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DATA.BET said its latest sportsbook report showed a clear improvement in esports betting performance in the first quarter of 2026, with activity rising across its partner platforms and niche tournaments drawing stronger interest. The sportsbook platform provider said the results reflected deeper market demand, more disciplined trading and higher commercial impact.
According to the company, esports delivered gains across every major benchmark during the period. Gross gaming revenue nearly doubled, turnover rose 70.6%, and margin efficiency also improved. The report pointed to broader player engagement and a more active betting pattern across the vertical.
Betting Activity Rises
Placed bets increased 33.2% in the quarter, while combo bets jumped 72.1%. DATA.BET said the rise in combo betting showed that users are moving toward more sophisticated betting behaviour. The company added that the active player base expanded substantially over the same period.
Average single bet size also increased, which DATA.BET linked to stronger user confidence and deeper involvement. It said higher-value bets from premium-segment partner platforms contributed to the rise in average stake size. The company also pointed to recent UX improvements to its Single Page Application iFrame, which is designed to make multiples easier to build and improve the display and presentation of available events.
The report suggests that product changes and user behaviour were both important to the quarter’s performance. As more players engaged with the platform, betting patterns shifted toward larger and more complex wagers, supporting the overall rise in revenue and turnover.
Key Titles Lead Growth
Across the major esports titles, DATA.BET said player preferences and event calendars helped shape the quarter’s results. The top 4 disciplines—CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends and Valorant—all recorded strong double-digit growth in profit, turnover, bet counts and active users.
The company also said niche disciplines produced a 245% increase in profit compared with 1Q25, underlining the depth of its esports portfolio. Rainbow Six was singled out as a standout performer, helped by the addition of new markets and expanded betting options. DATA.BET said the discipline gained traction in Latin America, supported by new markets and by combining Total Over + Win and Win First Half + Win Map options, as well as a sharp increase in match coverage.
Rocket League also remained one of the company’s most promising disciplines for betting. DATA.BET said the title still delivered quarter-on-quarter growth even though 4Q25 included the FIFAe World Cup, traditionally the year’s headline event. In 1Q26, Rocket League turnover rose 85.3%, bet counts increased 18.7% and active players climbed 50.1%.
Event Calendar Expands
The company said official data events were up 5.2% year-on-year, while the overall event calendar grew to 10.8%. Top-tier events outperformed lower-tier events by a wide margin in turnover, profit and bet count. At the same time, the volume of low-tier events also grew, particularly in CS2.
DATA.BET linked that increase in lower-tier activity to Valve’s restructured Major qualification system, which has encouraged tournament organisers to fill the calendar with more qualifying events. The broader calendar appears to have supported betting opportunities across more disciplines and market types.
Momentum Into 2026
Head of Esports Bohdan Holovnov said high margin efficiency was a key catalyst in the quarter. He said partners have increasingly recognised that esports can deliver meaningful commercial returns, encouraging them to scale up promotional campaigns and drive more traffic into the vertical. He added that this feeds into more new users, higher turnover and stronger margins.
Holovnov also said the company’s broad match and discipline coverage continues to support growth, and that the rapid rise in combo bets across partner platforms reflects that breadth. He said 1Q26 set a new benchmark for what esports betting can deliver, with GGR nearly doubling, the player base growing by more than 56% and betting patterns becoming more sophisticated.
Source: Inside Asian Gaming
