Speaking during the ‘Betting for the next generation’ event at Kambi’s Festival of Sportsbook, which Gambling Insider is an exclusive partner of, Fröberg explained how the esports industry has merely scratched the surface of what is possible in terms of betting.
Fröberg spoke in detail about both audiences and revenue within this growing vertical, saying: “There are a lot of fans, and it's growing very rapidly. In terms of viewership numbers and fanbases, it's already bigger than most of the top traditional sports around the world.
“Obviously it’s not as big as soccer and other absolutely top sports, but it’s bigger than most of the very popular sports.
“Revenue in esports is fairly high but it’s still very early days, and it’s growing very quickly. We are currently expected to grow at 13.4% CAGR over the coming three to five years.”
Fröberg also provided an in-depth overview of the audience of esports, noting that while some commentators may view the relatively young fanbase as a negative aspect, this isn’t necessarily the viewpoint of those with a deeper knowledge of esports.
“It's very interesting to see that esports is such a global phenomenon, and obviously the audience is quite young,” said Fröberg. “The latest statistic that we have is that 30% of the esports audience is between 25 and 34 years old, and 32% of the audience is between 16 and 24 years old. So that means that 62% of the audience is between 16 and 34 years old.
“One might say that might be troubling because it’s such a young audience,” he continued. “I would say the exact opposite. It creates huge opportunity, and that's really why this industry is so interesting, because this audience is just now coming of age.
“It’s a very digital-native audience, they're open to trying new things online, are very used to purchasing services online, and the disposable income of this audience is bound to increase.”
A full review of the event will be available in the July/August Gambling Insider magazine, while you can register with Kambi to watch the rest of the Festival of Sportsbook, with sessions also available on demand from next week.
