From add-on to advantage: how to build an esports offering that delivers

Putting esports on your sportsbook without the right setup is a bit like adding sushi to a steakhouse menu. It might tick a box, but it probably won’t keep customers coming back. 

Esports requires its own ingredients, tools and expertise – and when those come together, it goes from being just a novelty to being a revenue driver. For many Oddin.gg partners, it’s already in the top three biggest sports by handle. And, according to 2024 data, betting volume across the top four esports titles grew by 106% year on year, compared to 2023.

This isn’t just growth, it’s a signal of a new generation of bettors who expect more than a basic feed. Building an esports product that performs long term means understanding what makes this vertical unique and how to design it from the ground up. At Oddin.gg, we frame it around five core pillars – data, odds, risk, interface and markets – and one essential principle: everything has to work together.

1. Data: the foundation

Esports is fast, global and constantly changing. Matches happen in every time zone, schedules shift with little notice, and updates can alter the game fundamentals overnight. Without accurate, official and low-latency data, markets grind to a halt and bettors lose trust.

That’s why Oddin.gg partners directly with tournament organisers to secure official data APIs and build the infrastructure to process and stabilise them at scale. This foundation – not just the rights themselves – keeps markets live and exposure manageable.

Minimal delay is key. It ensures bettors are reacting to what’s actually happening in real time and helps even passive viewers stay engaged. Reliable data isn’t about access, it’s about execution that moves at the same speed as the game.

2. Odds: where precision pays

Esports bettors are often more informed than their traditional sports counterparts. They understand momentum swings, map dynamics and champion picks, and they quickly notice when odds don’t reflect in-game reality.

When pricing is off, sharp bettors exploit inefficiencies and margins suffer, while casual bettors lose confidence.

Oddin.gg’s proprietary models are purpose-built for esports rather than retrofitted from traditional sports. That precision contributed to a 93.4% margin efficiency in 2024, demonstrating how effective pricing converts margin into revenue across thousands of events. For operators, that means healthier margins and markets that bettors trust.

3. Risk: protecting integrity

Integrity is one of the most critical – and most overlooked – parts of a successful esports offering. The fast pace of the vertical, the depth of bettor knowledge and the fluid nature of tournament formats make ongoing monitoring essential. Even small irregularities in data or betting activity can escalate quickly if not addressed.

Oddin.gg’s risk solution is designed for this reality. It combines automation with specialist human oversight to track betting activity in real time, flag suspicious patterns before they impact markets and adapt pricing the moment in-game conditions change. Our team also maintains a live blacklist of suspicious teams and works closely with tournament organisers to mitigate threats at the source. 

This proactive approach protects both margins and trust – and partners who have integrated Oddin.gg’s Risk Management alongside its odds feed have seen up to a +10% gross gaming revenue (GGR) uplift.

4. Interface: from watching to wagering 

A basic scoreboard might work for football. In esports though, it’s not enough. Bettors care about rotations in Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), gold swings in League of Legends or momentum shifts in VALORANT – and they want that context as part of the betting experience

That’s why Oddin.gg built BetPeek, an interactive layer for live streams that turns matches into betting-ready experiences. Features like map freedom, player POVs, X-ray vision and instant replays give bettors more information and confidence, without leaving your sportsbook.

It’s a first in esports – built for betting rather than repurposed from streaming – and it already supports CS2, with more titles on the way. The result: longer sessions, smarter betting activity and a product built for how esports is actually watched and played.

5. Markets: depth that keeps bettors coming back

Many entry-level esports products stop at ‘match winner’. That drives turnover but not engagement. Esports bettors want more – from player-specific props to round-by-round outcomes.

Oddin.gg delivers this depth at scale with eSimulators, including head-to-head formats in EA Sports FC 25, NBA 2K25, Cricket 24, CS2, Dota 2 and more. These fast, always-on events keep engagement high between major tournaments and show up to a 15%+ crossover rate with main events.

They also help operators expand their audience. The popularity of the Valkyrie Cup, for example – the first fully female eFootball offering – shows how content diversity can attract new bettors and build loyalty. All of this is part of Oddin.gg’s 24/7 Fast Betting Content, designed to fill downtime and boost both volume and margin.

Making it work together

The strongest pillars perform best when they work together. Data, odds, risk, UI and markets need to operate as part of the same system, whether that’s a complete solution or modular components that integrate into an existing tech stack.

Oddin.gg was built with that flexibility in mind. As the only fully end-to-end esports betting ecosystem on the market, it connects every layer out of the box – but each solution can also complement existing third-party sportsbook setups. This turns integration from a roadblock into an advantage, and transforms standalone products into a scalable, profitable vertical.

The final whistle: execution wins

Esports betting is already delivering results for operators that approach it strategically. The ones that succeed next won’t be the ones experimenting with half-built products. They’ll be the ones that treat esports as a core vertical – built on strong foundations and working seamlessly across every layer.

That’s exactly what Oddin.gg was built for. Whether deployed as a complete ecosystem or as modular solutions that slot into your existing setup, Oddin.gg helps operators turn esports from a side project into a sustainable growth engine.

Marek Suchar is co-founder and managing director of Oddin.gg, a leading B2B provider of esports betting solutions. With a background in finance and global business development, Suchar has helped position Oddin.gg as a trusted name in igaming.

He regularly speaks at industry events, offering insights on esports trends and how operators can build effective engagement strategies.