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Europe : A leader in regulated betting State of play : Esports betting report 2021
EUROPE : A LEADER IN REGULATED BETTING
THE LAST 10 years has seen an explosion of the esports industry in Europe , with viewer numbers and revenue figures behind only those seen in Asia and the United States .
Video games and esports research firm Newzoo predicted the European esports audience would reach 92 million by the end of 2020 , a 7.4 % increase from 2019 , and a figure that is expected to continue to rise post-pandemic . Meanwhile , Western Europe recorded esports revenue of $ 201.2m in 2020 .
A 2020 Paypal report titled ‘ Europe and esports : High engagement and even higher potential ’ stated that , during Covid-19 , countries that had the strictest lockdown measures saw the highest year-on-year uptick in esports viewership .
Of those that watched an esports event under lockdown , 59 % indicated that they would continue to watch esports even after lockdown measures were lifted .
The continent ’ s esports industry has also seen significant participation from females , with
Esports titles popular in Europe
League of Legends , Dota 2 , Call of Duty , FIFA , CS : GO , Fortnite , Hearthstone , SMITE
women making up one-third of the total number of people engaged in esports . In 2019 , the region introduced the first all-female professional esports team , Vaevictis Esports , to compete in the League of Legends
Continental League . Brands have already latched onto the esports trend , with a partnership between Louis Vuitton and Riot Games for the 2019
League of Legends World Championship ,
Renault collaborating with Team Vitality , Armani Exchange teaming up with Italian esports organisation Mkers , and Gucci joining forces with Britishbased Fnatic , just some of the examples from recent years .
Similar to North America , Europe ’ s video games market represents an interesting mix of PC , console and mobile games . The Interactive Software Federation of Europe reported that in
State of play : Esports betting report 2021