UltraPlay, an advanced betting solutions provider, has revealed that there has been a record-breaking increase in the eSports betting volume and turnover ever since COVID-19 hit the sports sector, causing the cancellation of most traditional sporting events.
The cancellation of football, basketball, hockey and soccer has resulted in punters having little else to bet on but for eSports events. The company reported a 500% turnover growth since mid-March 2020 compared to an average yearly increase of 30% by the end of last year. For the same period, bets’ growth, including the number of bets, reached 450% growth for the same period.
According to UltraPlay, the daily number of bets per player has increased by 22%. The reported data is accumulated by covering 34 eSports with 16 of them offered with live odds on the leading eSports powered by UltraPlay.
eSports has become an effective vertical for operators at this time and show professional players partaking in video games that include Dota, Counter Strike, Overwatch and more.
Peter Ivanov, the Head of Trading at UltraPlay, commented that they believe eSports could be the profitable alternative to many sports-books looking for a solution at the moment and that it will not be a short term solution. He added that it will rather gain more power in the following months and years and from the data they have collected since mid-March, they are certain that the eSports potential will be further released.
Ivanov went on to say that eSports is the next generation of bettors’ way of entertainment and operators need to make this leap forward as soon as possible.
