Esports betting growth: Five insights from the Oddin.gg 2025 report
Esports betting growth continued in 2025, with most major titles recording double-digit increases in both betting volume and bet count. But the bigger story is not simply that the market is expanding. It is that bettor behaviour is changing.
The Oddin.gg 2025 Esports Betting Review draws on data from billions of bets across its network of sportsbook partners. On the surface, the numbers look familiar: Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 and League of Legends continue to dominate betting activity, while VALORANT and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang are gaining ground.
What stands out in the data, however, is how people are betting. Average stakes are increasing, live betting now dominates activity, and bettors are moving beyond simple match outcomes into more detailed markets.
That evolution is starting to resemble the structure seen in traditional sports betting, where football, tennis and basketball all sit inside the same sportsbook but behave differently. Each sport has its own betting patterns, its own audience and its own types of markets.
Here are five trends in the data that highlight how the esports market is starting to mature.
1. Bettors are staking more money
One of the clearest changes in 2025 is the rise in average stake sizes during major events.
League of Legends Worlds recorded the highest average bet in the report at €77, representing a 166 percent increase year on year. Other major tournaments also saw noticeable growth, including VALORANT Champions with an average bet of €47 and The International in Dota 2 with an average stake of €28, up 17 percent from the previous year.
Higher stakes usually indicate growing confidence among bettors. As markets become more familiar and audiences gain a better understanding of the games, wagering behaviour tends to become more deliberate.
2. Player markets are gaining traction
Another shift is the growing interest in betting on individual performance rather than just match outcomes.
In Counter-Strike 2, player and utility markets expanded rapidly during the year. Activity in these markets grew by as much as 80 percent between major tournaments, showing that bettors are increasingly engaging with the finer details of gameplay.
This mirrors a wider trend seen in mature sports betting markets, where player-focused bets have become a major driver of engagement. Instead of simply picking a winner, bettors are exploring statistics, player form and in-game actions.
3. Teams are becoming the main draw
Another pattern emerging in esports betting is the growing importance of teams.
The report found that matches involving popular organisations consistently generated stronger betting engagement, even when the tournament itself was not considered one of the season’s biggest events. In other words, bettors are increasingly following teams rather than the competitions they are playing in.
This kind of loyalty is common in traditional sports. Football fans, for example, tend to follow their club across multiple competitions, and betting interest often follows the same pattern.
4. Live betting now dominates
Live betting has firmly established itself as the dominant format for esports wagering. Across the titles covered in the report, between 70 and 85 percent of bets are placed in-play, depending on the game.
That is not particularly surprising. Esports matches often shift rapidly, with momentum swinging from one team to another within minutes. Live betting allows viewers to react to those moments in real time. It also appeals to different types of bettors; casual viewers may place small bets while watching a stream, while more experienced players use their knowledge of the game to identify opportunities as matches unfold.
5. Regional leagues are sustaining engagement
Historically, esports betting activity tended to spike around major international tournaments before dropping sharply in between. But in 2025, that pattern began to change.
Domestic and regional competitions are now generating more consistent engagement throughout the year. This is particularly visible in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, where regional leagues in Southeast Asia are driving steady betting activity across the calendar rather than relying solely on global championships.
For sportsbooks, this kind of consistency is important. It means esports betting is becoming less dependent on a handful of high-profile events and more comparable to traditional sports leagues, where regular fixtures maintain interest week after week.
A market that is starting to settle
Looking at the report as a whole, these developments suggest that esports betting is entering a more stable phase. Growth is still strong, but the more important change lies in how bettors are interacting with the product. They are staking more money, exploring deeper markets, following teams more closely and betting live during matches.
In other words, esports betting is starting to look less like a novelty category and more like an established part of the sportsbook.
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