E-sports online betting to hit US$12.9 billion in 2020 – fastest-growing trend in global sports gambling, says research report

Betting consultant says more online casinos will start to flood the market to complement the growth in popularity of e-sports

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E-sports at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 17 Jan 2019Updated: 9:51am, 23 Jan 2019

Wagering on e-sports is the fastest-growing betting trend in sports gambling with punters around the world expected to bet up to US$12.9 billion on gaming by 2020, according to research by betting consultant NJGames.org.

Rough estimates put market capitalisation for worldwide sports betting at US$250 billion. And according to Statistica, licensed online sportsbooks account for more than US$40 billion of this pie. Online gambling on e-sports’ share of the market, according to NJGames, was valued at US$5.5 billion in 2016.

“The growth of e-sports is based on overall viewership and the amount of money that curiosity generates is huge. Sponsorships, larger prize money, advertising will all be larger as the interest in e-sports increases,” said Onur Unlu, content manager at NJGames.

“People bet on e-sports the same way they would bet on traditional sports – through a sportsbook or online casino. As e-sports grows and becomes more popular, casinos will begin to see the opportunity of offering e-sports betting lines and inviting that volume of interest to gamble on tournaments.”

New Jersey is leading the way for sports betting in the United States after it won a US Supreme Court case in May last year that would allow all states to offer sports betting if they choose to do so.