Esports is New Hope of iGaming Industry as Global Sports Get Shut Down due to COVID-19 Pandemic

WHO has officially determined COVID-19 as pandemic and it has undoubtedly led the plethora of industries dormant thereby affecting the world economy to a significant extent. And the sports betting industry is no exception ! With void sports arenas and worldwide cancellation of sports events, sports betting businesses are witnessing a major downfall. Sports betting always proved to be one of the most engaging activities for the audience of different age groups. And the businesses associated with this industry always find it profitable to invest in this lucrative industry but COVID-19 outbreak has changed the industry scenario to a significant extent.

Effect of COVID-19 on Sports Events and Market Worldwide

The lifting up of federal ban on sports betting in the US had ignited the hope of more legalizations in other parts of the world in the upcoming years which is indeed a wonderful revenue-generation opportunity for the entrepreneurs of the sports betting industry. 2020 was one of the most expected years when sports betting could take off due to the expectation of many more states to legalize betting. But silencing of some major sports events has made the sportsbook owners to think of some other contingency plans.

• NCAA women’s and men’s basketball tournaments got cancelled
• NBA and NHL seasons got suspended
• Delay in starting MLB season

Not only the US but multiple sports events have been suspended or postponed all over the world due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Have a glance at some of the major sports events that have been cancelled throughout the world:-

• Shanghai World Cup Cancelled
• German Open Cancelled
• Swiss Open About to be Happened in Basel Cancelled
• Nippon Professional Baseball’s Regular Season Postponed
• EuroLeague Suspended
• Moscow’s European Championship Cancelled
• Indian Premier League Postponed
• UAE Tour Cancelled
• World Cup Finals to be Held in Las Vegas Cancelled

Aforementioned are just some but there exists a long list of sports events that have been either cancelled or postponed with a motive to avoid social gatherings for staying safe from the COVID-19.

In such a scenario of crisis, it becomes mandatory for the sports betting businesses to find out some alternative options to keep their audiences engaged and to keep their businesses unaffected from the current state of economic trouble. In such a state of vacuum, the entertainment voids are getting filled by the online arenas by confining the world in the exciting digital environments of ESPORTS.

Esports Leagues can be the Saviour Games in Town during COVID-19 Pandemic

• Global sports events have been grounded to the halt and for the upcoming few weeks, there are no chances of MLB, NBA, Euro 2020, National Rugby League or NHL. But, despite the coronavirus pandemic, one competition form is still getting stronger, that is, ESPORTS. 
• The major reason behind the cancellation of major sports events including European Zonal Olympic Qualifier, European Rugby Championship, etc is to avoid social gathering as a preventive measure against COVID-19. 
• Unlike sports like Hockey and Basketball, the billion-dollar esports industry does not demand any kind of social gathering. 
• Due to traditional sports’ devoid that is majorly felt by TV networks, sports fans and betting houses, an enticing business opportunity is lying ahead for the esports to engage a new count of audience. 
• The iGaming industry is turning its wheels from a hybrid of live and online events to an all online stream in the current scenario faced by the world and that can be surely witnessed as a lucrative chance for esports entrepreneurs to enhance their revenue.
• Buoyed by the esports game publishers and backed by corporate sponsors, the esports industry has ballooned in previous some time.

Perks that can be Availed by Esports Entrepreneurs in Current Scenario

• Esports have global appeal and a myriad of varieties starting from titles including the Madden Franchise to the cartoonish battles & shooter titles including Fortnite and Counter-Strike : Global Offensive. 
• As per an industry expert, there will be around 55,000 professional esports competition expected in this year thereby creating a wonderful opportunity for esports business owners to expand their business.
• Cocooning of people in front of screens these days will give a major attention to something that is a combination of competition, social distancing and action, in short, ESPORTS.
• Retain your existing Betting customer which you may lose because of lack of content due to COVID- 19. Due to cancellation of sports events worldwide, punters may not get betting opportunities  and will be looking for some other options to stay engaged. For retaining the existing customers of your betting platforms, you must opt for some alternative exciting options and esports undoubtedly top the list in terms of entertainment, competitiveness and adventure.

