Among the conferences that were part of the GAT EXPO Gaming & Technology that took place in April at the Las Américas Convention Center in Cartagena de Indias Colombia, one of the most important was undoubtedly the eSports Round Table that debated nothing less than “ How to promote eSPorts betting in Latin America?". Below we review key moments of this talk in which a panel of experts participated under the moderation of GAT CEO José Aníbal Aguirre

After José Aníbal Aguirre began talking about the average age of eSports fans, which he explained is around 40 years old, Daniel Arias, Online Director of Betplay, took the floor and highlighted how the pandemic impacted the growth of eSports.

In this sense, he explained that “The pandemic marked a before and after in the eSports issue. Before the pandemic, 60% of the players were between 18 and 25 years old and after the pandemic, 40% of the players are between 26 and 35 years old. There was a reduction in the sports betting offer that was transferred to eSports. They began to move through FiFA or NBA, 95 percent of betting sports are led by FIFA, we have enormous potential to restructure marketing strategies aimed at young audiences. I think we have to find a way to take advantage of that potential.”

Another point he made reference to is that of the specialized public since, as he highlighted, “eSports games allow additional traffic to be generated to a specialized place, to customers younger than our average age. Adding the eSport offer as an opportunity for new traffic and bringing players to games of chance is something that operators have to evaluate significantly".

Strategies to reach eSports audiences

Then José Luis Osorio, CEO of RetailSoft Solution, took the floor and also delved into the development of the eSports audience in recent years. Thus he explained that “eSports and its audience have grown, where there is competition and audience there are business opportunities and where there is money, there is someone willing to bet” and he continued “we have segmented communities that are willing to bet and we have to tell them what the options that are in the market, education is needed for some audiences that do not know eSports but are willing to bet.” But he also highlighted that "The other issue is that it is very important that the online casino operators that have the licenses for these eSports make strategic alliances with associations that are being created or that help them create and these collaborations will pay off fruits.”

Lastly, Osorio referred to Watch Parties as a space to place bets since, as he explained, “When there are important finals in eSports, spaces called watch parties are created, which consist of calling the community and meeting in such a bar. That gives consumption to the bar and if they have the opportunity to place a bet it is a very good chance. I think the opportunities are endless and they will be given to us over time.”

For his part, Alexander Ospina, president of the Colombian Federation of Electronic Sports, remarked that “we are facing a digital community with its own platforms that the rest do not know about. That is where we see what is happening, we no longer get information through traditional means, there are other channels where the information arrives. We have very passionate communities that love their sport. People of a certain age who lose certain characteristics of agility and look for other opportunities to continue with their passion. That is where there is a good opportunity to bet, the message is clear: you have to know how to reach that community to be able to achieve the objectives that are needed.”

The importance of influencers in business

At the end of the conference, as advice, Jayleen Blanco from Elite League left a clear message. “It is good to rely on people who know about eSports to carry out these strategies because there is a lot of specific terminology in these communities and if it is not implemented, the person who sees it can understand it as someone from another generation trying to look like them. That is to say, just a small detail like using a term that was not used in eSports can generate the opposite effect to what was sought in the advertising.” In line with this thought, Jorge Agudelo, director of Race Ring, highlighted the importance of influencers and public figures in the eSports and online betting business. Thus he stressed that “we have to rely on influencers, today many people give a lot of value to what they tell them and with their help we can boost betting” and went into depth “Influencers or public figures are seen a lot in the betting market traditional, if you use a group of influencers you start to see that they give advice and thus the numbers grow. The prior sports knowledge of public figures also helps because it is easier to bet for those who have always followed soccer and know the tradition of a club, they can use those tools just like sports figures to sponsor a brand."

Another point that Agudeo highlighted is that “we are facing a community that we have to reach with advertising that generates curiosity that generates that spark to see what it is about, we cannot do flat advertising. Starting from these points we have a solid basis to be able to reach a specific number of people.”

Finally, José Aníbal Aguirre highlighted about eSports that “In several GAT panels we saw the interest in this type of betting and it is evident that the industry and games of chance are coming together to promote regulation so that eSports activity grows.” In colombia. I think we are meeting expectations so that the eSports activity is truly professional.”