A leading multi-content provider of 24/7 live betting services, Sports Information Services (SIS) is having a successful 2023, with full activity in its different business units.
SIS Competitive Gaming allows betting on live sports sims and Esports, with Esoccer, Ebasketball and CS:GO matches. Since the launch of Competitive Gaming, the company has grown from offering seven hours of live-streamed content daily to eight concurrent channels and over 200,000 events annually, all as a result of strong customer demand.
Another significant aspect of SIS Competitive Gaming is that it provides markets and betting types that are familiar to existing sports bettors. The live head-to-head competitions include ESIC (Electronic Sports International Commission) integrity-certified referees for each game. On top of all this, the games feature live commentators, on-screen graphics including unique betting tips, previous results and statistics on its 200+ players.
First and foremost, it is worth noting the rapid growth of the company’s Esports division. In response to strong interest from gaming operators in Europe and the U.S., last March, SIS hired Jacob Howard as Esports Product Manager and Aaron St Pierre as Trading Sports Manager.
In addition, the recent deal with renowned Betsson firm demonstrates that SIS Competitive Gaming (the provider’s Esports vertical, which includes Esoccer, Ebasketball and Counter-Strike) continues to create value for operators around the world.
This deal was not the only one, with other major operators such as bet365 and Spreadex adding the popular Counter-Strike (CS:GO) title to their portfolio, with a unique 2v2 format that brings shorter and more frequent matches for an increasingly compelling betting offering.
THE ESPORTS BOOM AND THE HIGH DEMAND FROM MULTIPLE AUDIENCES
Across Europe, Asia, the U.S. and LatAm, the appetite for Esports among fans has grown dramatically over the past five years, as well as the passion they show when betting on different titles. When it comes to SIS’ sport sim products, Esoccer and Ebasketball, the interest of sports bettors is evident, as they follow their real-life counterparts around the world on a daily basis.
In terms of Esports fan games, in the U.S., the most attractive titles are Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Valorant, Call of Duty and Rocket League. This popularity has helped SIS Competitive Gaming begin to make a considerable footprint in the U.S. market, with successful product launches in New Jersey and Colorado (and, in the future, other states).
Commenting on this, Jacob Howard, Esports Product Manager, SIS, said: “Esports betting has confirmed its importance within the industry, growing rapidly, with increasing engagement across multiple betting audiences and presenting betting as an exciting but safe pastime. All of this has motivated a clear interest from operators to evolve and add new demographics to generate revenue. By incorporating high-quality Esports products into their portfolios, sportsbooks can successfully offer excellent content that appeals not only to existing bettors, but also to a younger niche of players interested in Esports. Of course, there must be an inherent understanding of what makes Esports attractive, and that is what SIS does best.”
The executive also stated that, looking ahead to the near future, it will be interesting to watch the development of Esports racing products during the rest of this year.