Rivalry’s key finding in its ‘RivalryWrapped 2022’ report was that the most important leverage factor and a sign of success for esports and sport in general is engagement.
The report highlighted that when spectators place a bet on a particular event or tournament, it increases their watch time and the extent to which they are paying attention to the game.
The report concludes that eSports betting is in perfect alignment with KPIs, the various publishers, tournament organizers and sports organizations are striving for industry regulation to help drive fan engagement and eventually monetization.
The most popular eSports games among punters
The Counter-Strike betting culture, which has been developing for about two decades, was evident in 2022, as the game ended up among the top three games that accumulated the most bets. The other two were, of course, League of Legends and Dota 2. Bets placed on these three games accounted for 90% of Rivalry’s eSports segment.
However, a new contender for the top three has appeared, which is likely to occupy one of the top three positions next year – Valorant. The game is an FPS (First Person Shooter) – very similar to CS:GO – so it is somewhat familiar to bettors who are already used to giving their predictions in CS:GO. Valorant saw a 264% year-on-year increase in betting volume compared to 2021.
Rivalry reports that Valorant’s significant growth in terms of sports betting is a precedent in the company’s operating history. No other title has seen such strong growth in such a short time.
About Rivalry
Nowadays, Rivalry has more than 20 eSports available for its players to bet on, such as League of Legends (LoL), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), Dota 2, Free Fire and VALORANT. In addition, the company has online casino content and offers betting on nine sports, such as football, basketball and others.
