Demystifying data in the esports industry with DATA.BET

Every competitor is looking to gain an edge in the sporting environment, that one technical tip or piece of eye-opening information which gives a team or athlete an advantage. The world of esports is no different – having access to performance data is the technical ‘tip’ of the iceberg. Data, after all, is how we all make better, more informed decisions and in an ever-growing, competitive landscape like esports, it’s no surprise why the industry is taking gaming data more seriously.

Defining data

In the context of esports, the ‘data’ element refers to the recording, cleaning and analysing of information relating to match results, player performance statistics and other noteworthy in-play events that take place during matches.

Esports data is primarily used for three different reasons: processing information to better predict the results of upcoming and ongoing games, collating results on player activity to improve the understanding of market demand and to gain player insights to help them better cater to audience interests. Interestingly, Alex Kozachenko believes this data, and the reasons behind its use, has become even more valuable since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Lockdown conditions, paired with the availability of live streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, had a huge impact on the booming popularity of esports. So much so that the global esports audience grew from 397.8 million to 532.1 million in 2022, popularising games such as League of Legends, Counter Strike and Dota2. Such large and rapid growth will inevitably stir up competition within the industry.

Alex Kozachenko outlines the reasons behind the boom in audience numbers. “With the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic, esports has grown significantly, as many classic sports weren’t able to bring operators the previous benefits due to travel restrictions which had a direct impact on hosting live tournaments,” he explains. “Revenue only stayed steady due to growing interest in esports tournaments since they were easy to host for the operator and easy to access for the player. The plus side to this and a domino effect of it is that the demand for esports data is also increasing.

“This is an important factor for operators which shows that the lack of esports events minimises their chances for success.”

Establishing the DATA.BET strategy

High-quality products are the key driving force behind success in the esports arena and that’s why DATA.BET has focused on delivering solutions that have the wow factor. In 2022, DATA.BET released its tech solutions to the industry after five years of development and collaboration with the partner GG.BET, who assisted them in understanding what an esports bookmaker needs to improve it and become the best player on the market. They did this with the intention of disrupting the market by bringing together the world’s best pool of companies in the world and providing operators with access to high-quality data.

So how does it do it?

Betting on DATA.BET’s product suite

DATA.BET uses data sets to help clients create betting games on their websites that have everything they need to succeed, including things such as real-time odds. The data has its own architecture and that set has two streams: Odds Feed, which is a data stream containing calculated odds for the outcome of an event and Live Score Feed, which shows the current status of the game including score, game time and map time. This stream digitises what is happening at any particular moment in the game making it the perfect way to engage a player.

In a world where AI is being used in more and more industries, it’s no surprise that it’s found its way into esports. DATA.BET processes the data it receives with the help of AI and its trading team, resulting in the end product called Esports Data Feed. This comprises Odds Feed, Live Score Feed and risk management.

“We always wanted to be the first to introduce innovation, so we’ve driven this process through internal development,” Kozachenko explains.

“That is why we have successfully introduced an AI that provides the fastest data analysis and the most accurate calculation of odds and outcome options. With the help of our AI model, a trader can simultaneously keep up to five matches from a tier-one tournament. This guarantees a huge opportunity for operational optimisation.”

“Our most important advantages are a bet delay that is often between 2 and 3 seconds as opposed to 6 to 8 seconds for our competitors. This enables users to place more bets conveniently. We cover the biggest number of events as we constantly strive to make content accessible 24/7. We have the chance to work as accurately as we can in real time thanks to the AI-robot 50–200 ms reaction time to changes in matches. We also offer quick markets, with the first market being calculated 20 seconds after the game has begun. Additionally, upon our client’s request, we personalize virtual tournaments”.

“Our development team spent five years creating mathematical models and neural networks for our AI. We continue to improve it day by day through self-learning by retrospectively analysing historical data and simultaneously comparing it to live data from sporting events. This ensures the most accurate option calculations of results and odds, as well as a very quick response to changes in the game.”

Is the future bright for esports?

The implementation of advanced technology focused on data is expected to instigate further growth for esports. The global value of the industry is currently $1.4bn, and according to Global and United States Esports Betting Market Report, the market is expected to triple by 2028.

How could esports reach this huge target? By infiltrating new markets that are set to be regulated in 2023 like Latin America and Asia.

Alex Kozachenko believes this could also play a part in the future expansion of DATA.BET. “Taking into account the events of the last four years, one could assume that the US and Europe are headed for recession,” he says. “Asia, China and Japan are potentially ahead due to several economic factors. Based on this, the Asian economy will be more stable and the population will be more flexible, including igaming and other entertainment services. Our interest was to penetrate the American and Asian markets where betting and esports are very popular.

“Also, the Brazilian region is now developing very rapidly. I couldn’t help but notice the great interest shown in the last CS:GO Major in Rio de Janeiro, which gathered crowds of fans of the game. But we should not forget about Europe either, as major esports games such as Counter Strike and Dota2 are still popular there and have not lost their relevance.”

Demand more from your data

Data-led approaches to all areas of the gambling and gaming space have proven time and time again to be valuable. For example, take gamification using real-time data for tournaments, showing players where they’re ranking in any given moment as a prime example. Now gamification and the use of these real-time data points are being used in almost all new games being released. DATA.BET wants more of this in the esports world and is up for the challenge of teaching the industry why data is more important than ever and helping them to access it.