Can Crypto and Esports Replace the Traditional Sports Pub?
Key Takeaways
- League of Legends tournament viewership has rivaled the Super Bowl in recent years.
- Counter-Strike is the most popular esports to bet on.
- Video game players and crypto users prefer online communities.
The sports pub was once at the center of sports fan culture, where friends (and occasionally foes) gathered to root for their favourite sports teams.
However, it is being reimagined in the digital age as the arrival of cryptocurrency and esports drives a shift toward virtual, alternative commutes where competitive gaming and crypto-powered betting collide.
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Esports Growth
Esports is a massive niche industry built entirely on competitive video games, and continues to grow rapidly.
This emerging sector is dominated by highly competitive games such as League of Legends (LoL), StarCraft II, and Counter-Strike.
With tens to hundreds of millions of monthly players, these titles draw similar numbers to their major esports tournaments.
One notable example was LoL’s 2019 World Championship, which pulled tens of millions of views across its 5-day event. Over 100 million viewers watched the final.
This is higher than the Super Bowl that year.
Estimates suggest the esports market will reach $5 billion in 2025 and could reach up to $50 billion in the next ten years if it maintains its current pace .
Similarly, the esports betting market is also expected to increase, growing from roughly $2.34 billion in 2023 to over $3 billion by 2027.
The New Era
YouTube, Twitch, and other video-sharing/streaming platforms have become irreplaceable in an increasingly virtual world.
Now, traditional sports fans can watch major games alongside their favourite streamer online in their community, wherever they want. This offers a new way for players to engage with the medium.
But it’s esports and video games that dominate the streaming era. And they’re often content-rich experiences, giving viewers options to view and interact with their favourite games and esports teams.
There’s still some room for growth, as esports betting pales in comparison to traditional sports, which are estimated to have earned $72 billion in the U.S. throughout 2024.
Crypto Enters
With crypto thrown into the mix, it’s a different experience.
Crypto sites can offer some unique betting options for esports. Sites like Polymarket allow users to wager on simple binary outcomes.
Other sites offer unusual options, like which player will get the first kill or which player will crash out following a loss.
There’s also a myriad of cryptos a user can leverage to bet with, such as instant payouts, gamified rewards systems, and other occasional perks.
In addition, the worlds of crypto and esports have never been closer, with Coinbase and other crypto giants signing major partnerships with esports titans like Riot Games.
Cultural Shifts
Arguably, this shift could come with some sacrifices, namely the physical/social side of meeting at a location with people you know in real life.
For years, people have been gathering in person and virtually, wherever they can, to watch esports events.
Few communities are as large and passionate about their hobby as the video game audience.
As a result, esports could catch up with sports viewership and betting activity as crypto and video game tournaments continue to gain momentum with younger generations.
There’s also the matter of millennials and Gen Z, the biggest adopters of video games and crypto in history, being the lowest consumers of alcohol than previous generations.
Naturally, this is playing a big role in the cultural shift taking place today. Sports bars don’t exist solely to broadcast major sports events; that’s just the hook.
Crypto is…
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