Esports is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world of entertainment today. As the once-niche activity takes root in mainstream media, it is merging with traditional sports unprecedentedly, including new betting markets. What does integrating esports and traditional sports mean for stakeholders and fans? How will this merging of worlds impact the future of online sports betting? Let’s find out.
Traditional sports betting markets
Sports betting is a centuries-old activity that has been around as long as the pyramids. While technology has only recently allowed us to access betting markets online, people have been betting on horse races and polo matches since the dawn of civilization.
The most recent iteration of sports betting features online sportsbooks like Betway’s sport bet Zambia platform, giving fans the flexibility to place bets seamlessly, anytime and from anywhere. But whatever the format, betting on sports, be it football, basketball, or tennis, has always been easy. Popular betting markets in this sector include the money line, which is a bet on who will win a match, and the totals, which is a wager on the final score of a game.
Similar markets in esports betting
Of course, naturally, as sports betting evolves, operators begin to offer new and diverse betting markets for traditional sports fans. You can bet on total play times, player injuries, league winners, half-time scores, and any outcome in a match.
This aspect of modern sports betting is where traditional sports and esports intersect. Esports betting, like esports, is an out-of-the-box idea. It’s betting on the outcome of people or teams competing in a video game. So, like traditional sports, the betting markets are many and diverse.
You can bet on which player will draw the first blood or get the first kill, which team will win or forfeit, what strategy a winning team will use, and more. In this way, esports and traditional sports betting are similar¾they. Both allow you to speculate on the outcome of a competition.
New betting markets and differences in legislation
This is not to say the two are entirely compatible. Esports is a ballgame that is different from traditional sports. For one, esports players are not athletes, at least not in the typical sense. Their performance depends on their in-game prowess, not their physical abilities, which means factors like weather, injury, and training rarely come into play when betting on esports.
Esports betting markets are also based on particular video gaming environments and their rules. Common bets in this sector include First Kill/First Draw, which you’d never find in traditional sports betting.
This and esports betting is a relatively new and unregulated market, marking significant differences between it and traditional sports betting.
AR, VR, streaming, and other shared technologies
But perhaps where the two worlds collide almost entirely is in technology. The same technologies that drive esports betting also drive traditional sports betting markets. This includes AR, VR, streaming, mobile, and 5G internet.
As all of these innovations collide to make online betting more immersive and social, stakeholders like Betway find it harder to ignore the similarities between the two sectors. Most, in fact, now offer many esports betting markets alongside traditional sports betting markets.
Wrapping up: The future of sports and esports betting
In 2024, the esports betting market was worth an estimated $2.5 billion, and experts predict it will keep growing. This growth somewhat threatens traditional sports betting markets as younger fans gravitate towards the more digital-savvy of the two options. However, for operators like Betway, who merge the two, the future is a diverse betting landscape where fans can bet on any sport they want in any way they want.
