Esports, professionally organized video game competitions between players or teams, has been growing exponentially. The interest in esports is born out of an interest in the rise of video gaming, with esports being considered a subset of the wider gaming environment (Macey & Hamari, 2019). While much of the research and literature has focused on problems arising from esports betting and video gaming in general, it should be noted that video game playing can also have therapeutic and health benefits (Griffiths, 2019, Griffiths et al., 2017). With respect to esports viewing, industry experts suggest that by the end of 2022, upwards of 500 million people worldwide are expected to consume esports content, with revenues reaching between 2 and 5 billion U.S. dollars (Abarbanel et al., 2016, Schnapp et al., 2022, Sweeeny et al., 2019). The popularity of esports has transformed traditional recreational video gaming into a highly competitive sport as amateur and professional players and teams compete to win prize money and/or championship titles (Taylor, 2012, Newzoo, 2020). The increasing availability of online streaming media platforms (e.g., YouTube and Twitch) have become central to the growth and promotion of esports competitions (Popper, 2013). With more and more youth and adults engaging in online video gaming it is not unexpected that esports’ popularity continues to grow.

While esports seems relatively new, it actually has a long history dating back to the early 1970s, with Stanford University hosting a video game competition of Spacewar (1972) and Sega endorsing the All Japan TV Game Championships (Vending Times, 1974) - a nationwide arcade video game tournament (Borowy, Jin, & Pluda, 2013). Along with the expansive growth of online games in the late 20th century and technological advances of video streaming, more opportunities for video gaming tournaments arose. While labeling competitive video games as a sport remains controversial (Banyai, Griffiths, Kiraly & Demetrovics, 2019), some have argued that competitive video gaming can best be viewed as a ‘non-traditional sport’, necessitating careful planning, precise timing, and skillful execution while requiring players have an enhanced level of physical fitness and physical training (it should be noted that the International Olympic Committee is studying its inclusion as an Olympic sport and a growing number of high schools and universities now sponsor esports teams as part of their athletic programs).

Esports appears to be particularly attractive to adolescents and young adults (Banyai et al., 2019, Macey and Hamari, 2019, Marchica et al., 2021, Richard et al., 2021, Wardle et al., 2020). It is not unusual for individuals to travel long distances to attend highly rated international tournaments as a spectator. Those unable to attend tournaments in person often stream the event on their smartphone or computer via Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Gaming, Discord, Caffeine or Stream TV. Competitions are also available on several television channels, with upcoming tournaments being widely advertised on a variety of online websites.

This rise in the number of competitive games being developed, and their widespread adoption, has led to not only an increase in number of worldwide large-scale tournaments but the opportunity to wager on the outcome of the contest. Esports betting can involve placing bets using cash, credit cards, or alternative currencies including monetized “skins”(Greer et al., 2019). While more and more jurisdictions legalize and regulate esports wagering, relatively little is known about those individuals wagering on esports (Wardle et al., 2020).

In a sample of Australian adults, Greer et al. (2021) compared esports bettors to traditional sports bettors to identify whether esports bettors were more vulnerable to harms and problems. In short, the authors identified that esports bettors were indeed more likely than sports bettors to meet the criteria for problem gambling (64.8 % vs 17.3 %) and were more likely to experience at least one gambling-related harm (81.9 % vs 45.3 %). Esports bettors were also found as engaging in skins betting and gambling more frequently than traditional sports bettors. Moreover, adult esports bettors were significantly younger than adult traditional sports bettors although both groups of gamblers were more likely to be male. It was hypothesized that esports viewers may be engaging in esports betting as a way to further immerse themselves into the pastime they love (video gaming) through various means.

Wardle et al. (2020), using data from the Emerging Adults Gambling study in the U.K., compared the profiles of youth between the ages of 16 to 24 who reportedly were esports betters with those who gambled on other sports and non-gamblers. Their results suggests that the prevalence rate of esports gambler, among their population was 2.9 % for past year wagering on esports for emerging adults. Compared with non-gamblers, esports betters were more likely to be male (74 % vs 49 %), older (78 % aged 20–24 vs 63 % for non-gamblers), to be from nonwhite ethnic groups (26 % vs 17 %), to engage more frequently in video game playing of digital games, report higher impulsivity scores, have higher rates of gambling involvement and were more likely to indicate problematic gambling behaviors. Wardle and her colleagues suggested that it is not how often someone engages in digital games per se but rather the different types of practices they undertake when playing video games. Overall, esports bettors were highly engaged in gambling in general (39 % gambled more than once per week; 50 % gambled on more than 5 activities during the past year, and 53 % of esports bettors engaged in 5 or more different gambling activities). Overall, 53 % of esports bettors scored in the problem gambling range on the PGSI.

In a younger sample of Australian adolescents aged 12 to 17, Hing et al. (2022) examined esports betting among two separate samples and attempted to identify the characteristics of adolescent esports bettors and the relationship between video gaming activities, gambling participation, and problem gambling. Their results suggest that playing and watching esports games were found to be a strong predictor of esports betting, but results were inconsistent between their two samples. For example, in one sample, past month esports bettors were at least twice as likely to have viewed an esports competition and had higher impulsivity and lower well-being scores compared to youth not engaging in esports wagering. In the second sample, past month esports betters were more likely to have played an esports video game in the past month and reported lower impulsivity scores.

Using a subset of adolescents who had both gambled and played video games in the past year, Marchica et al. (2021) reported that approximately 20 % of these adolescents had bet on esports during the past year. Esports betting was positively associated with other forms of gambling, problem gambling, problem video gaming, and both internalizing and externalizing problems, especially among problem video gamers. Utilizing the broader sample of adolescents from which the Marchica et al., (2021) study was based on, Richard et al. (2021) identified that esports bettors were more likely to engage in other forms of gambling and reported more frequent engagement in cigarettes, alcohol, and cannabis use. Moreover, through regression analyses, they identified that predictors of esports betting included being male, greater symptoms of problem gambling and problem video gaming, and more severe mental health symptomatology.

Taken together, with the growing number of adolescents actively engaged in both gambling and video game playing, the current study sought to identify the current prevalence of esports wagering, its relationship to video gaming and gaming disorder, gambling and risk for problem gambling, and other problematic video gaming behaviors including risky loot box use and a preference for virtual life. As well, the current study sought to identify whether esports bettors are a relatively homogenous group or whether different subgroups exist based on the presence or absence of certain gambling and video gaming behaviors. Lastly, if different subgroups of esports bettors were identified, this study aimed to identify differences between these groups based on demographic characteristics, experiences of childhood adversity, and mental health symptoms.