Esports betting news in June saw a range of important partnerships, new tournaments by betting firms, data deals and more.
Esports Insider has created a list of the top esports gambling-related stories for the month of June. To find out more click the titles of the stories.
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Spotlighted story:
Much like the wider industry, through innovation, new types of products have emerged in the esports betting sector in recent years that go beyond the traditional pre-match and in-play offerings on major esports events. There’s been rising interest in the esports fantasy scene, for example, and bookmakers have started to utilise pick’ems to drive interest amongst ordinary fans.
Then there’s fast-esports, perhaps one of esports’ least known betting product offerings. In essence, fast-esports offer massive amounts of content to bookmakers in the form of supervised match-ups organised specifically for or by the bookmaker.
In order to shine a light on this new form of offering, and the wider esports betting product landscape, The Esports Journal interviewed Gal Ehrlich, CEO of betting content and data company BETER — a leader in the field of fast-betting content.
Victoria Police, the police department for the Australian state of Victoria, partnered with the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) to work on combating match-fixing and suspicious betting activity in esports. The partnership will allow Victoria Police’s Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit to receive betting alerts from ESIC if any matches show signs of suspicious betting activity.
This is the first time Victoria’s law enforcement is partnering with ESIC, though this is not the first time the department has worked on esports-related cases. In 2019, the Sporting Integrity Intelligence unit conducted the first Australian investigation into match-fixing in esports, resulting in several charges.
Swedish esports data firm Abios secured a permit to deliver its products in Sweden, following the introduction of legislation that tightens the regulatory environment for companies that serve gambling corporations.
Abios supplies betting companies with widgets for their site which indicate team records, live scores and statistics alongside odds. Game data offered by the company include CS:GO, League of Legends, VALORANT and Dota 2.
Skill-based wagering and gaming platform Skrmiish appointed João Pela, formerly of Seatfrog, as its Head of Data.
In his new role, Pela will help shape the company’s strategy by building a modern and effective data infrastructure, democratising data access, and implementing relevant machine-learning techniques, per a release.
Gaming data platform GRID announced a partnership with U.S. Integrity (USI), an integrity services provider for traditional sports. As a result, GRID will provide official esports data to USI to help expand the American company’s services into esports.
GRID’s partnership with USI aims to support the expansion of esports betting regulations in the United States. The data company will provide USI with consultancy and support from its in-house integrity team to help create solutions that cater to esports users and rights holders.
Esports betting company GG.BET announced a CS:GO showmatch series between French esports organisation Team Vitality and Ukrainian organisation Natus Vincere (NAVI) on July 8th, 2023. Dubbed ‘Match of LeGGends’, the event will see both teams field their updated rosters, with official livestreams hosting giveaways, competitions and prize draws during the day.
GG.BET is a partner of both esports organisations, so it made sense for the betting company to organise a show match in early July, before the CS:GO teams get back to competing in the BLAST Fall Groups and IEM Cologne. Both teams are former CS:GO Major winners, with Vitality winning the Paris Major in 2023, and NAVI winning the PGL Major Stockholm 2021.
Cryptocurrency betting company Thunderpick announced a new $600,000 (~£468,000) prize pool CS:GO tournament series called the Thunderpick CS:GO World Championship. The tournament, taking place from July to November 2023, will consist of regional qualifiers and a LAN finals. The prize pool figure will be paid out in Bitcoin.
Thunderpick is an esports betting platform that focuses on cryptocurrency betting. The company entered the public eye with a high-profile partnership with North American esports organisation Evil Geniuses, which included all of its rosters. The organisation will also be directly invited to the LAN finals of the World Championship, Thunderpick revealed.
