Although the reach of eSports in Germany is generally considered to be low compared to other European countries – penetration now stands at 8% of the population – the market is anticipated to get bigger and bigger in the near future, something that is already being reflected in the increasing interest of bettors on eSports.
Betting sites and online bookmakers, listed at https://allbets.tv/de/bookmakers/, are starting to pay attention to eSports bets, they dedicate whole sections to eSports, and they utilize sophisticated systems for offering attractive and competitive odds to users.
eSports’ growth in Germany and eSports betting
eSports are gradually gaining a prominent place in Germany in the past few years. In fact, for three consecutive years, the eSports market has been growing at a double-digit rate, and it is expected to surpass 180 million euros by the end of 2023. And while there is still much room for growth, both participation in eSports and viewership of eSports is picking up, leapfrogging other countries with ‘traditionally’ greater eSports penetration.
Growth of eSports concurs with growth in eSports betting. The greater the penetration and reach of eSports in a population, the greater the interest of punters to wager on competitive gaming.
And in turn, the greater the interest of online bookmakers and betting sites to generate demand for eSports bets and make these betting markets more enticing for their users. For that, they focus on providing very attractive odds, giving generous bonuses, or even absorbing taxes to make their offerings more lucrative.
What fuels eSports growth in Germany?
The growth of eSports in Germany can be attributed to several factors, but the two most critical ones are discussed below.
1) Germany is now the host of many world-class, top-notch, popular eSport tournaments and competitions, and several key stakeholders of the industry are located or headquartered in the country.
ESL (Electronic Sports League), which is one of the biggest eSports companies in the world, has set its headquarters in Germany and has been organizing and hosting a number of key events in the last few years. Earlier this year, ESL partnered with FACEIT, a very big name in the industry, in a move that sets the standards all too high and is, in fact, very promising for the future of eSports.
Germany is also hosting other world-class events as well. The regular season games of the European League of Legends Championship, the iconic league that attracts millions of viewers from around the globe, are taking place in Berlin (in designated studios).
But there is more to Germany’s participation in the organization and hosting of such events – the Virtual Bundesliga has been running for 10 consecutive years now (since 2012), and it has become the absolute game with professional football clubs and also it is the only competition of professional football league that is integrated to the FIFA video game.
With such a record of hosting events and organizing competitions, it becomes clear that the media have much interest in covering and broadcasting eSports, something which further fuels the already growing attention of viewers.
2) The pandemic brought into the eSports fanship too many people who were locked down in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak. Germans like sports very much. They like to watch sports, participate in sports, and bet on sports. But the pandemic placed unprecedented restrictions on any physical manifestation of sports. So, people turned to eSports, and this shift is sustained up to today.
It is estimated that during the first phase of the pandemic, eSports popularity skyrocketed in Germany. Almost 52% of the current eSports’ German audience has admitted to being exposed to eSports games in the first six months of 2020, right in the middle of lockdowns and restrictive measures. Reach rose sharply in the following year as well, bringing more and more Germans closer to watching and being fans of eSports.
eSports in Germany has a very promising future as a segment of the sports industry and as a market of the betting sector.