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As sports betting has continued to rise in prominence around the world, so too has its importance in the world of esports.
Competitive gaming has come a long way from getting the most out of a quarter with a Street Fighter 2 arcade cabinet at a local mall. Such popular games as Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant can attract tens of thousands of fans to packed stadiums and arenas. It’s something that has the look and feel of a live basketball or hockey game, albeit with generally younger demographics.
While some traditional sports were once out of reach for many sports betting sites, they were quick to plant their flag in the burgeoning world of esports. That phenomenon has been a major part of esports’ rapid growth over time, eventually leading prospective bettors to scour the web for the best betting tips and picks to be made in the hopes of getting a leg up on oddsmakers and the competition.
Esports betting existed years before the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This was made awkwardly clear in StarCraft, which was the first major esport in many ways with its major professional competitions in South Korea. The game endured multiple match-fixing scandals, where top competitors agreed to throw matches to aid others’ betting interests.
While this was an ill omen and inauspicious rise to prominence for both esports and esports betting, the industry was transformed in a new and unexpected way through Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
In 2007, Valve Software launched popular hero shooter Team Fortress 2. PC players of the game eventually had access to special cosmetic items in the form of hats that each of the nine characters could wear. In 2010, this was expanded further to include in-game trading. While trading was originally done directly through the Team Fortress 2 game client, the process was later attached to players’ Steam accounts and expanded to include other games.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive launched in 2012 and added “skins,” in-game cosmetic items, to the game a year later. Skins give the game’s weapons a more distinctive look, but don’t confer any gameplay advantage.
By 2013, Steam trading was more advanced than it was in 2010 and Counter-Strike’s esports scene was considerably larger and more popular than that of Team Fortress 2. This combined to result in a new phenomenon called skin betting.
Third-party services used bots that allowed Counter-Strike players to bet their skins on the outcome of esports matches. Players would trade their skins to other accounts operated by bots, and predict the outcome of a match. If they were correct, they would receive their skin back along with other items they had just won.
In 2012, trading on Steam expanded to include the Community Marketplace, where players could effectively sell their in-game items for currency on Steam. This effectively conferred a real dollar value to skins. Because of this, skin betting was functionally akin to open sports betting.
In 2018, Valve effectively shut down skin betting after facing multiple lawsuits. The company did this by denying skin betting operators access to key functions of Steam. But by this point, skin betting had resulted in tremendous amounts of money changing hands and was deeply embedded in the game’s culture. It also made Counter-Strike esports the centerpiece of esports betting for years to come.
In many sports, sponsors have more real estate on jerseys than the actual iconography of the teams. Some popular sports even see various airlines and tech companies more prominently featured on gear than the logo of the club or apparel manufacturer.
That’s been the case in esports as well.
As with soccer, sponsors of esports organizations are displayed prominently. Betting sites are often the principal partner of teams, with their logos and branding appearing across players’ chests. Some sites have taken things a few steps further, as in recent years, betting websites have started co-sponsoring teams. This has translated to individual teams being branded by both betting websites and the esports organizations themselves.
Some betting sites have gone a step further. In games including Dota 2 and Counter-Strike, esports betting sites have sponsored teams directly. This has seen some become the outward faces of prominent esports organizations and teams.
This isn’t allowed in all games, but the number of holdouts in esports is quickly falling. There’s just too much money to be made for most companies to ignore the potential.
As with traditional sports, the willingness to work with betting companies and adopt betting content during events has varied from game to game.
Boxing events and MMA promotions were integrating betting odds into their broadcasts when traditional sports teams were lobbying to keep sports betting banned in their home regions. Similarly, as esports teams were being sponsored by bookies in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike, games like League of Legends and Valorant had a uniform ban on betting partnerships.
Because of this, there was a clear divide between games in Valorant and League of Legends in comparison to other games even within the same esports organizations. This meant that Evil Geniuses’ Counter-Strike team would be sponsored by an esports betting site while its League of Legends and Valorant teams couldn’t be.
That changed to some degree starting in 2024.
After years of barring League of Legends and Valorant teams from taking on sponsors, publisher Riot Games softened its stance. This allowed organizations to take on betting sponsors, albeit with restrictions on their visibility during actual events.
This is still a major boon for teams, though. The lack of betting sponsors in League of Legends and Valorant has reduced the financial viability and value in competing in these games for larger organizations. This is one of many factors that has seen numerous organizations opt out of these games, with League of Legends being particularly hard-hit.
In all likelihood, it’s just a matter of time before leagues and international events start getting official betting sponsors in Riot Games titles, just as they already have in Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2.
The rise of esports has coincided with the increased prominence and legalization of sports betting and online gambling in general, creating tremendous opportunities for those who have stakes in either space. This has also led to an increased desire for high-level analysis of the most-watched and anticipated matches, ranging for picks among the teams playing to general esports betting tips.
Though esports is relatively prominent and has an engaged audience hungry for answers on who to pick and which odds to take, it has faced some occasional trouble in terms of its legalization. This largely stems from the lack of age restrictions in many top leagues.
Many popular esports allow for minors to compete in top events. There are numerous examples of this including a 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf winning the Fortnite World Cup in 2019 and a 16-year-old Syed “SumaiL” Hassan winning Dota 2’s The International 2015.
Territories generally bar betting on sporting events that can include minors. While this applies to collegiate sports, it can also be applied to events like the Olympic Games. Different markets have taken different approaches to esports due to this. Some selectively pick which events can and can’t be wagered on, while others have simply banned esports betting entirely.
Regardless of these hanging issues, there’s no doubt that esports betting has progressed tremendously in visibility and accessibility in recent years. And it appears poised to progress even further in the years to come, attracting more betters to the market each year.
For interested bettors, knowing when and where to make the best bets is a big part of getting involved in the space. Our team of expert writers and analysts have those bettors covered.
Whether the game in question is a tactical shooter the likes of Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant, or a mind-bending MOBA like League of Legends and Dota 2, we cover the top matches from the biggest leagues and point you in the right direction when it comes to which bets are best to make and which are best to avoid.
So if you’re looking for the best available esports betting tips to guide your bets, you’ve come to the right place.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
