The NFL and Electronic Arts announced a multi-year partnership extension last week that secures the production of the Madden franchise for another five years.. The announcement comes on the heels of Madden NFL 20 which was the most successful game in the franchises history. According to an NFL Press Release, unique players have gone up 30 percent year-over-year and over one billion minutes have been spent watching people play Madden on Twitch.

While people have been under quarantine due to the coronavirus, the Esports industry has seen expansive growth both in terms of the amount of players and the amount of people placing wagers on Esports tournaments.

Sports Illustrated’s gambling analys Frank Taddeo talks about the record Esports growth and what sportsbooks are doing to better accommodate gamblers looking for action on Esports.

Read below for full video transcript: 

Bill Enright: EA Sports and the NFL agreed on a multi-year extension of their partnership, and the Coronavirus has kept people inside and thus starting to play more video games. How is that affecting the world of gambling? Let's find out in our Gambling Today segment with Frank Taddeo. Frank, tell me the latest. What's going on?

Frank Taddeo: Yeah, Bill, due to the Coronavirus, we saw that, you know, obviously there was a halt to March Madness, the NBA, the NHL and all the leagues around the world, soccer, boxing, UFC, and that really put a halt in sports gambling, their ability to make money and attract bettors. So that caused them to pivot. And what did they pivot to, Bill? They pivot to esports and bookmakers scrambled to find exactly what their betters would be looking for. The gambling industry was forced to get creative, and that led to wagering on esports. 

Sportsbooks began offering lines on video games like Call of Duty to sports games like NBA 2k to virtual NASCAR races. eSports gamblers will be happy to learn that EA sports recently agreed to a multi-year renewal of its exclusive licensing agreement with the NFL and the NFLPA for the continued production of its highlighted Madden NFL series. eSports betting has emerged as a solid offering for many sportsbooks who believe that betting on video games that people love to play with the players that they know is something that will continue even when live sports return. Oddsmakers are of the belief that bettors can apply near identical handicapping strategies to virtual games that they do to real sporting events. 

According to reports, Bill, the industry has grown to a point where eSports gambling revenue, which was projected to double in figures in 2020, is actually going to go from seven billion in 2019 to projected 14 billion this year. Those looking forward, though, to a June 1st Madden 21 announcement were informed late Sunday afternoon that due to the unfortunate events currently affecting our country, those details have now been postponed. In the coming months as major sporting events return, it'll be interesting, Bill, to see if esports wagering will be able to keep their current momentum or if it once again will go back into the shadows, Bill. Because I'm not so sure where this is really going to fall. Obviously, we'll have live sports back, but can esports continue to thrive?

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