Gambling Commission data shows thriving esports vertical is no flash in the pan
Esports contributed sharp revenue rise for operators beyond May 2020 while returns on poker and virtuals diminished
The spectacular rise in esports betting shows no signs of abating, even after the Covid-19 lockdown, according to the latest data published by the Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The vertical has enjoyed a mind-blowing annual ascent, generating a 2,922% uptick in operator gross gambling yield (GGY) between March 2019 and March 2020.
The UKGC data, garnered from the biggest operators covering approximately 80% of the market, displays a rise from just over £50k combined GGY in March 2019 to £1.5m for the same month in 2020.
Esports experienced an upsurge in popularity during the lockdown period, along with poker and virtuals, after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out real-life sporting events.
The data represents a 124% month-on-month increase in operator GGY between March and April 2020, while poker contributed 66% more and virtuals GGY rose by 41%.
However, esports is the only ‘niche’ vertical to have continued to report a revenue rise into May as the real-life sporting calendar resumed.
Operator GGY generated by virtuals declined by 7.4% between April and May, dropping to 8.6% for poker, while esports revenue upsurged by 36%, from £3.4m in April to £4.6m in May.
Despite the impressive growth, esports still lags someway behind both virtuals and poker in terms of total GGY generated by UKGC-licensed operators.
The vertical accrued £4.6m of combined GGY in May, while that figure increases substantially to £11.3m for virtuals and £18.3m for poker.
EGR previously assessed the UKGC data to discover the Covid-19 virtual sports boom was likely to have been a fleeting trend.