Introduction
COVID-19 brought every human and economic activity to a halt, including all sporting activities. But one sport defied the seclusion that came with the coronavirus. Rather than suffer the impact of COVID-19, esports saw astronomical growth. Professional tournaments continue to draw millions of viewers. This has engendered better collaboration and growth. Gamers and streamers now raise funds and donate to game-related charities. But, why should bookmakers, along with esports organizations, be more involved in charity?
Why esports bookmakers should be more involved in charity
Some key bookmakers, including Betway, PaddyPower, and Bet365, along with several niche operators, now offer bets on esports tournaments. This has led to an exponential quadrupling of esports betting revenue. The global market value of esports betting is worth more than $15 billion.
This growth is commendable, but it also comes with dangers, especially among the younger generation who are drawn to esports gambling. In collaboration with think tank Demos and the University of Sussex, GambleAware sponsored research that analyzed 880,000 tweets from 417 UK-based accounts linked with gambling operators. The number is beside the 621,000 UK-based followers and 166,969 UK-based individuals engaged in gambling-related activities including sharing, commenting, and liking. The study revealed esports betting https://tips.gg/betting/esports/ accounts are very young, with 17% of followers under 16 and 69% under 16–23 years. 85% of esports betting account followers, including esports and live betting, are under 24 years of age. 66% of those commenting, liking and sharing are between 16 and 23, while 28% are under 16.
It is therefore essential that esports bookmakers take part in charity, channeling the money raised to help relieve gambling harm and help bettors suffering from addiction. Esports betting professionals provide a new audience of growing millionaires who can contribute to various charitable causes, such as the fight against COVID-19, job sustenance, and many other humanitarian interventions.
Examples of bookmakers’ involvement in charity
Many esports bookmakers are already making huge impacts through their involvement in charity. The examples below give credence to their commitment to charity.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BCG), comprising BetVictor, Kindred Group, Flutter, bet365, Entain, William Hill, 88 Holidays, Rank Group, Virgin Tote, and Bet with Ascot, has raised £5.5m in donations since their formation in 2019. The donations were to support the jobs of 120,000 people in many local communities. Also, Betway esports ran a contest that saw professionals take the “Aim Time Trial” map challenge, which saw €5000 being offered to a charity.
In the same vein, William Hill, Flutter, and Entian, together with Bet365, pledged to provide GameAware with $137 million by 2023. The donation helps relieve gambling harm and helps bettors who suffer from addiction. As a way of solidarity with GameAware’s targets of mitigating gambling harm, these operators: STS.Bet, One Click, White Hat Gaming, Zecure Gaming, Videoslots, Playtech, and Unibet donated $30,000, $31,000, $64,000, $69,000, $69,000, $71,000, and $126,000, respectively.
Conclusion
No game is without risks, yet one that affects the younger generation with harmful effects such as addiction must be taken seriously. Making money is wonderful, but channeling such money to good causes such as helping bettors suffering addiction, facilitating vaccine distribution, and helping people with physical disabilities enjoy esports is commendable.