DATA.BET has published its analysis of wagering activity during the Esports World Cup 2026. The seven-week event ran from 2 July to 23 August at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, marking the tournament’s first edition outside Saudi Arabia and featuring a prize pool of $75,000,000.
DATA.BET covered 24 titles, making it one of the most comprehensive offerings in the market. The lineup included Trackmania, which made its EWC debut this year, and Fortnite, which returned to the tournament with its Reload mode.
Turnover Leaders and Betting Behavior
Four titles accounted for 93% of total turnover:
- Counter-Strike 2 with 41%;
- Dota 2 with 31.8%;
- VALORANT with 11.7%;
- League of Legends with 8.5%.
However, average stake size painted a different picture. League of Legends recorded the highest average bet size, followed by VALORANT and Dota 2, while Counter-Strike 2 generated the smallest average stake despite leading in overall turnover.
Outside the top four, Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, and Rocket League generated the strongest betting activity. The results highlight an important distinction between turnover and betting value, demonstrating the need to serve both high-frequency bettors in Counter-Strike 2 and higher-stakes players in League of Legends.
Across all titles, 29.1% of bets were placed pre-match, while 70.9% were made live. Counter-Strike 2 recorded the highest share of pre-match betting at 29.1%, whereas Dota 2 showed the strongest preference for in-play wagering, with 87.7% of handle placed after matches had begun.
The trend reflects the nature of esports, where live variables such as drafts, hero selections, and changing in-game conditions can significantly influence outcomes. As a result, many bettors wait for additional information before placing wagers. DATA.BET supports this demand through proprietary mathematical models and a professional trading team monitoring markets in real time, with odds auto-correlated across outcomes.
Market Preferences and the Rise of Player Props
Market preferences revealed growing interest in player-focused betting. Player Props achieved their highest turnover share in Counter-Strike 2, accounting for 11.8% of total turnover, compared with 10.2% in VALORANT, 4.9% in League of Legends, and 3.9% in Dota 2.
This trend reflects how esports audiences increasingly follow individual players as closely as the teams they represent. For these bettors, Player Props provide opportunities to wager on specific player performances rather than team results.
To meet anticipated demand during the tournament, DATA.BET expanded its Counter-Strike 2 offering with two additional Player Props markets: Player with Most Kills (incl. overtime) and Player with Most Deaths (incl. overtime).
Duration markets, including round and map totals, were most popular in Dota 2, where they accounted for 4.3% of turnover, followed by League of Legends (4%), Counter-Strike 2 (3.5%), and VALORANT (3.4%).
A similar pattern emerged for Straight Winner and Map Winner markets, which represented a larger share of betting activity in Dota 2 (67.4%) and League of Legends (65.4%) than in VALORANT (59%) and Counter-Strike 2 (53.3%).
The difference stems largely from market depth rather than bettor preference. In Counter-Strike 2 and VALORANT, mature modelling and extensive coverage enable a broader range of betting options, encouraging users to spread wagers across a wider selection of markets.
“Esports World Cup is not the first event in esports history to bring multiple disciplines together under one banner. However, it is undoubtedly the most ambitious event of its kind, featuring the largest number of titles,” said Bogdan Holovnov, Head of Esports at DATA.BET. “We recognize that many of these games do not currently enjoy the same level of popularity, including among bettors. As a leading force in esports, we are constantly evolving, exploring new opportunities, and striving to lead the way into new areas of the industry. For us, this is yet another challenge we have set ourselves and another demonstration that, when it comes to esports, there is virtually no limit to what we can deliver.”
Most Popular Teams, Matches, and Emerging Disciplines
Three matches generated the highest betting volumes during the tournament: FUT Esports vs Team Spirit (CS2), Team Vitality vs Team Spirit (CS2), and FURIA Esports vs FUT Esports (CS2). Team Spirit, FURIA, and FUT Esports also led all organizations in both turnover and total bets placed throughout the competition.
Team Spirit ultimately captured the EWC 2026 Counter-Strike 2 title, defeating Team Vitality in the quarter-final and FUT Esports in the Grand Final. Notably, two of the tournament’s three most-bet matches were part of Team Spirit’s championship run.
Beyond traditional esports titles, DATA.BET also covered one of the event’s most unique competitions: the Esports World Cup chess tournament, held from 11–15 August. The expanded 22-player format introduced a new Play-in stage, while all games were played online with competitors seated on the arena floor in front of a live audience. The world’s highest-rated chess players participated under esports organizations, and Magnus Carlsen successfully defended the title he won in 2025.
Key Takeaways from EWC 2026
Behind the numbers, the Esports World Cup represented not only a commercial opportunity but also a significant technical challenge. With competitions spread across seven weeks, the event generated sustained peak demand rather than a single spike in activity.
The results reinforce trends that DATA.BET has observed throughout the season: esports betting is increasingly live-first, with in-play betting dominating across disciplines, while audiences are becoming increasingly player-led, driving demand for personalized markets such as Player Props. Together, these trends continue to shape the future of esports wagering.
