Gambling industry experts and executives speaking at the Casino Esport Conference in Atlantic City talked about the huge potential video games have in terms of sports betting.
Competitive Video Gaming Offers an Untapped Audience of 532 Million People Worldwide
Associated Press reported that according to experts and executives representing the gambling industry, there are a lot of profits to be gained if the industry manages to offer attractive enough betting products to people interested in esports worldwide.
There are hundreds of millions of people across the world that play video games. This is a huge audience that has not been fully tapped into by the gambling industry yet.
The Casino Esport Conference offered a great platform for casino industry representatives and video game firms to join forces into developing this underdeveloped market.
Numbers from gaming data leader Newzoo have shown that it is expected the audience for competitive video games to grow by 8.7% only this year. This corresponds to 532 million people worldwide.
Additionally, video games are expected to account for a global turnover of $1.38 billion in 2022 with China being the biggest contributor.
Casinos Trying to Get a Piece of the Esports Pie
It is not like the casino industry has been sitting still and waiting for this lucrative financial opportunity to pass by. Casinos have already taken steps to get involved and attract part of the massive esports audience.
The Luxor in Las Vegas has already invested in a massive esports arena that spans over 30,000 feet dedicated only to esports events and tournaments. Casinos in Atlantic City have also tried to attract esports audiences by hosting such events.
However, new regulations will be needed in order to ensure that this new market is run in a responsible, safe, and transparent way.
New Jersey and Nevada are already considering and exploring legislative changes that will cater to the oversight and collection of tax revenue from this new and growing wagering market.
Nonetheless, experts have pointed to the fact that video gamers spend their time online and the gambling industry should not focus so much on in-person events but try to meet the gamers where they are– on the internet.
Seth Schorr, chairman of Las Vegas’ Downtown Grand casino, has offered valuable advice: “It’s good to fish where the fish are. They’re online, not in the casinos. Start online, get them into the database before you bring them into the casinos.”
Incorporating esports betting into the product offerings of casinos and attracting new audiences will be a long process but there is definitely a bright future for esports wagering.