What you can do in Esports?

• Esports Betting Software
  Esports betting software proves to be a wonderful option for the punters seeking for satisfying their betting passion. Instead of sports events, your players will get the chance to place your bets on the esports events including League of Legends World Championship, OverWatch League and many more. You can opt for a feature-rich esports betting platform that covers all the requisite aspects including best-in-class odds integration, major esports leagues coverage, streaming software integration, tournament chats, multiple bet types, unlimited betting markets and much more.
  
  
• Fantasy Esports Software
  Fantasy esports platform perfectly combines the functionalities and conceptualizations of esports and fantasy sports. Fantasy esports platforms are developed while covering all the major features that offer the exact feel of playing in the real gaming arena to your players. Leaderboards, myriad of esports leagues supported, achievement badges, live streaming, draft types, etc are crucial features covered in our fantasy esports platform.
• Esports Tournament Management Platform
  Esports tournament management platforms allow you to manage the gameplay of multiple players in various online as well as offline esports tournaments centrally over a single platform. A myriad of esports titles and tournaments are supported over these platforms including LOL, Call of Duty, Fortnite, PubG and many more.
  
  

Esports to the Rescue

A myriad of esports leagues that have enhanced their legitimacy as well as mainstream visibility over the last decade by continually filling up the legendary arenas including Staples Center & Madison Square Garden with the fans, are also continuing through making a return to online roots.  Even the streaming platforms including YouTube and Twitch & the pro leagues for the esports games including League of Legends, Call of Duty, Overwatch and CS:GO are now getting an unexpected chance of broadening their audience and engaging the crowd that was previously preferring to watch NCAA basketball tournaments, NBA or NHL.

With the fall down of live event programming by wayside and shutting down of the schools, content creators as well as broadcasting streamers are witnessing a major influx of viewers. Though cancelled events have impacted some aspects of the fan experiences but esports did not get as much affected as the traditional sports in which live events are economic and financial drivers. The major broadcast of esports is focussed on online audiences rather than the live audience. And as per certain researches, online audiences have continued to grow substantially over past few weeks as much of the people all over the world are homelocked due to coronavirus. 

Current Facts and Figures

• Talking about internal figures, Geng.G, one of the leading esports organizations has witnessed an 18.2 % increase in the Chinese viewership in the past 2 months due to lockdowns in Wuhan. 
• ESL Pro League, featuring the Counter-Strike : Global Offensive Game has reported an increase in the audience to 146,000 on 16 March matches which was 115,000, an year ago. This is simply a 27 percent increase and a big figure for profit generation on just the first day of league.
• As per sources, it has been evidenced that Steam, the gaming platform has hit a great number of concurrent users on 15th of March from which 6.2 million are in-game and 20 million online.

An online world of entertainment

People will slowly start getting running out of things to watch on Netflix and will drive their ways towards surfing the web for finding entertaining stuff. Thus, there is a wonderful opportunity lying ahead for esports businesses to expand or launch their esports business and expand their audience. Current state of sports events have now given a chance to the crowd that had heard of esports but did not find time to check out the esports games. Thus, esports businesses who are already established but are not witnessing any great revenue figures of those seeking to launch in the esports industry, have all the balls on their court as this is the perfect time to try out your hands in this lucrative industry.
You can get started in the esports business through a feature-rich and ultra-modern esports platform that is perfectly built and integrated with all the requisite features and esports games that can entice your target audience. For such a state-of-the-art esports software, you can count on GammaStack as one of the most trusted and leading names in the esports software development industry.

GammaStack is a well-recognized name in the iGaming industry and is known for offering top of the line iGaming software solutions including esports software, online casino software, sports betting platform and fantasy sports software. Our esports offerings include esports betting platform, fantasy esports software, esports tournament management software, custom esports platform and much more. Our team strives hard to deliver top of the line software solutions to you that can significantly accelerate the success of your business and enhance your revenue generation. To keep your revenue generation unaffected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you must try out our esports offerings that will undoubtedly contribute in engaging a great count of audience for your business and enhance the retention rate of your existing clients.