E-Sports Betting vs. Sports Betting: The Pros and Cons

Video games have long held a special place in the hearts of anybody who enjoys immersing themselves in different worlds. For some, however, video games are much more than this. 

They are a competitor’s dream as they wield their skill in a specific game to prove they are the best. This competitiveness and desire to be the best helped birth what we know today as e-sports.

While not all countries recognize e-sports as an official sport, many already do or are in discussion to begin doing so. Amongst the first to recognize it as a sport were South Korea, South Africa, Italy, Denmark, China, Finland, Germany, and the US.

With official recognition and a fanbase of millions worldwide, the industry has exploded in recent years, amassing a value of S1.38 billion in 2022. Alongside this, many sports bettors have begun showing interest in e-sport events, with some choosing to wager on these tournaments in favor of traditional sports. 

Many still ask what the difference between the two types of betting is and which one is better to place a wager on. Read on as we delve into the two betting options below and compare them. 

Similarities Between Sports Betting and E-Sports Betting

Betting between the two forms of sport holds distinct similarities, starting with the types of wagers that gamblers can place on events.

All the traditional sporting bet options are also available for e-sports. These include match betting, predicting who the tournament winner will be, backing a specific player, and putting your money behind certain events that could occur during the game. 

More than just bet types, e-sports mimic traditional sports because they have significant yearly tournaments. These are held to define the ultimate victor and who can claim the title of being the best. 

Because of these similarities, many of the sportsbooks and betting operators on sites like casinos.com allow bets on e-sports—something that was vastly less common just a few years ago. 

Differences Between Sports Betting and E-Sports Betting

Some of the differences that e-sports betting possesses compared to traditional sports betting are significant enough to make gamblers a bit apprehensive. 

The largest of these differences is that e-sports is still largely unregulated. While there are organizations, such as the International Esports Federation and the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations, that do this, they only regulate some of the tournaments. Many others are organized by players who want to compete and have no official overseer. 

Aside from this, e-sports vary significantly in how they are played and how a tournament can end. As such, bookmakers have more difficulty setting odds for these tournaments—unlike traditional sports games like football.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Sports Betting vs. E-Sports Betting

Both types of sports have clear advantages and disadvantages that can be drawn into parallels to determine which is the right fit for each player.

Tournament Frequency

When it comes to how often you can place a bet on a match or tournament, most people automatically think that traditional sports will be the obvious choice. However, that is not the case.

E-sports has been known to hold up to 15 games (or matches) in a week. As a standard, many more e-sports fixtures are held each year than sports like football or basketball. 

As such, if you want to place bets more regularly, e-sports is the clear option.

Betting Odds

As mentioned earlier, bookmakers sometimes have difficulty determining the moneyline or odds for e-sport competitions. This is because they don’t possess the same expertise for e-sports as they may have for more traditional sports. 

Because of this, the odds or moneylines bookmakers offer may not make sense to gamblers who have a good understanding of e-sports. Therefore, if you know the market, this could work in your favor because you could take advantage of the incorrect odds listed by sportsbooks to ensure you come out on top. 

However, if you also lack an understanding of the market, this could work against you since you would be using unreliable information to place your bet. 

Predictability

Traditional sports are hard to beat in terms of predicting who will win a match based on who will be playing. Not only do players from these types of sports have massive amounts of statistics and history to analyze, but the top players also generally remain so for extended periods. 

Inversely, e-sports has been known to have massive upsets. It is not uncommon for a newcomer to unseat a reigning champion. This makes predicting who could win a match exceedingly tough if you don’t know all there is to know. It also means that the list of top players is fluid and subject to change relatively often.

Adding to this unpredictability is the fact that e-sport tournaments are often delayed or postponed due to technical difficulties.

Home Advantages

Unlike traditional sports, which allow you to analyze the home or away advantage of an upcoming match, e-sports don’t offer this. Because the location for the event is usually neutral territory, it is fair game for anybody competing. 

Conclusion

Based on the above analysis, there is no clear answer to whether sports or e-sports betting is better. Each has unique advantages and disadvantages, and deciding which type of sport to put your money behind comes down to personal preference and knowledge of the games and participants.