Canadian E-Sports Betting Platform Rivalry Bets on IPO

Betting on e-sports is a burgeoning, USD$17 billion dollar industry. As recently reported in the Globe & Mail , A Canadian e-sports betting platform, Rivalry, is looking to capture a slice of the pie by catering to a younger audience than traditional betting platforms. It looks like the company’s strategy of targeting young people, often overlooked by competitors, has paid off. Rivalry recently completed a USD$20 million financing round and the company is said to be pursuing a stock exchange listing later this year.

Regulatory challenges have not deterred the company’s growth strategy. Though the company’s head offices are in Canada, licensing regulations mean they cannot currently take bets from Canadian customers. Instead, the majority of their users are millennials, and Gen-Z-ers in Latin America. But with 375,000 active users and the recent infusion of funding, some are betting Rivalry has a good shot at tapping young sports betting enthusiasts.

The company’s ability to access the Canadian market may be largely dependent on the passage of two federal bills (Bill C-218 and Bill C-13) which could allow for single-game sports betting in Canada. Both bills are currently moving through the House of Commons.

While the company has focused on e-sports, traditional sports betting is expected to eventually become the company’s main business. Rivalry represents an alternative to competitors like British based Bet365, Canadian platform theScore, and other international competitors like DraftKings and FanDuel, which have largely targeted customers in their mid-30s and upwards.

Author: Emma Baumann, 2020/2021 Articling Student-at-law