Esports Betting and the Gen Z Frontier Betby


Te Esports World Cup is already one of the biggest sportsbook events in the calendar because it brings the whole esports scene into one place, and operators should not underestimate what that means.


Tis year’s edition in Paris will gather 24 games across 25 tournaments, with more than 2000 players and a prize pool above $75m. Tese figures, along with the fact that fans from 100+ countries will travel to France to attend the world’s biggest esports and gaming event, speak for themselves. Plus, the tournament takes place during the summer period, when many traditional sports calendars are quieter, giving sportsbooks a rare chance to build major acquisition and retention campaigns around esports.


More broadly, the event also comes at a time when esports engagement keeps breaking records. Esports Charts reported that in 2025 the industry reached a new all-time high of 3.3 billion hours watched, excluding mainland China, up 1.5 per cent year-on-year.


However, despite the important betting volume expected from the Esports World Cup, the tournament will offer operators something that is much more valuable for their long-term sustainability: a clear view on how younger audiences consume betting, entertainment and competitive gaming today.


ESPORTS FANS MOVE DIFFERENTLY


Younger esports audiences - especially Gen Z users - are used to fast, flexible and fragmented content. Tey watch official broadcasts, jump into co-streams, follow creators, consume highlights, react to clips and move between titles. Tis means they can start the evening with Counter-Strike, check a Valorant result through a creator, watch a League of Legends clip on social media, and then open a sportsbook because the next Dota 2 map is about to start.


Tis reality is already visible in major tournaments. At Valorant Champions 2025, 58.4 per cent of the event’s 47.58 million hours watched came from co-streamers rather than official broadcasts, with creators such as FNS and Tarik becoming central to how fans followed the competition. For many younger users, the match is only one part of the experience.


And once operators understand that, the next question becomes product design: how do you build a sportsbook experience for users who are used to constant movement, instant context and entertainment that never really stops?


SHORTER FORMATS & MORE TOUCHPOINTS


Te rise of short-form entertainment has changed how users expect digital products to feel, and sportsbooks are not immune to that shift. For instance, YouTube Shorts alone has passed 70 billion daily views, which says a lot about the pace of modern content consumption.


Tat said, not every product needs to be reduced to a few seconds in order to succeed. Te bigger point is that users expect action, clarity and speed instead of spending too long


181


Te rise of short-form entertainment has changed how users expect digital products to feel, and sportsbooks are not immune to that shift. For instance, YouTube Shorts alone has passed 70 billion daily views, which says a lot about the pace of modern content consumption.


Te creator, the community, the chat and the surrounding content are all part of the same journey. Te conclusion for sportsbooks is clear: esports users need a different type of UX compared to what most platforms offer today.


Take one simple example. In traditional sports, the rhythm is easier to predict: there are established matchdays, familiar leagues and well-known betting habits. Nonetheless, esports is more dynamic because matches usually happen across time zones, formats change from title to title, and communities behave differently depending on the game and region.


A CIS Dota 2 bettor, a Brazilian Counter-Strike fan, a Southeast Asian Mobile Legends supporter and a European Valorant viewer may all fall under the esports category, but their expectations are very different.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254