As Euros and Copa America brought a big influx of traffic to sportsbooks, it trickled down to digital sports such as esoccer. Abios has investigated Kambi network data to determine how large-scale events impact esoccer engagement and how sportsbooks can use always-on content to retain users.
Few events in the soccer calendar can contend with the sheer scale and magnitude of Euros and Copa América. Every four years, the two events put millions of people on the edge of their seats as fans cheer on their respective nations.
Abios ventured into the digital sports vertical in past years when it acquired official data rights for BETER and launched its proprietary esoccer odds feed complete with real-time streams and widgets. With data from millions of bets from operators across the Kambi network, Abios and Kambi have analysed the summer betting data to determine how esoccer has been impacted by the Euros and Copa América.
Read more: Kambi delivers Euros and Copa América Report
Football vs Esoccer: The difference in betting patterns
As esoccer features continuous content throughout each day of the Euros, we decided to look at bets placed over time during a day with high-stakes Euros matches to determine how they impacted esoccer betting.
As seen in Figure 1, the number of bets placed negatively correlates with bets placed on Euros matches during 25 June 2024. The bets placed for the Euros matches unsurprisingly peaked right before the match started, as users were placing their bets getting ready to watch the matches. For esoccer, the spikes instead came during half-time and after the end of the match, suggesting that they acted as a filler when entertainment from the football matches was falling off.
A similar pattern could be gauged during the big finals on 14 July. The grand finals coalesced into a “Super Sunday” of epic proportions, as the Euros, Copa América, and Wimbledon finals were played on the same day.
Just as in Figure 1, Figure 2 displayed a dramatic ramping up in betting turnover volumes for Copa América and the Euros before and during the matches, to fall off after their end as expected.
In comparison, bets placed on esoccer didn’t follow the same trajectory. With its even flow of content, esoccer matches remained in play throughout the day. Aside from showing slight peaks in bets placed after the end of the finals of Copa América and the Euros, respectively, the amount of bets placed remained relatively even throughout the day.
Further reading: Abios releases report ahead of Euros and Copa América
This indicates the product’s stickiness, as users remained engaged with esoccer throughout the days with most large-scale matches. In fact, 8% of those betting on the Euros or Copa América also bet on esoccer. During respective events, 92% of those betting on esoccer also bet on COPA, and 89% on the Euros, highlighting the strong crossover between the audiences.
With the popularity of esoccer amongst Euros and Copa América viewers, it can be an important tool for customer retention. According to Kambi data, 56% of those who bet their first bet on the Euros placed a second bet by the end of the next day. To retain these customers, sportsbooks can use always-on content such as esoccer to re-engage these users.
What esoccer is and why it is engaging
Esoccer features 12-minute matches of high-level competition in the esports title EA FC, formerly FIFA. This provides football fans with easily consumable content when there are no larger tournaments or more interesting matches in play; typically during the off-season, in between high-tier matches or even during match downtime.
Abios provides an automated odds feed for esoccer with 12,000+ monthly events, including streams and stats, allowing sportsbooks to have a full experience on their website. Through partnerships with key tournament organisers BETER and Betinvest, Abios has access to real-time event data, enabling high uptime and an engaging live market offering.
Read more about esoccer here.
About Abios
Abios facilitates the growth of a sustainable esports ecosystem by fueling enterprises and ambitious startups with the tools and data needed to build esports projects at scale. With more than 10 years of experience in esports, Abios provides historical and stream-live data from popular esports titles, such as Counter-Strike, League of Legends, VALORANT and Dota 2, to sportsbooks, search engines, esports teams, and others.
As part of Kambi Group plc, Abios provides data-driven odds and widgets to the regulated betting industry. Using proprietary modelling and innovative product features, Abios is taking esports betting to the next level.
