ESports is a multi-million dollar business that employs people from all sections. The major participants of E-sports include sponsors, streamers, fans, and bettors. With the rise of ESports around the world, E-Sports betting has made huge inroads.
The first ever video game came into existence in 1947. The first competitive game ‘Tennis for Two’ was born in 1958. Its popularity made everyone believe that ESports has decent future growth prospects. E-Sports betting is lucrative and exciting. It keeps you on your toes.
E-Sports betting has seen rapid growth across India too. The market is now worth approx 900 million yearly. With the cheap availability of the Internet and a growing young population, the market will only witness upward growth.
In this article, we will discuss the history of ESports Betting. We will also discuss the top companies that offer ESports betting and how to bet on ESports.
Evolution in the 1960s
By the start of a new decade, eSports found its relevance in the market. The game “Spacewar” came into the picture, where two people fought with ships. However, it lacked the technology to make it appear realistic.
But it was a stepping stone for more companies with better technologies to enter the market. But the confusion was always intact about the success of ESports. It’s because the market was unregulated, and match rigging became a reality. It is where skin betting asserted its dominance.
Birth in 1970s
The 1970s came in as a boom for electronic sports. The two most popular sports, Android and Invaders came into focus. The Arcade age in esports came into existence in the 1970s. The validity of these popular games was four to six months.
The gaming consoles and PCs became more accessible to folks in the 80s. The local area network parties came into existence, and gaming zones were set up across communities. The concept of multiplayer gaming that connects through a router came into focus. Games like IGI and counterstrike became quite popular in the 90s.
The Inception of Esports Betting
With affordable data connections and the spread of the internet, community LAN gaming slowly lost its presence. A player could connect with anyone on the internet and play multiplayer games. Different teams are set up online, and tournaments were set up for players to compete with each other.
The tournaments feature across online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, etc. At present, about 10 million people watch live esports events online. As the games like Counter-Strike and Dota 2 grew, more investments came into the industry.
The popularity of real cash eSports betting was growing. The operators began to realize that eSports betting is growing well, and judging by how quickly it was growing, many thought that it might even top betting on traditional sports in the future.
Gradually, betting operators enhanced their betting offers, bringing new games and more betting markets. By 2017 when skins betting was completely banned, the eSports betting offers diversified.
Skin Betting and its Rise and Fall
Skin betting is the virtual use of goods like cosmetic items such as “skins” to bet on the outcome of a game. It helps a player to change their attire or weapons without compromising their efficiency. Players can buy skins with real cash or win while playing the game.
Skins have different set values and prizes. Wagering came through third parties while betting. Players could buy, exchange, and sell skins among each other while gambling with skins in online gambling and Esports tournaments.
The third-party skin betting websites couldn’t verify the credentials of the buyers. Thus, skin betting became dubious, and players stayed away from the same. It undermines the value of esports, hence players had to find an alternative to skin betting.
Skin betting was banned on different esports platforms because of its lack of credibility. Even though skin betting made its mark on a few websites, it saw a massive fall in the majority of the top-rated websites.
Future of ESports Betting
At present, there are several esports betting websites available online. All those esports websites offer players to bet, play, and even watch the games without participating. Esports betting is a profitable business nowadays.
In the future, we could see more people betting on Esports than on traditional sports. Esports can compete in top sporting events like Football, Basketball, and Cricket. Esports offer better bonuses and offers. It is because betting operators target an even wider audience.
Many countries in Asia even offer sponsorships and scholarships to Esports players. Even though countries in Europe are still trying to recognize esports, it is still in the starting phase in European countries.
Conclusion
To sum up, we can say that with the wide availability of the Internet, Esports betting and online gambling have grown well over the years. Its growth in India has been remarkable as well. With a growing young population, the chances of better growth are immense in the country.
The investors are finding it a profitable venture. The teams in IPL are investing more and more money into Esports and online gambling. Hence the growth potentials are huge and will only grow better with time.
