Esports and Betting – Why It is Growing

The online gaming community is one of the most expansive in existence. Professional gaming is now considered to very much be a spectator sport, which is why we’re looking at esports and betting right now. Now, to some of you, the idea of paying money to watch other people play video games may be ludicrous. It is however, worth bearing in the mind that people probably once upon a time, felt the same way about paying money to watch people play golf in the pouring rain. Nowadays, the esports industry is considered one of the most lucrative in the world, which is why esports and betting is now more common than ever. Here’s a detailed look at esports and betting and why it’s growing in popularity so much according to Findbettingsites.co.uk.

What is esports?

When we think of popular spectator sporting events, we picture games like football, cricket, tennis, golf, boxing, and other well-established sporting pastimes. It turns out that people would also quite happily pile into arenas and spend money watching others play video games. Yep, esports is basically a form of competitive multi-player online gaming played between professional gamers, usually in arenas in front of enormous crowds. Chances are you’ve played video games at some point in your life, so you may be familiar with some of the gaming genres typically enjoyed as part of the esports movement. First person shooters (FPS), multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), and real-time strategy (RTS) games are often enjoyed during esports tournaments.

Why is esports and betting growing?

Video games are nothing new, as they’ve been around for decades now. It’s safe to say however, that thanks to the advancements in modern technology, the video game industry has come a long way since the days of ‘Pong’ and ‘Frogger’ and of course ‘Pacman’ (All of which are still classics and insanely popular, by the way). Now, we have games such as Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Rocket League. These online multiplayer games are prime examples of games enjoyed in various esports tournaments, and they’re worth some serious money.

Believe it or not, but video game tournaments are nothing new. They can be traced back to the early 70s, when a group of university students hosted a ‘Spacewars’ tournament. The prize up for grabs for a 12-month subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. In 1980, Atari hosted a ‘Space Invaders’ tournament which saw over 10,000 people enter. In 2002 however, things really took off when Xbox introduced Xbox live. In 2004, the game Halo was broadcast via Major League Gaming on national TV and from there on out, esports really began to grow in popularity.

Sponsors and advertisers saw how popular it was and they began throwing money at these tournaments like it was going out of fashion. Tournaments began being hosted in huge arenas in front of tens of thousands of fans. Gamers from all over the globe enter these tournaments with the chance to win millions upon millions of dollars.

From the comfort of your own home, you too can potentially win some money with esports and betting as you can place bets on the outcome of the tournaments.