What’s Next For Esports Betting?
Ondrej Silhavy, Esports Business Development Manager at BETBY, believes esports will enter 2026 as a fully mature vertical in the iGaming ecosystem, no longer dependent on pandemic-driven spikes or seasonal cycles.
A NEW WAY OF ENGAGEMENT
One of the clearest signs of esports’ strength is that global viewership in 2024 passed the levels seen during the COVID boom, reaching more than 3.2 billion hours watched. Te number is impressive, but what matters even more is the reason behind it, with co-streaming becoming one of the main drivers of growth.
Instead of relying only on official tournament broadcasts, publishers now work with content creators who can bring in their own audiences.
A good example is Valorant Champions 2025. Te event reached 47.58 million hours watched, and surprisingly, most of that didn’t come from the official broadcast. Community casters accounted for 58.4 per cent of all viewership, with creators like FNS (3.87M hours) and Tarik (2.20M hours) becoming the go-to way fans followed the tournament. For many viewers, they are the show.
Te same happens in Brazil with Gaules, who has turned Counter- Strike into a national pastime with broadcasts that feel like nationwide watch-alongs. And in Spain, Mixwell has helped push the country into the top ranking of global esports viewership simply because fans like watching the game through his lens.
Tis is changing what “watching esports” means. Beyond the matches, people are now following a personality they trust, a style of commentary they enjoy, and a community they feel part of.
With co-streaming becoming the standard, tournaments in 2026 will start adapting to it, adding media segments built for creators, adjusting schedules, and even creating broadcast packages designed around influencer reach.
102 THE RISE OF MULTI-TITLE MAJOR EVENTS
Tis evolution in how fans consume esports is mirrored by another equally important shift in how tournaments themselves are structured. For years, the biggest moments in esports came from standalone events like Worlds, Te International, or Call of Duty Champs. But now, that model is being challenged by multi-title competitions such as the Esports World Cup, which features 25 different games.
Tis approach does something traditional events never could: mixing fanbases. A Mobile Legends supporter can suddenly start following a Counter-Strike storyline because both matches impact their favourite team’s overall ranking. Te event becomes a long, connected narrative rather than a single one-off tournament.
In many ways, the Esports World Cup is becoming esports’ version of the Olympics, not only due to its size but because of how it brings different communities together. And with major investment coming from regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which are trying to become esports hubs, we can expect more events of this kind in 2026.
For sportsbooks, this is a big opportunity. Tese events run for weeks or months, offering constant engagement instead of the usual peaks and breaks. In the end, it will translate into a more stable calendar for operators with more consistent touchpoints for fans, benefiting both sides.
FROM REGIONAL PHENOMENON TO GLOBAL DRIVER
And just as the structure of events is broadening, so is the type of esports drawing global audiences. Mobile esports used to be seen as
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