More companies are making a shift towards esports betting with Newgioco expanding into competitive video gaming wagering in Italy and Win.gg, a news service, launching a dedicated esports betting service.
Esports Betting Offer Grows with Newgioco in Italy
With professional sports on hiatus, companies have increased their footprint and involvement in the esports segment – the latest entrant, iGaming operator, and supplier Newgioco.
The company has launched a new esports betting solution focused on Italy at the same time Win.gg has rolled out a new esports betting offer of its own. This sudden increase in the activity is well-timed and responds to higher demand for electronic sports at a time when most other sports have been suspended.
Newgioco will use the Multigioco brand to cover a broad range of events in the traditional esports vertical, including:
- Dota 2
- League of Legends
- Starcraft 2
The platform is equally adding simulated and virtual sports and video games based on mainstream sports, to name:
- NBA 2K20
- F1 eSeries
- MotoGP Esports
According to Newgioco, the esports offer comes just on time to pick up for the vacuum left by the mass-cancellation of professional sports events since the beginning of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Even though most sportsbooks are cagey about their results in terms of volume, Newgioco reported a drop for March, prompting the sportsbook to look into alternative solutions.
While many sportsbooks are in the same pickle, Newgioco chief executive Michele Ciavarella has said that the company is determined to keep its team fully employed while the global sports suspension lasts.
“The first result of our whole team approach is the launch of esports in the online channel in Italy within one week of regulatory approval. The rapid go-to-market of esports offerings reflects the talent and efficiency of our design team and flexibility of our Elys platform.”
She further added that the first significant approach to diversify the portfolio had been to add esports. Ciavarella described the esports market as a “rapid go-to market”.
Win.gg Joins the Esports Bandwagon
Esports odds site and news service Win.gg has also decided to step up its game, bidding its time to release its dedicated esports betting platform, Winners.bet. Moving forward, the company will allow esports fans to place bets on popular competitions in various gaming competitions based on:
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- League of Legends
- Dota 2
- Overwatch
- StarCraft 2
The company’s executive, Serge Vardanyan, has commented that in light of the global demand for esports betting, Win was happy to be able to offer this kind of entertainment. Meanwhile, a lot has been happening in the esports betting sector.
Nevada approved multiple esports competitions as viable contests to bet on, including eNASCAR, CS: GO and Dota 2, to name just a few, becoming the first state in the United States to have officially given the go-ahead.
Providers of betting solutions, such as EveryMatrix, have responded to the growing interest in the segment by preparing accessible and adaptable esports offer to allow any sportsbooks to integrate competitive esports odds and lines.