Blask Data Shows Esports Betting Demand Ranks Third Among Sports in Unbranded Searches
TL;DR — Blask tracking across 100 markets finds esports betting at 0.7% of online betting demand, rising to 2.4% excluding generic searches. It ranks third behind football and American football, with peaks during Esports World Cup periods and Brazil leading absolute volume. The data identifies esports as a gateway for younger bettors.
SCCG Take — Operators should align esports betting products and promotions with events like the EWC to capture the next generation before regulatory barriers in select markets limit access.
Blask data shows unbranded demand for esports betting exceeds that for most traditional sports in several countries. The category serves as an entry point for a new iGaming audience that often skips conventional sports wagering. The third edition of the Esports World Cup runs from 6 July to 23 August 2026 in Paris, featuring more than 2 000 players and 200 clubs competing across 24 games for a record prize pool of $75M.
Across 100 markets tracked for the 12 months ending June 2026, esports accounts for 0.7% of all online betting demand. That share rises to 2.4% when general interest searches naming no sport are excluded. Esports places third among sport-specific subcategories, behind football at 84.1% and American football at 3.1%. It outranks basketball, hockey, tennis, baseball and every other traditional sport.
Peak Demand Patterns
The highest global share of esports betting searches occurred in July 2025, during the second Esports World Cup and much of the traditional sports off-season. Twenty-one countries posted their peak esports share that month, followed by September 2025 in 19 markets and October in 18. Eight countries rank esports as the top sport-specific betting subcategory, though none of them peaked in July.
Market Leaders and Barriers
Brazil leads both in esports betting share and absolute search volume. The volume of such searches in Brazil is 4.6x higher than in the number two country, the US. The US sits in 77th place globally by esports share. Turkey and Romania still see football demand ahead of esports, while tennis leads in Serbia. Saudi Arabia ranks 48th and France 58th; both jurisdictions prohibit esports betting.
As reported by iGaming Future, major esports broadcasts reach a young, online-native audience that frequently has no prior engagement with traditional sports or established iGaming brands. Operators must weigh these demand signals against regulatory restrictions in key territories when allocating marketing and product resources toward esports integration.
Reporting: iGaming Future
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
Esports pulls 2.4% of sport-specific betting searches worldwide and serves as the front door for digital-native bettors operators can't afford to ignore.
We see operators chasing the same saturated football and basketball audiences while a younger, online-native cohort searches esports at scale in Brazil, Turkey, and beyond. The Esports World Cup window proves demand spikes are predictable and actionable. If you're not mapping product, promotion, and payment rails to this cycle, you're leaving acquisition on the table.
- Esports captures 2.4% of sport-specific betting searches across 100 markets, behind only football and American football
- Brazil leads absolute volume at 4.6x the US; demand peaks during Esports World Cup windows in July and September
- Eight countries rank esports as their top betting sport by search, but key markets like Saudi Arabia and France remain closed
SCCG angle: SCCG connects operators to esports data partners, wagering platforms, and payment providers built for this demographic. We help clients time product launches and promotions around EWC cycles and navigate which of these high-demand markets are actually open for business.
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