UK Esports Betting Up 13% In March And 21% For The Quarter
The UK Gambling Commission has published gambling market revenue figures for the first quarter of the year. Figures include data from the largest online operators, which account for 70% of the total online gambling market.
Still, they don’t include crypto or offshore bookmakers, both of which are relevant to esports betting.
A Strong Quarter For UK Esports Betting
Despite this, the figures show bettors wagered £1.3m on esports in March 2026, up 13% from £1.1m bet in the same period in 2025. The first quarter amassed £3.9m in the three months, a year-on-year increase of 21% compared to 2025’s £3.2m.
In the quarter, January saw the most esports betting revenue, at £1.5m, thanks to several high-profile tournaments.
The M7 World Championship was the most popular tournament for global viewers, but Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s crowd is heavily Asian-oriented and isn’t that popular in the West.
In contrast, Counter-Strike 2 is the most popular game outside Asia and accounts for around 50% of all esports betting. In January, the popular BLAST Bounty Winter 2026 saw PARIVISION defeat Team Falcons in the first Counter-Strike 2 event of the year.
The group stages of IEM Krakow, a significant tier-1 CS2 tournament, were also staged at the end of January, helping provide a boost to esports bookmakers.
£1.5m a month isn’t that significant a spend, compared to the £260m generated on slots or the £230m real event betting revenue. It even falls behind virtual betting, which generated £3.5m revenue in March.
Underserved By Traditional Bookmakers
But, while the market’s popularity is improving, a lot of bookmakers have limited markets.
Esports betting is still underserved by mainstream bookmakers. Even lower division football games and less popular sports enjoy considerable side markets, with varied prop bets.
In contrast, esports bettors are lucky to find outright match and tournament markets, despite the huge potential for these markets in the data-rich market.
The esports betting market tends to skew quite young, typically falling in the mid-20s range. This demographic likely prefers mobile betting and is more likely to consider cryptocurrency betting, while skins betting makes up a significant part of the industry.
These factors naturally exclude a lot of regulated bookmakers in the UK. But, some bookmakers are making the step up.
Midnite started out as an esports betting company before moving into traditional sports, and offers varied markets. Bet365 offers live streaming of esports games as well as in-play betting.
But UK bookmakers face difficulties. Advertising rules mean they would struggle to sponsor events as they feature a lot of under-18s, while streaming services typically cater to the same age group. Ads cannot feature players under the age of 25, which accounts for the vast majority of professional esports players.
More To Come In Q2
Q2 is likely to see yet more esports betting action. IEM Cologne 2026 kicks off at the beginning of June, and we’ve already seen Spirit win PGL Astana while attracting record viewer numbers, and NAVI beat Vitality on their way to collecting the IEM Atlanta trophy.
