The esports phenomenon in the Czech Republic is steadily growing. Video game competitions such as FIFA, NHL or Counter Strike are not only attracting more and more viewers, but also creating profitable businesses worth millions of euros. The proof of this is that more and more players are also appearing in tournaments of this type.
“In recent years, esports has risen significantly in the rankings of the most popular sports, especially in real-time betting. Even in 2019 they were at the level of badminton, rounding out the top ten. In 2023 they are already in fifth place behind tennis, football, hockey and basketball and account for over 8% of all live bets on Tipsport.”said its spokesman Jiří Hadrava, who notes that the number of bets increased by 70% in the first half of this year compared to the previous one.
Bookmakers themselves point out that young people are largely to blame for this phenomenon. It is those generations that grew up playing video games that are most interested in betting on this type of competition today.
“In the Czech context, esports is still a relatively young industry, which is also in line with the group that is interested in it. In general, we can talk about the age range from twenty to thirty years. In the 40+ category, players continue to favor traditional sports.”Fortuna spokesman Petr Shrain said.
According to the Czech Esports Association, the estimated size of the national market last year was almost 7 million euros, and it has increased six times over the past six years. On the other hand, the estimated total size of the global esports market exceeds 1.1 billion euros.
