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You do not have to look back to far to find a time when E-Sports was still an unknown quantity to most around the world, however the electronic sports gaming market has grown a huge amount over the past two years, with players competing via computers rather than on a field, with popular games such as StarCraft, League of Legends and Dota 2 now among the names synonymous with the event.

With games played both individually as well as in small teams, organised E-Sports competitions have been around since the early 2000’s, however it is not until recently that the rest of us have caught up, with national sports associations, sports teams and punters looking to get in on the action. It perhaps comes as little surprise, with games such as League of Legends holding an active monthly player count of almost 70 million worldwide.

Overall, the E-Sports market is estimated to grow by 36% by 2019, with related revenues set to break the $500 million mark throughout 2017. The majority of such income comes from gaming publishers selling the media rights to broadcasters, as well as event sponsorship, video advertising and ticket sales. Elsewhere, bookmakers such as Betway have also looked to get a slice of the action, with events such the ESL Pro League, DreamHack series and Dolphin CS now available to bet on, with substantial amounts of money being placed by punters.

The fact that major broadcasters ESPN have recently signed a deal in order to televise live FIFA tournaments also demonstrates such rapid growth, with an ever-increasing demand from fans. Things do not stop there however, with professional football teams including Borussia Dortmund and English Premier League side West Ham United even signing up players in a bid to increase the focus upon their club. FIFA still has some way to go in order to catch up with their E-Sports counterparts however, with the winner of the Fifa World Cup, the biggest contest on the FIFA platform, earning just $20,000, compared to $20 million from Dota 2.

This year’s DreamHack event in Las Vegas, which see’s competitors battling it out on Counter-Strike, is expected to be the most attended E-Sports event in history. Having both ended 2016 and started this year in fine form, it comes as little surprise that Betway are backing Danish team Astralis as the favourites to once again take home the spoils.