Pioneering official live data for the future of esports

Esports betting has a bright future to look forward to - and for many sportsbooks, esports has already established itself as a key growth pillar in their portfolios. 

With the esports audience continuing to widen across more demographics, and innovative betting solutions being developed, this trend is set to continue.

And the race for tomorrow’s key demographic in sports and betting is well underway. 

For that to happen, though, we must treat esports betting with the professionalism it demands. The unofficial data  – or ‘gray market’  – of esports betting, where sportsbooks base their services on scraped data and odds where official data offerings exist, still represents a significant portion of the entire esports betting industry – and it is hindering the long-term sustainability of esports as a whole.

Circumventing rights holders and using scraped data denies tournament organizers and game developers a significant revenue stream  – revenue that would otherwise be reinvested in the esports industry itself. Equally, with a higher quality and more engaging product, sportsbooks can attract more fans and potential bettors, driving accelerated revenue growth. 

Betting offerings based on unofficial data also invite integrity risks. With its inherent delay and no data verification options available, unofficial data creates an environment for match-fixing and insider trading. Both can cause significant harm to the reputation of the sportsbook, and the industry.
This harmful market practice cannot continue to exist in an ecosystem that is fighting for its commercial validation. 

At Bayes Esports, we have been working tirelessly to educate the industry about the unofficial data gray market of esports betting and the damage it is inflicting on the longer term sustainability of esports. This includes teaming up with content rights holders, betting operators, and media outlets alike to fight against the gray market and protect the integrity of the industry. 

Together with AWS for Games, we hosted our second annual Bayes Esports round table during this year's Intel Extreme Masters in Cologne. With recognized experts from across the esports industry, we discussed the future of esports, including the role official live data will play in its development.

With iGaming Future, we held a Masterclass focused on the differences between official and unofficial data. Together with our partners at EFG and our legal counsel at Lubberger Lehment, we established the legal framework surrounding unofficial data and the damages it can cause.

Our focus on the protection of rights within the esports betting industry recently led to a landmark court ruling, making it illegal for unofficial data offerings to be advertised as “live” or as “the safest source”. This result will have a profound impact on the transparency and financial stability of the esports industry – and is just the start of our fight against illegitimate providers in this space.
As other entertainment industries continue the fight to protect their intellectual property against unlawful use, we see ourselves as leaders in the protection of the esports industry’s integrity. And we don’t take that responsibility lightly. From offering those who want to learn more about data and integrity an educational hub, to continuously working with our partners to weed out data scrapers, our mission to achieve a sustainable and prosperous future in esports carries on.

We are also arming our largest B2B partners with new commercial offers that enable them to aggressively go to market and convert sportsbooks built on unofficial data across to official live data - and we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in that pursuit. 

We recently extended our partnership with DATA.BET, one of our key partners in the collective pursuit of converting sportsbooks to official live data. 

“At DATA.BET, we believe that the esports industry needs to ensure the integrity and the quality of esports betting products by using official data as their foundation”, says CPO at DATA.BET, Alex Kozachenko. “By extending our long-term partnership with Bayes Esports, we recognize that the right way to unlock the potential of our solutions – and esports betting in general – is with official live data. With it, we can deliver our customers excellence that will transform their esports products as well. We share Bayes Esports’ vision of a sustainable esports future powered by official data.”

Esports betting continues to evolve, and leading bookmakers and providers are increasingly adopting official live data as the foundation of their product. The importance of authorized, official data is clear, and we remain committed to spearheading the drive for a sustainable esports future.