Abios Releases 2023 ‘State of the Esports Betting Industry’ Report

Abios, part of the Kambi Group, has analyzed the esports betting data of 2022, across the Kambi network, to provide insights into the leading titles, teams and leagues (by turnover) to “shed light on the state of the esports industry from a betting perspective and provide insights for the year to come.”

The report identifies and discusses the most popular esports titles, why Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) dominates the esports betting space, the rise of VALORANT, the most popular leagues by betting turnover, the teams that are most popular with bettors and the most popular type of betting.

Most Popular Esports Betting Titles

Unsurprisingly, the report reveals that CS:GO is the most popular game in esports betting by turnover, followed by League of Legends (LoL), Dota 2, and Valorant.

These are the top 10 most popular titles by betting turnover:

1. CS:GO
2. League of Legends
3. Dota 2
4. VALORANT
5. Call of Duty
6. Rainbow Six Siege
7. Overwatch 2
8. StarCraft 2
9. Rocket League
10. LoL: Wild Rift

Abious states that CS:GO dominates the esports betting space due to its fast and easy-to-understand gameplay, frequent high-tier CS:GO tournaments, and more opportunities for sportsbook sponsorships.

League of Legends and Dota 2 betting are second and third respectively in the ranking. This is likely due to the time it takes bettors to understand these titles, the fewer high-tier events being held during the season and betting-related advertising restrictions.

In fourth place is VALORANT betting. Valorant is a young title. Since 2020, sustainable growth has been enjoyed by this game, hosting tournaments such as VALORANT Champions which had over 1.5 million peak viewers tuning in, besting tournament viewership of high-tier CSGO and Dota 2 tournaments. Overall, Abios suggests that the future of the VALORANT betting market looks bright and may compete with larger esports.

Top Esports Leagues by Betting Turnover

The report also revealed the most popular leagues, with some of them being franchised, by betting turnover:

1. Intel Extreme Masters (CS:GO)
2. ESL Pro League (CS:GO)
3. BLAST Premier (CS:GO)
4. LPL (LoL)
5. PGL Major (CS:GO)
6. LCK (LoL)
7. LCS (LoL)
8. LEC (LoL)
9. Pinnacle Water Series (CS:GO)
10. Elisa Invitational (LoL)

CS:GO and League of Legends clearly dominate this list. In CS:GO, ESL dominates the tier one competitive scene, hosting both the Intel Extreme Masters and the ESL Pro League.

LoL esports leagues reveal an interesting hierarchy. Seemingly, thanks to their incredibly competitive level and more successful performances on international stages, the LPL (China) and LCK (Korea) leagues stand out as the most popular in terms of betting turnover.

Most Popular Esports Teams

The teams most fans have placed bets on are those with high-performing rosters. Here’s a look at the top 10 esports teams by betting turnover:

1. FaZe Clan
2. Natus Vincere
3. G2 Esports
4. Team Vitality
5. Team Liquid
6. Heroic
7. Astralis
8. ENCE
9. Ninjas in Pyjamas
10. Cl0ud9

One one the reasons Abios lists as a potential variable for the popularity of betting on these teams is how often they make it to the final matches of a competition. Teams that consistently make it deep into tournaments typically have a larger number of viewers and are more amenable to esports betting.

Live Esports Betting: Most Popular Type of Wagering

The report also described how the majority of esports betting within the Kambi network is live betting (60%) as opposed to pre-match betting (40%). This strongly indicates bettors’ strong inclination towards betting on ongoing fast-paced games versus the more traditional act predicting the winner of a match. Abios suggests that an enduringly resilient live betting option “with high uptime [is the] winning recipe for esports betting going forward.”