SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
With an estimated fanbase of 134 million worldwide, and growing fast, it’s no wonder that eSports is catching the eye of investors. AlphaDraft, Vulcun, and Unikrn are three firms which offer fans the opportunity to play fantasy leagues, and place bets on the big eSports events such as those held by Gfinity and others.
Ali Moiz is the founder of Vulcun, a firm which has raised over $13.4m (£8.6m) and paid out over $1.1m (£713,000) in prize money to over 117,000 fans in its opening three months. Players create their own fantasy teams and are able to compete in daily competitions
This consistency and continuity is important. Moiz stated: “Since fantasy sports is a game of skill, it allows sports fans that really get into it to consistently win over time.” Moiz believes that the fantasy eSports industry could be worth $250m (£162m) a year by 2020.
Over at AlphaDraft the firm has set its ambitions high, as they aim to have over one million active users by the end of 2015. To help achieve this end they will award $5m (£3.2m) in cash and prizes in their first year. This is possible due to the $4.2m (£2.7m) the firm gained from a range of investors. These include David Stern; the former NBA Commissioner, Greycroft, Metaphorphic, WME, Upfront, IDG, KEC, and MV.
Unikrn CEO and co-founder, Rahul Sood, has said that they are offering “safe and legal wagering” in a traditional format. Unikrn’s future is very secure after they amassed considerable investment, including an exclusive deal with Tabcorp, a $5bn (£3.24bn) Australian wagering company. Unikrn have raised over $3m (£1.9m), with a over $5m (£3.2m) committed.
These investments were based partly on the fact that Unikrn was built on an online community of close to 10 million gamers, spread over 100 countries. It provides fans access to live streams, live discussions, and competitive odds. Currently users can bet on the outcomes of individual matches and tournaments, with further betting markets set to open.
Sood explained how the value of typical wagers placed has risen 350% since Unikrn began. He said: “Obviously there is a learning curve associated with betting on eSports, but as you’ll see with our future products we’ll be able to address this and make it accessible to anyone in a legal jurisdiction to participate.”
