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Sports Bookmakers Ready For Billions To Be Bet On Esports

If esports "really are the next big thing in sports," then betting on esports is "the next big thing in gambling, and established bookmakers are getting ready," according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG. Sky Betting spokesperson Adam Smith said, "This is the future of sports, and we have to focus on that so we don’t get left behind. We just need to put ourselves in the shop window a little more." Esports Head Moritz Maurer of London-based Genius Sports, which provides odds, live data feeds and integrity monitoring services, said, "We see this as a major opportunity. If you want to invest in esports gambling, this is the time." The unregulated esports gambling market, most of which "relied on a virtual currency called skins," was on pace to reach $7.4B this year, according to estimates from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming and Narus Advisors. That is 12 times larger than the esports bets "at regulated books." Not all of that money will migrate -- "the total includes underage users and people who have been playing in black markets like the U.S." Maurer said that about $2.2B of those wagers "translate easily to the regulated world." At Sky, that means more marketing, making their offerings clear to the esports crowd -- mostly young men who do not "consume sports in the more traditional ways." Denmark’s Danske Spil redesigned its esports book, "creating a look more in line with what gamers are used to." Dankse Spil esports Manager Kasper Nemeth said, "We can't approach them the same as our normal bettors, because the esports bettors are a group for themselves. Instead of trying to make them traditional sports bettors, we're giving them their own playground" (BLOOMBERG, 8/26).

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