eSports A Trend That Is Here To Stay

eSports A Trend That Is Here To Stay! And these contests are quickly becoming some of the most popular options for gamblers. 

eSports is a growing industry with millions of fans all around the world. With leagues and tournaments being held all over the globe, eSports is only going to continue to grow in popularity.

The popularity of eSports is on the rise, and there’s no doubt why. These competitions are exciting, and people are starting to see them as legitimate sports. Fans are betting more on eSports matches.

eSports have been around for a while now, but they are only now starting to gain the recognition they deserve.

In this article, we will review the basics of eSports, and we will present you the future perspectives for this type of sport.

The Beginnings of eSports

In 1972, Stanford University hosted the first known and documented eSports event. Twenty-four players competed to obtain a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, the event’s main sponsor. The game of choice was Spacewar!

In the 1980s, Atari hosted several competitions of Space Invaders. The events came to gather up to 10,000 competitors.

 But more than a sporting event, these competitions were a marketing strategy to make the console and its games known.

Other companies like Blockbuster and Nintendo also organized competitions during the 1980s and early 1990s, but these remained more of brand activity and not a formal sporting event.

In the 90s, the eSports scene took more shape thanks to the emergence of LAN (Local Area Network) technologies that allowed multiple players to compete against each other in games like DOOM, Quake, and Dota to name a few.

In 1996, the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) began in California. The tournament still exists and has already become a reference in the fighting game community.

 Its first editions had more than forty participants playing two different versions of Street Fighter. 

Later, EVO moved from California to Las Vegas. The most recent editions house eight other fighting games, ranging from the latest Street Fighter titles to Super Smash Bros.

But it wasn’t until 1998 that eSports started to become a widespread phenomenon, with the release of the real-time strategy (RTS) game StarCraft.

StarCraft quickly gained popularity because it is a game in which the player’s strategy and logical thinking are the fundamental factors to be successful in the game. This was a breath of fresh air and made a difference to FPS like Quake.

eSports today and in the future

In the 2000s, eSports tournaments began to become professional with the World Cyber Games (WCG) and the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC), and in 2002 the Major League Gaming (MLG) was launched.

But in the last decade is when eSports have really become a world phenomenon. eSports A Trend That Is Here To Stay

One of the most important milestones in recent years was in 2016 with the launch of the Overwatch game and the Overwatch League. This was the first major franchised league for eSports, and the game brought huge investment to eSports.

eSports continue to evolve and there are more and more diverse genres and game modes. Examples of the diverse landscape are Battle Royale games like Fornite, which deliver prize pools of up to 100 million dollars. 

Or games based on sports franchises like FIFA, whose tournaments involve real clubs and players.

In 2021, the global eSports market was valued at just over 1.08 billion U.S. dollars, an almost 50 percent increase from the previous year. 

Additionally, the eSports industry’s global market revenue was forecast to grow to as much as 1.62 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Asia and North America currently represent the largest eSports markets.

As we can see, eSports are a force that cannot be stopped and the one that must be paid attention to.

eSports and betting

More and more sportsbooks provide betting options for eSports tournaments and events. The total amount bet on esports in 2019 was nearly $8 billion, according to a report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

eSports bettors tend to be younger than traditional sports bettors, and they also demand much more dynamic and modern betting sites.

If you are looking to get into eSports betting at VIP Sportsbook, we can help you. We have a wide selection of betting lines for all kinds of sports.

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Overall, VIP Sportsbook is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a top-notch sportsbook.