ESPORTS BETTING OPERATOR LUCKBOX TO LIST ON TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE TODAY

Esports betting operator Luckbox is set to start trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto today. 

Luckbox’s parent company, Real Luck Group Ltd, is due to make its public market debut on Wednesday, 16 December, at 2.30pm GMT / 9.30am ET / 6.30am PT under the ticker “LUCK”.

The milestone is quite an achievement for the Isle of Man-based operator, which accepted its first bet just 20 months ago, and has witnessed incredible growth – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a worldwide boom in video gaming and esports. 

In fact, although Twitch saw its viewed hours increase 50% quarter-on-quarters to 5 billion in the second quarter of 2020, and Facebook saw its viewership rocket 75% over the same period, Luckbox reported a 500% increase in turnover during the spring lockdown. 

Reflecting on 2020, Luckbox CEO Quentin Martin, said:

“The massive potential of esports is well documented and late last year PwC cited esports as having higher growth potential than any other sport. That was before we knew about Covid, of course, and the events of 2020 have put esports in sharper focus. Many who weren’t paying attention certainly are now.

“We’re at the forefront of the esports betting sector and we’ve seen first hand the impact it’s had on esports betting. It’s been huge – a large part of our reasoning to go public this year was the acceleration we saw during lockdown.

“We saw a massive spike in players moving from betting on sports to betting on esports and, encouragingly, we managed to lock up some 75% of the gains we made. We have clear evidence that players who tried esports betting for the first time enjoyed it and stuck with us.

“I think another indication of esports’ shift into the mainstream was our EGR Award in November. The EGR Operator Awards are the Oscars of the betting industry and for us, an esports-dedicated platform, to be named Rising Star shows that the egaming world is taking esports seriously and accepts it is very much a vertical to watch.”

Looking ahead, Martin pointed out that most of Luckbox’s growth so far had been organic, and there was huge potential now for growth through marketing. Specifically, the company will be focusing on content marketing, affiliates, influencers, and direct media, and strengthening its marketing team with more key hires. 

He also highlighted plans to launch sports betting, work on a casino offering, and bring odds compilation in-house, possible through a merger or acquisition. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s been a crazy year for everyone involved in esports, video gaming, and online casino, with business in pretty much all verticals, except traditional sports betting, seeing significant growth as consumers looked for ways to entertain themselves in the face of lockdowns, travel restrictions, and the closure of real-world entertainment venues. 

Now, as we are poised to begin 2021, it’s looking increasingly likely that the much touted COVID-19 vaccines won’t be a silver bullet solution, and that disruption from the pandemic will last well into the new year and possibly beyond. 

Of course, on the face of it, this looks great for esports, video gaming, and online casino, and very likely it will be another good year overall. However, operators should bear in mind one important difference; for most of 2020, in the developed world at least, governments have been subsidising populations and businesses, sheltering them from the economic fallout of the crisis. However, this is clearly unsustainable in the long-term, and many programs are now being withdrawn. 

Will the online businesses that thrived during the 2020 crisis find that consumers have a lot less disposable income in 2021? 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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