SBC News ICE 2016 - Esports dissected

ICE 2016 – Esports dissected

The Betmarkets agenda boasted an impressive collection of speakers dissecting esports across three separate talks at ICE on Wednesday morning.

Unikrn Founder Rahul Sood skyped from Seattle, whilst Newzoo’s Peter Warman, Fnatic CEO Wouter Sleijffers and other notable figures discussed the growing industry at length with a focus on how it is vastly dissimilar to traditional sports, and the importance of appreciating this fact. 

The initial discussion titled ‘Fireside chat: An ABC(D) on esports’ featured esports lawyer and researcher Anna Baumann, Jas Purewal of Purewal and Partners law firm, and Newzoo’s Peter Warman with Mark Robson moderating. With the broad topic of esports debated extensively during the allotted time, one interesting point was whether esports is purely skill based or whether its closer to a game of luck.

Jas Purewal
Jas Purewal

Purewal made the integral point that as esports is an “umbrella term”, and that the many titles are all distinct from one another just as, for example, basketball differs to football. He gave his verdict that some are certainly games of skill whilst with others it’s perhaps more of a grey area. Hearthstone was highlighted as an example of the latter because there’s an element of luck in terms of which cards you’re dealt whilst still ultimately being a game of skill wherein strategy and preparation also play key roles.

Warman meanwhile reiterated the importance of strategy as evidence that the majority of esports titles are games of skill, and referenced esports player Manuel ‘Chubby’ Schenkhuizen who once stated his belief that esports title Starcraft is more complicated than chess.

____________________________________

The complexities of esports and betting partnerships

The discussion of betting in relation to esports was a poignant one. The relationship between companies operating in the esports sphere, and their relation to gambling companies is largely in its infancy though betting itself has been prevalent in esports for some time. The topic of skins betting was raised in the first discussion, and expanded upon by those in the late morning talk which included Fnatic’s Wouter Sleijffers and Marco Blume of Pinnacle Sports, and was moderated by Mark McGuinness.

woutersleijffersFnatic
Wouter Sleijffers, Fnatic

On the topic of partnerships between betting operators and esports companies, Purewal stated that “it’s inevitable that there’ll be a mixed response across the board.” 

He added that since some professional player salaries in general are three times higher now than at this point one year ago, companies will need to find the revenue to fund these increased wages and looking to sponsors, including regulated gambling operators, is a viable, obvious and available choice. Despite the lack of regulation around skins betting, it’s both common and popular with sites profiting from facilitating the trade of these virtual items.

With more and more major betting operators looking to position themselves as esports betting hubs, the verdict was that it’s vital that these operators understand that the esports community is a wholly different beast to those in traditional sports. The speakers unanimously agreed that companies launching in any area of esports must fully understand this distinction, and the particularities of this community’s character before proceeding. Marco Blume explained that both he and his traders at Pinnacle, a firm which has been offering betting markets in esports since 2010, are themselves esports fans and players, and were involved in the community to some extent long before they began to compile odds for it.

Purewal also encouraged operators looking to succeed in esports markets to “not only focus on turning esports fans into gamblers, but to get gamblers to see the potential of esports.” That is the notion that gamblers who know little about esports and moreover that are not fans themselves will choose to bet regardless, which Blume, the Head of Sportsbook at Pinnacle, backed up. 

Rahul Sood, Unikrn
Rahul Sood, Unikrn

Rahul Sood, who is the founder and CEO of esports betting platform Unikrn, stated that “esports is still a very nascent industry” and that the industry at large has a high viewership but it’s one which operators are not monetizing to anywhere close to the level that they could be.

He revealed that the vast majority of those that use the Unikrn platform are aged between 18-32 years, that is the millenials generation which traditional casinos are struggling to entice. Sood also discussed the popularity of ‘Unikoins’, a free product which launched on the platform less than six months ago. Already over 20 million Unikoins, which can be earned by completing tasks in games and can then be exchanged for prizes in the marketplace, have been traded and are proving particularly popular amongst a younger teenage demographic of players.

Sood also referred to F1 as a “dying sport” and confidently stated his belief that esports would overtake it within five to ten years.

 

Check Also

SBC News Thunderpick nets new esports partnership with Heroic

Thunderpick nets new esports partnership with Heroic

Scandinavian esports organisation Heroic has announced a new partnership with Thunderpick. The multi-year deal will …

SBC News Otto Bonning joins DATA.BET to ‘establish key partnerships’

Otto Bonning joins DATA.BET to ‘establish key partnerships’

DATA.BET has announced the appointment of Otto Bonning as the group’s new Head of Sales.  …

SBC News Adam Day of Bayes Esports on the customer journey & heightening esports turnover

Adam Day of Bayes Esports on the customer journey & heightening esports turnover

Adam Day, Senior Director, Commercials & Head of Sales at Bayes Esports, talks to SBC …