns being enforced in countries around the world, are actually boosting the growth of the esports audience. As people are stuck in lockdown, working remotely, or self-isolating, many are looking for new alternatives to their usual offline activities and entertainment. While existing esports fans are also finding they have a lot more time to indulge in their interest. Given this, we expect to see a large number of existing casual esports fans transform into fully-fledged esports enthusiasts.

Supporting these assertions are recent reports from Twitch showing a 20% increase in stream viewers over the first couple of weeks of the lockdowns. Of course, we should remain rational here, and not assume that everyone stuck at home will become an esports fan. Those who have never been interested in esports, or even video games in general, are more likely to spend their time watching Netflix or reading books. But, it is clear that the coronavirus-induced lockdowns will definitely stimulate the interest for esports among those casual viewers who, while already aware of esports, are yet to join what we would call the ‘active audience’.

So, what does this all mean for esports betting? Firstly, it means extra growth, with new spending by those who are stuck at home and bored. Secondly, it means a partial migration of active and professional bettors from traditional sports to esports, as they look for alternatives due to the global sports shutdown. Thirdly, it means increased activity from those already following and betting on esports.  

Activity

We can already backup our observations with hard figures. Just over the first couple of weeks of the lockdowns, the volume of bets placed at LOOT.BET has surged by an impressive 20% (and now, it’s growing by 20% every week), site traffic has grown by 30%, and registrations have rocketed by 50%. And, it should be added, these growth rates are in addition to the already accounted for organic growth, driven by ongoing marketing campaigns, and major events like ESL One Los Angeles, ESL Pro League 11, and LOOT.BET/CS Season 6.

It’s curious that self-isolation has affected not just our users’ activities, but their habits as well. For instance, as more people follow esports streams, the share of live bets is also growing at an accelerated pace. In 2019, live bets already accounted for a whopping 75%, but by March that had reached 83%. Besides this, more users are turning to previously less popular markets, such as the first Roshan kill in Dota 2 and winner of a pistol round in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It seems obvious this is down to the sudden growth of esports online, and the extra time people have to explore new markets thanks to lockdowns.

And, of course, being so hungry for classic sports, many sports fans and bettors have discovered an outlet in esports and virtual sports. Reflecting this, after extending our offers for FIFA 20 this March, we immediately saw a huge increase in terms of this discipline. In fact, despite being one of the less popular games at LOOT.BET prior to the coronavirus crisis, today FIFA 20 is generating greater bet volumes than Overwatch, Call of Duty and StarCraft 2 combined. In response to this, we’re also planning to develop our lines on NBA 2K, which was another previously unpopular discipline.

Betting

Even prior to the first case of COVID-19 being reported, some betting industry professionals were predicting that within 10-20 years, esports would catch up with all classic sports in terms of bet volume. However long the pandemic lasts, it now seems certain esports betting will catch up with traditional sports betting even sooner.

Indeed, over the past few years, esports has become one of the major disciplines for many classic sportsbooks – often eclipsing popular sports like basketball and baseball. But, in the current situation, esports and virtual sports are pretty much the only things both punters and bookmakers can bet on. The reality is that today, when even big betting operators are suspending activities and land-based casinos are completely shut, esports is acting as a critical lifebuoy for the gambling industry.

In this situation, the already intense war for esports bettors is sure to escalate even further. But, despite the massive resource advantage classic bookmakers had before the pandemic crisis, specialist platforms like LOOT.BET are still a long way ahead of the generic bookies. It is precisely because specialist esports betting sites are more in tune with the esports audience, better understand fans’ expectations and wants, and tend to respond more quickly to requests, that they are not suffering operating losses despite the serious COVID-19 crisis.  

Of course, after the pandemic is over classic sports, and our lives in general, will quickly return to normal. The unforeseen dynamics that have boosted esports betting will fade out, some of those new esports viewers will never become enthusiasts, and many sports punters will return to their traditional sports. But, the dramatic surge of interest in esports betting will have given a considerable impetus to the industry in the short term, and will have a very real lasting effect in terms of accelerating what was already phenomenal longer term growth.

Want to find out more about esports betting trends? Check out ‘A Portrait of the Typical Esports Bettor’ here.