We are always looking for new ways to help you to engage with your audiences through our POST and TopicPulse lines of products, so when our team heard about the recent rise of sports betting and eSports, we knew it was a huge opportunity and we could help new customers!

That’s what led to TopicPulse SportsEdge, a version of our real-time, AI-powered story discovery and social content system customized for eSports, betting, VR, and fantasy content.

To show you how powerful SportsEdge could be for our business, let’s unpack some results from The Future of Audience and Revenue 2021, done with SmithGieger. 

The Findings and Ways They Can Help YOU!

Demographics of Sports Bettors

The recent Futuri + Geiger study shone a light on what kind of people are ready for sports betting to make its way into the mainstream. 7 out of 10 sports bettors are men. Most are employed full-time and earn more than $75,000 each year. About half of all sports bettors are in their mid 20’s to mid 40’s.

So what? Why should your media company market to this segment? Are these people really still listening to the radio and watching television if most of their time is spent betting on sports online?

Yes, they are! Sports bettors are still using the radio and television, as well as web media just like everyone else. It would be a missed opportunity not to engage with this demographic on these forums. 4 out of 10 sports bettors enjoy listening to sports talk. 1 out of 4 enjoy listening to newscasts.

According to the Futuri + SmithGeigerGroup study, half of the survey takers said that they bet on season games, playoffs, and big events like the Super Bowl and March Madness. 4 out of 10 of the survey takers said they would see it as a positive if local news programs were to offer odds, betting lines, and best bets in their sports reports

Wouldn’t it be great to engage with sports bettors and always have engaging content to keep them coming back? SportsEdge can help you accomplish exactly that!

eSports Viewership on the Rise

Sports betters are a big market, but what about eSports viewers as well? 

We can answer that with a resounding YES.

The numbers are astounding and represent a wide market: there are slightly more men than women playing video games. 3 out of every 4 children play video games. The median age of the video gamer is 31, so half of all gamers are older than 31 and the other half is younger. Half of all video game players play seven or more hours a week, but still have time for life’s other activities and traditional mainstream media consumption.

Best of all, 227 million US consumers played video games in 2021, an increase from the 214 million who played in 2020. Furthermore, there were 26.6 million monthly eSports viewers in the US in 2021. That number is projected to grow to 31.4 million in 2023.

That’s a lot of people, but what about the money? There is $1.8 BILLION anticipated eSports revenue by 2022. 69% of this eSports revenue will come from sponsors or ads. Media rights, ticket sales, and merchandise will account for only the other 31% of eSports revenue.

Particularly with eSports, there are unique opportunities for advertising such as appealing to a niche audience, but best of all having a large audience for a long time period at a low cost. That sounds like a winning equation to me!

With such a growing interest in eSports and revenue to be gained in this area, why would you want your company to get left out of all the action?

Sports Betting and eSports: Key Takeaways

Now you know why sports betting and eSports are two key audiences in advertising that need to be capitalized on by your company. 

If you’re ready to take advantage of this, we’re ready to help.

If you’re read to elevate your game with TopicPulse SportsEdge, visit TopicPulseSportsEdge.com.