Biggest Esports Tournaments to Bet on Globally

The Esports is a juggernaut industry that doesn’t stop growing. It has set roots in many other industries including online betting where it’s a major hit with bettors. In many ways, it’s the perfect betting market for a modern era. Since you’re betting on the outcome on video games, this one’s much more interesting than, say, football or basketball. Plus, there are many exciting markets and a lot of tournaments across different games that make it a huge draw not just for Esports fans, but other types of bettors too.

With Esports getting increasingly better looks on the betting stage in the past few years, it’s time to present the top tournaments you can put your money on.

The International

Even if you’re not a big bettor or you know nothing about Esports, you’ve probably heard about The International. It’s a major Esports tournament in DOTA 2 that puts all the world’s best players and teams in one spot. The International is produced by DOTA 2’s producer – Valve and is an annual competition. Established in 2011, one of its main draws is the prize. It hast the largest single-tournament prize pool in the world that most recently hit a whopping $40 million.

You can put your money on it and bet on eSports like CS2 at Thunderpick, but this one gets the bigger attention. We’re not saying that CS:GO or CS2 are not popular, but when it comes to major Esports tournaments to bet on, The International takes the top spot.

CS:GO and CS2 Majors

Counter Strike: Global Offensive and its recently announced sequel simply titled Counter Strike 2 are among the premier multiplayer games in the world. We can safely say that Counter Strike is the game that led to the creation of Esports in the first place. What initially started as a fun multiplayer game between friends grew into a competitive sport for the masses. Some of the best tournaments you can bet online on include the Majors. As the name suggests, these are the major CS:GO and CS2 events that are huge in Europe.

The first major was held in 2013 and originally included 16 teams. It was bumped up to 24 from 2018 onwards due to the growing popularity. Just like The International, the Majors are produced by Valve Corporation. They have a rotating host basis and a major prize pool that reached $2,000,000 most recently. It shows just how popular the game is and how big the tournaments are. Almost any betting site has CS:GO majors in its offer, even if it’s not a big Esports fan.

Apex Legends Global Series Championship

The Apex Legends Global Series Championship is a professional Esports league founded in 2019. The free to play FPS became incredibly popular from the moment it was released by EA and Respawn, and it was only a matter of time before a global tournament or series was announced. It came in 2019 in the form of a league series that use a promotion and relegation system similar to football.

This makes it exciting for football and regular sports bettors. The league culminates in the ALGS Championship with 20 teams fighting for the trophy. There’s a $300,000 prize for the winners of the tournament, and although it’s nowhere near the highest Esports prize pools, it’ll undoubtedly grow in the future.

The Six Invitational

Moving on from video games such as DOTA 2 and CS:GO, the Six Invitational is a new five-on-five tournament on Rainbow Six Siege. Produced by Ubisoft, the tournament was founded in 2017. It initially featured only 6 teams, but it didn’t take long before an expansion took place. It first expanded to 16 teams a year later, then 20 since 2021.

With the tournament’s popularity growing, so did the prize pool. The first one in 2017 had a prize pool of $100,000. In 2019, it went up to $2,000,000, then $3,000,000 which is the current prize. We have no doubt it’ll grow even bigger in the future.

Worlds (LoL World Championship)

The Worlds, which is short for League of Legends World Championship, is an end of year event that pits the best League of Legends teams for the global trophy. While the prize trophy is a meager $6.7 compared to The International or the Fortnite World Cup, it’s one of the most watched-if not the most watched-Esports events of all time.

What makes it different from the rest of the crowd is the theatrical presentation and atmosphere. That’s where Riot Games pumps a lot of money in to ensure it’s one of a kind. The peak viewership has reached 4 million, while collectively around the world, the Worlds have been watched for a whopping 174 million hours. It’s the premier event in the world of LoL that has been growing bigger and bigger with no intention to stop since the game released.

Fortnite World Cup

Fortnite took the industry by storm in 2019. It was the first of its kind with fast-paced gameplay and a unique approach to multiplayer shooters that made it such a big hit. It certainly helped that the platform is free to play. And, while the game is free, the best players can put their skills on display to earn millions of dollars in the Fortnite World Cup.

Epic Games launched the tournament in 2019 when the game released. It was conceived as a massive tournament with 2 separate events – solo and duo. A total of 200 players signed up for the first one, with a $30 million prize pool. That’s for the single-player tournament – the duo tournament had a prize pool of $3 million. The viewership was almost $2.5 million, making it one of the greatest and most popular Esports tournaments to bet on.

Valorant Championships

This tournament is a direct competitor to the Fortnite World Cup and the Apex Legends Series. While it’s a pretty fresh tournament once again developer by Riot Games, it helps grow the star of the competitive shooter. Eventually, it will surely go toe to toe with the other tournaments of its kind. The prize pool for starters is impressive – $1,000,000. But, the tournament will only grow bigger from here, and so will the prizes.