DATA.BET report points to significant growth in the volume of bets on eSports at the beginning of the year
Consolidating market trends that already pointed to greater interest in niche competitions, the recent report undoubtedly confirms the rapid upward trajectory of the games sector.
Compared to the same period last year, gross gaming revenue (GGR) practically doubled, while business volume registered a significant jump of 70.6%, leveraged by a much more solid commercial efficiency margin.
How DATA.BET fueled the rise of matched betting and the success of niche tournaments
Player activity has gained a lot of traction at all levels of the platform.
The total number of guesses rose 33.2%, but the biggest highlight was combined bets, which rose an impressive 72.1%.
This behavior shows that users are adopting much more sophisticated strategies.
The leap was facilitated, mainly, by recent improvements to the provider’s interface, which simplified the creation of multiple selections.
In addition to industry giants such as CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends and Valorant, which maintained strong double-digit growth in customer acquisition, niche games stole the show, with an impressive 245% increase in profits.
The title Rainbow Six, for example, was a great success story, finding a massive audience in Latin America.
Rocket League maintained its continuous expansion, with a quarterly growth of 85.3% in turnover, also proving its enormous commercial potential even outside the World Cup season.
The strategic vision and projections for the rest of the sporting calendar
Another success factor was the company’s agility in covering new formats, such as the Valorant EMEA Clash 2026 tournament, which filled a small gap in the events calendar and was crucial for attracting new bettors.
Explaining these operational results, Bohdan Holovnov, the company’s current head of eSports, highlighted the brand’s focus on audience behavior.
“High margin efficiency has been a real catalyst this quarter.
Partners have increasingly recognized that esports can deliver significant commercial returns, encouraging them to increase promotional campaigns and drive more traffic to the vertical.
This directly feeds into more new users, higher churn, and stronger margins.
At the same time, we continue to offer the broadest coverage of matches and disciplines on the market, and the impact is also reflected in the rapid growth of matched betting on our partner platforms.”
With an increase in official events covered, the B2B solutions platform is consolidating itself as a leading reference in the segment.
“The first quarter of 2026 has set a new benchmark for what eSports betting can offer.
GGR nearly doubling year over year, combined with a player base growing by over 56% and increasingly sophisticated betting patterns, suggests the vertical is maturing in exactly the right direction.
We are entering the rest of 2026 with strong momentum, an expanding market portfolio and partners who are seeing tangible business impacts quarter after quarter.”
