E-sports provider Oddin, based in the Czech Republic, has entered the U.S. market that, says its founder, isn’t just for nerdy kids anymore. Many e-sports fans would rather watch them than the Super Bowl.
Marek Suchar, co-founder and managing partner of the company, which provides odds feeds for e-sports fans, told CDC Gaming Reports,
“This is a misconception among many media companies and bookmakers that esports is still for the younger kids,” adding “… But we are speaking about millennials in their thirties because popular esports titles like Dota, Counter-Strike, and League of Legends have been around for more than 10 years. Those people played it, watched it, and continue to do so. It is more appealing to watch an esports match for some of them than an NFL or soccer match.”
The company has been given permission by New Jersey to accept wagers on e-sports. But it is looking at other U.S. states and Canada too, since it recently legalized sports betting. E-sports are legal in Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington.
E-sports is growing rapidly. Last year e-sports revenues were estimated at $1.08 billion, a 14.5 percent growth over the year before. Suchar’s company calculates that there are 40 million e-sports fans in the U.S.
Many of them consist of people who make a lot of money and never gave up their passion for e-sports that they formed as kids a decade ago. “These are eyeballs that are watching, playing and doing other stuff around esports,” Suchar said. “They understand it.”
