Betting solutions provider UltraPlay has reported a significant monthly increase in esports betting volume and turnover.
Turnover growth has risen by 500% since mid-March, compared to an annual increase of 30% at the end of 2019.
Meanwhile, the growth of betting – including the number of bets – has risen by 450% in the same time period.
Traditional operators are, according to UltraPlay, also showing more of an interest in its ODDS.GG solution.
Substantial rises
In the absence of real-life sporting events, UltraPlay reported that sports-related video games – such as FIFA and NBA 2K – had seen their betting turnover go up.
A large number of events are being held weekly, too. 1,500 related to FIFA are being put on, 90% of which offer in-play betting with UltraPlay’s clients. Meanwhile, all of NBA 2K’s 500 weekly events have live odds. UltraPlay offers more than 3,500 events each week and of these, 90% have live wagering prices.
In terms of other esports events, the company also put on more of these to satisfy all punters’ desires. CS:GO event offerings have gone up by 15%, all of which have pre and in-match odds available. Meanwhile, Dota 2 has seen its event coverage rise by 20%.
League of Legends is offered at the same number of events it had prior to Covid-19. This game has seen sizeable growth recently, though, with turnover jumping by 65% by the end of 2019.
These games make up 60% of UltraPlay’s betting volume. However, the likes of NBA 2K and FIFA are beginning to take a bigger percentage.
Is esports the future, even after Covid-19?
UltraPlay Head of Trading Peter Ivanov shared his thoughts on these developments, with his words being as follows.
“We believe eSports could be the profitable alternative to many sportsbooks looking for a solution at the moment. And it won’t be a short-term solution; rather it will gain more power in the next following months and years. From the data we collected since mid-March, we are certain that the eSports potential will be further released.
He continued by saying that “esports is the next generation of bettors’ way of entertainment and operators need to make this leap forward as soon as possible.”
Esports has made moves in other parts of the world recently, with Nevada allowing players to wager on new events earlier this month.
