Oliver Niner, Head of B2B at PandaScore, says the UK market is one of the biggest for esports betting, with plenty of room for growth
How big is esports betting in the UK market right now? How big can it be?
I’m not going to say that esports betting is approaching its big bang moment or that it’s going to kill off traditional sports betting, because neither of those things is true. What is true, however, is that it’s a sizable market that’s growing at a steady pace, especially now that some of the tier one operators are levelling up their esports betting proposition – we are now live with the likes of Betfred, Ladbrokes, Coral and Fitzdares with these operators looking to offer a deeper, richer and more comprehensive esports betting experience. With these top-flight operators on board, we will see esports become one of the bigger betting sports within the book, with the potential for it to move into the top five for sure. For me, it’s more important that growth is sustainable rather than esports betting having a flash-bang moment.
How does it compare in size to the biggest esports/esports betting markets?
The UK is one of the biggest esports betting markets globally, sitting just behind Asia and Eastern Europe. This is a sizeable market with a large, addressable audience that’s familiar with online betting. The challenge has been to connect the worlds of esports fandom and online betting, which has now happened, and with momentum slowly building. I’d say at this point, the UK is on par with the likes of Brazil, Mexico and Australia, all of which are considered established and thriving esports betting markets.
Is growth being driven by tier-one brands getting in on the action?
Yes, absolutely. It’s great to see the likes of Betfred, Ladbrokes, Coral and Fitzdares coming to PandaScore to help support their ambitions for esports betting. In the past, we’ve seen one or two operators be the bastion of esports – Betway and bet365 come to mind here – but it needs buy-in from all of the major brands for the sector to achieve sustainable growth, and we are now getting to that point. PandaScore wants to see all its partners unlock the potential of esports betting, and by doing that, the vertical will become big in its own right. As I said, it can easily make its way into the top five sports on any given sportsbook with the right approach, product and marketing.
What has been the catalyst for these brands to embrace esports betting?
Many have seen the growth the vertical has enjoyed in recent months and want to get in on the action, but it’s also being driven by the cheaper acquisition cost of an esports player. Of course, to acquire esports bettors, operators need to offer a compelling esports betting experience – if they don’t, they will lose out to a rival that does – and this is why we’ve seen a spate of brands come to PandaScore to enhance their offering. It’s no longer good enough to tag a handful of esports betting markets onto the book – consumers expect a comprehensive product including a wide range of markets, quality odds and betting products such as a BetBuilder.
It’s also increasingly clear that there is strong demand for esports betting – it consistently performs better than golf, but to date, operators have invested in the latter but not the former. This is changing no doubt aided by this being a year with no major sporting tournaments or events taking place over the summer. On the flip side, there’s a solid esports calendar over the coming months, with operators having extra bandwidth to upgrade or even roll out their esports offering due to the lack of traditional sports action.
How can these operators drive growth in the vertical?
They are going to have to test and learn when it comes to offering an authentic and engaging product. This takes more than just a good selection of markets – everything from the odds offered to the front-end UX needs to be spot on. They will also need to nail their marketing strategies so that players know they offer esports betting, and they will need to closely monitor how these players behave once they are engaging with the esports product. Focus should also be paid to the overall quality of the esports proposition – it can’t let the side down because if the experience is below standard, it will put players off.
How is PandaScore supporting this?
We provide operators with an award-winning esports betting solution that takes in odds, data and betting products. For our markets and odds, we use proven algorithms and models and combine them with specialist traders for each discipline. Our coverage is also unrivalled, taking in disciplines from CS2, Lol and Dota 2 to Valorant, Rocket League and many more. We pioneer esports betting products, too, with our suite of solutions including a powerful BetBuilder, Micro Markets and an AI-driven StoryBuilder tool.
Is there a cross-sell opportunity between sports and esports betting? If so, how can operators maximise it?
Sports bettors can and do bet on esports, but the biggest cross-sell opportunity actually sits with casino games, especially non-traditional content like crash and mines. The main demographics of esports bettors enjoy gamified experiences and games where there is an element of control over the outcome, so crash, mines and other non-traditional games are a good fit here. We’ve even worked with an operator that offered just roulette alongside esports betting, and this proved to be an incredibly effective product mix.
