eSports as a whole industry has been raking boatloads of revenue ever since. The world of eSports has been expanding and increasing, and it reflects in their monetary value. Game competitions are the core of the eSports industry, just like any traditional sports. And the remunerative cash that the players place on their bets is hefty.
Game participants and bettors may have seen a dramatic jump in eSport's enterprise for betting. Coronavirus shifting the gaming scene to a virtual landscape may be the one to blame for the industry's increase in net worth. One of the concrete ways of measuring eSports' value is by listing the highest prize pools so far. Take a look at this list:
The International 2018
Total Prize Pool: $25,532,177.00
Location: Vancouver, CDN
Date: August 15-25, 2018
With a new twist, Valve hosted the eighth annual Dota Pro Circuit tournament. Valve implemented a new point-system based on the official leagues: Majors and Minors. The results determined the teams to participate in the tournament.
Eighteen teams competed on Dota 2's 7.19 version. Betting for tournaments such as this can ensure you a great return. Due to the massive prize pools of these games, it’s not surprising to see bets here and there. You can go here if you want to know more or just want to bet esports games for fun.
The International 2017
Total Prize Pool: $24,687,919.00
Location: Seattle, USA
Date: August 2-12, 2017
Originally, the prize pool dedicated for this tournament only cost $1.6million. And the Main Event was held at the KeyArena in Seattle, a rather small venue with a seating capacity of 17,000. But there was a ridiculously huge amount of money at stake. This tournament had yet proved how deep Valve's pockets are.
The International 2016
Total Prize Pool: $20,770,460.00
Location: Seattle, USA
Date: August 3-13, 2016
Valve liked following routines. In 2016, it hosted the sixth annual tournament for Dota Pro Circuit, held at Seattle for five consecutive years, and opened the games in KeyArena for the third time. Sixteen teams played Dota 2's 6.88b version.
What made this prize pool huge is the overall sales and not the company's initial pool. An overall sales of $19, 170, 460 inflated the initial pool, which was only $1.6 million. And in this tournament, it was Wings Gaming who won the title.
The International 2015
Total Prize Pool: $18,429,613.00
Location: Seattle, USA
Date: August 3-8, 2015
In this tournament, Valve got a total of sales of $16,829, 613 with an initial pool of $1.6 million. This year, Valve announced the doubling of the maximum number of participants that won the majority's attention. Here, Evil Geniuses rose at the top by beating CDEC Gaming, 3-1.
The International 2014
Total Prize Pool: $10,931,103.00
Location: Seattle, USA
Date: July 8-21, 2014
For this year, Valve sent a direct invite to 18 teams. Four teams qualified via separate competitions for a chance of winning a $10million prize money. The broadcast featured homegrown talents such as Kpoptosis (Bryan Herren), TobiWan (Tobi Dawson), and 2GD (James Harding).
LoL 2018 World Championship
Total Prize Pool: $6,450,000.00
Location: Incheon, SKO
Date: October 1-November 3, 2018
This year, Riot Games listed an initial prize pool of $2,250,000, an amount higher than Valve. The players played the game's version of 8.19. Among the 24 teams who participated in the tournament, Invictus Gaming won 37.5% of the total prize pool and was declared the winner.
LoL 2016 World Championship
Total Prize Pool: $5,070,000.00
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Date: September 29-October 29, 2016
Acer sponsored the game tournament, and the game version played was 6.18. You must have heard about Faker by now, a renowned gamer in this industry. He has won the title of Finals MVP for his outstanding performance, the tournament's only award.
LoL 2017 World Championship
Total Prize Pool: $4,946,969.00
Location: Beijing, CHN
Date: September 23-November 4, 2017
Twenty-four teams played the League of Legends' version 7.18. Tristana was the most played Champion among the players. After a short rivalry with SK Telecom T1, Samsung Galaxy brought home the gold. Ruler, a Korean player from Samsung Galaxy, earned the title of Finals MVP.
Fortnite Fall Skirmish Series – Clubs Standings
Total Prize Pool: $4,000,000
Location: Online
Date: October 28,2018
This tournament was quite different from the standard tournament. Some clubs could earn points for high-skilled weekly trials and events depending on the other member's game performance. Regardless of placement, 100 club players still got points.
DAC 2015
Total Prize Pool: $3,057,521.00
Location: Shanghai, CHN
Date: January 5-February 9, 2015
To finish off this list, Dota 2 returns to make a full circle. This tournament featured 24 teams in total. It also had breakdowns of prize money among Chinese, American, and Canadian players. The 54 players from China won the highest with $856,106.20.
Takeaway
In this current set-up, it's only a matter of time until eSports betting enterprises bring more cash to the industry's hoard. To help you choose who to root and bet for, looking at lineups may be helpful. You may review this list from time to time to give you an idea of where to place your bet.