"Just as the potential for eSports growth is immense, so it is for gaming operators working in the space"

In two weeks, ICE London will introduce a new eSports Arena combining live tournaments, demonstrations, workshops and world-class eSports players. Why do you think this major global gaming industry is dedicating more resources and relevance to eSports? What could this bring to the vertical?

The growth and development within eSports is very attractive to any related industry, and gaming is prime among them. Just as the potential for further growth in eSports is immense, so is the potential for gaming operators working in the space. I think what attracts a lot of people to eSports is the opportunity to be a part of an industry that is already big, but in the future is going to be absolutely huge. And you can be a foundational part of that future if you’re able to enter the space now and succeed. We’re only going to see more organizations get involved moving forward for this reason. As for what ICE offers to eSports, the legitimacy and expertise that veterans of every industry with a longer and more established history can be very helpful to those already working in eSports.

What will be your focus as a speaker at the London Affiliate Conference? What insights could you share in advance?

I’ll be speaking on a February 7 panel titled “Esports for Affiliates: Offering Esports Bettors What They Want,” along with CEO of Pixel.bet Eirik Kristiansen, Luckbox CPO Boris Mihov, and Tom Wade, co-founder of SickOdds. The focus of our panel will be discussing how betting operators can best enter the eSports space and what they need to consider in working with this unique industry and its audience. The marketplace is ripe for investment so long as that investment is being made intelligently, and I hope that we’ll be able to point operators in the right direction.

WIN.gg is launching its second mobile app. Why have you decided this move now, and what are your goals and expectations for the app? What further projects and goals for 2020 could you share in advance?

Launching a successful app is a natural next step for WIN. We already have a very successful website and we’ve had great success with our league component as well. We’ll be introducing a number of new features this year that users will be able to better take advantage of with an app, so it makes perfect sense for us to provide this new product and service. Our proprietary prediction model is a great example. With an app, we’ll be able to deliver dynamic predictive updates directly to users, keeping them up to date at all times with the games and events they’re most interested in, according to their own customization.

Esports generated $1 billion for the first time in 2019, according to Newzoo. What is your personal outlook for the global eSports industry in 2020 regarding trends, emerging markets and technologies, new demands and player generations, challenges and opportunities, etc.? What are your strategies and approach in that sense?

Our outlook towards the eSports industry, in general, has remained largely the same. It is the players and fans who have seen this industry grow to such an extent, and as the number of players grows and the number of fans grows, this will continue to be the case. So our goal is to serve those players and fans as best we can. To provide them superior products that are crafted specifically to their wants and needs. And that’s something we’re able to do by employing team members who are not only experts in their respective fields but are also eSports players and fans themselves. We understand the industry from the inside, and that’s what enables us to most effectively address user desires in this space. As the marketplace continues to grow and expand, there will be more opportunities for development and we’ll continue to take part in those opportunities as best suits our company and our users.

In November, New Jersey casinos started taking bets on eSports tournaments. Do you expect to see more US states following NJ move? What are the different factors involved and effects for all the stakeholders from your perspective?

This is a complicated issue, and to some extent, we have to wait and see how it continues to develop. We would love to see changes at the federal level that would make betting on eSports viable for all consumers across the United States. We feel that players and fans want it and are ready for it, and it can be a significant boon to local economies if properly handled. That being said, we’re in the business of serving our users, and we’ll continue to do that. Right now it’s best for us to focus on serving betting users in Europe, with our winners.bet brand, but if circumstances allow for us to offer that same level of service to users in North America, we’ll be happy to address that then.

After the 8th Olympic Summit, the IOC stated the Olympics "isn't ready to support games that aren't based on traditional sports like basketball and soccer." How does this stand affect the eSports industry, and what are the most probable outcomes in your opinion for the long term?

Frankly, the eSports industry does not need the Olympics. The industry has grown to this point without it, and it will continue to grow in the future without it. What we’ll likely see is that one day, as eSports continues to grow and as the relevance of the Olympics either remains static or decreases, Olympic officials will seek out the cooperation of the eSports industry in a bid to better appeal to youth. We’ve seen other entities in the traditional sporting realm do this already. We’ve seen the Olympics take similar actions with non-traditional sports that are more youth-oriented like skateboarding and snowboarding. So it’s just a matter of time until the Olympics gets on board, but again, the eSports industry doesn’t need the IOC or similar organizations. It will continue to grow with more modern and relevant partners.