Social media has been integral to many industries since the start of this century. Still, it is even more integral to eSports betting as the market would not exist without the rise of the internet. It’s a stretch to suggest that there wasn’t a professional video gaming market before the internet, but it had nowhere near the traction or the visibility it does now.
You could apply this point to the entire betting market as well, which also owes a lot to the exponential rise of the internet. However, with both markets overlapping over the last two decades, many digital elements have contributed to the rise of eSports betting markets.
Our focus today is on how social media has played a pivotal role and continues to shape the marketing strategies for eSports tournaments and the burgeoning betting markets that underpin them.
By the way, we’re not just talking about one specific area of professional video gaming here. A whole host of markets appeal to betting companies and sports bettors. Games like Dota 2 and Valorant have pioneered how avid gamers and casual sports bettors view these gambling markets.
As they channel into the essence of professional competition, betting markets for Valorant follow a similar blueprint to other pro video gaming betting markets, as you can see at https://thunderpick.io/esports/valorant – markets mirror many pro sports, including outrights and in-play markets.
They’re one of around a dozen games with a vast international audience, and given that they’re able to sell out stadiums and bring in audiences of millions online, it’s not a surprise to see gambling markets move in correlation with this demand. Whether it’s Valorant, Dota 2 or Rainbow Six, these markets’ popularity has soared over the last few years.
Marketing companies now spend most of their time and effort developing their brands on globally renowned platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Last year’s Thunderpick World Championship brought together some of the top names in professional video gaming. Still, the event would not have been anywhere near as successful without the multi-pronged marketing approach across social media.
Professional video gaming markets have not just channelled into this same demand; they have pioneered how people watch the sport. Some of the world’s most prominent gamers, and those who have made millions from turning their passion for video gaming into their profession, have grown their brands via the organic grassroots approach they have generated via their social media platforms.
Twitch, for instance, became the “YouTube for gamers,” allowing content creators to bypass traditional avenues to speak to their fans. Sports betting companies noticed this seismic change and adjusted their marketing ideas accordingly.
Prominent creators and gamers had gathered gaming fans who were fixated on the rise of eSports. A large chunk of this market is the target audience for eSports betting, so this became the primary focus for betting companies’ marketing campaigns. Prominent teams and players at key Rainbow Six tournaments and other landmark titles became the target for sports betting advertisers.
They provided prominent names in eSports with affiliate marketing strategies, discounts, and ways to incentivize their audience to bet on eSports. Although these markets were already gaining traction, social media injected a new dimension of possibilities.
Online sports betting has been experiencing colossal demand since it first came to market at the beginning of this century. Although awareness and visibility have existed since then, they have mainly centered around traditional sports.
While they drive most of the market, those interested in eSports betting may not have accessed these markets, so what might be commonplace for people who have bet on sports was foreign to those who enjoyed video gaming but had not placed a wager before.
Again, social media broke down these barriers, and it wasn’t just prominent gamers throwing their two cents in; affiliate marketers and prominent content creators would showcase how they were placing bets on these markets.
Affiliate marketing is a tricky science, and while balancing PR with their approach is usually the best model, the sheer scope and appeal of the eSports betting markets meant that social media and those with an audience were invaluable regarding the market’s growth.
While the internet has forever changed the shape of the betting market, social media marketing did not begin playing such an integral role in the industry’s development until the early 2010s.
It wasn’t until the beginning of the 2010s that eSports truly flourished as a standalone market. Within a few years, it had developed huge digital audiences in the millions.
Ultimately, it was inevitable that a betting market would flourish with all of these components to weigh up—and while social media has transformed the way marketing companies operate across the industry, eSports betting’s success was inevitable, regardless of the medium of advertising used.
