Alongside an uptick seen recently in the daily fantasy sports offerings in Europe, we are slowly witnessing the rise of betting on E-sports. This comparatively new market has seen increased interest lately in the US, and Europeans seem to be following suit. While it is in its very early days, and as such we’re likely to see some regulative obstacles in certain jurisdictions, the commercial interest in offering services of this kind is rising, as can be seen by the case studies covered below. E-sports and skill gaming, a natural pairing, are both on the rise in general, but the gaming industry has yet to capitalize on these by offering direct betting services or fantasy e-sports. At least, these are not, as yet, widely offered across the continent, but this situation seems to be changing.
In one clear example of this, the FDJ, France’s national lottery, announced recently that it is launching a free e-sports betting site as part of its ParionsSport brand. It plans to offer this action across web and mobile platforms. This offering is, for now, strictly limited to play money only, in line with current legal restrictions in the country.
Of far greater significance in the real money market is the rise of Unikrn, who were recently granted their Maltese gambling license. They offer blockchain-based gambling on e-sports, and there is a widespread expectation that their Maltese license will see them offering services more widely across Europe. How each jurisdiction responds to any such efforts, however, remains to be seen. With the new proposals over an EU-wide digital tax threatening the possibility that online services based in one country might have to pay tax in any country where they permanently offer services, a foothold in Malta might not be all that providers hope it to be.
Ultraplay, a provider based out of Bulgaria, is also a keen player in the e-sports space, and is taking a coin-based approach to the market. They have launched their own currency, eGold, in an effort to engage with this space. Should their token sale go according to plan, they should be equipped to compete in the market.
The amusingly-titled Super Evil Megacorp, whose stated goal is to “destroy the productivity of mankind with endless entertaining games”, has partnered with Razer in recent e-sports developments. They are launching a Razer phone in the UK, San Francisco and Sweden and are planning wider collaboration.
Alongside a rising interest in skill gaming, a fascination with watching live streams of e-sports has been evident on sites such as Twitch for some years now. It was only a matter of time before side betting on e-sports became a serious matter of interest, and it appears that the time is now. We should expect to see a lot more interest in this market in the years ahead.
