According to the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA), there are 60 million fantasy sports players in Canada and the United States. Considering the fact that Sony sold between 95,000 and 110,000 PS5 units in Canada in 2020 alone, it’s likely that many of these sports fantasy players own a PlayStation 5 console.
Luckily for them, PlayStation5 has become so much more than just a gaming console. With its built-in browser, you can effectively browse the internet on your PS5 in almost the same way as on your smartphone or a computer. As a result, players are now able to access fantasy sports sites directly from the console.
In this article, we will explore the intrinsic link between PS5 gaming and fantasy sports betting, with a particular connection to the rise in popularity of eSports betting.
Fantasy Sports in a Nutshell
Fantasy sports are season-long or daily games of skill where players select a team composed of real-life players of the sport to compete in different tournaments and matchups. When building a team, each manager has a salary cap which prevents you from choosing only the best players of the NFL, MLB, NBA, and other top professional sports leagues.
The team accumulates points based on different stats related to the sport and players, including but not limited to points, assists, passes, and much more. The team with the most points at the end of the season, week, or even a single round gets different prizes.
According to data from the FSGA, 79% of fantasy participants play fantasy football or gridiron, which is one of the oldest forms of fantasy sports out there, together with baseball. These players gather at DraftKings, FanDuel, and ESPN, the leading fantasy sports sites in the world, all of which are accessible on your PlayStation5 device through the built-in browser.
In fact, it is said that these sites host 3 out of 5 fantasy players out there and are the biggest reason why the global fantasy sports market is estimated to reach $56.36 billion by 2030.
Betting on Fantasy Sports — How Does It Work?
Betting on fantasy sports took off in the early 2010s with the rise of daily fantasy sports (DFS) betting through DraftKings and FanDuel, both of which offer a wide array of sports from football to basketball to baseball.
DFS allows participants to draft a new lineup every day or week, depending on the sport, rather than sticking to one team for an entire season and competing for real cash prizes. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty: cash games and tournaments are the two pillars of the DFS universe, each offering a unique playing experience.
Cash games, like 50/50s or head-to-head contests, generally have smaller yet more achievable winnings. Generally, the process of placing a bet on a DFS site is similar across different sites, as you can see in a detailed guide on https://legalbetcanada.com/. Here’s the drill. Upon registering on the DFS platform and funding their account, users pay a buy-in to enter, and the pot, minus the platform’s fee, is split among the winners.
On the other hand, DFS tournaments, also known as Guaranteed Prize Pool (GPP) contests, offer larger prize money but are also more competitive. Here, the buy-in also exists, but only the top 10% or so of players share in the prize pot. The higher you rank, the bigger your slice of the prize money.
Interestingly, even gaming giants like Sony are recognizing the potential of the DFS betting world. Sony has filed for a patent on an eSports Betting Platform that could potentially be integrated with PlayStation consoles like the PS5 or the subsequent releases. This move could pave the way for DFS betting to expand beyond traditional sports into the realm of esports, making it even more ubiquitous than it already is.
Current Fantasy Sports Law in Canada
According to the Criminal Code of Canada, for something to be considered gambling, it has to be a game of chance. Fantasy sports are considered games purely of skill, making DFS completely legal nationwide. However, provinces are given the right to choose whether they want to allow daily fantasy betting or not.
For example, Ontario has sanctioned both traditional and daily fantasy sports betting. While the former has prospered with the integration of private operators, the latter has been seeing a constant drop in the number of operators due to a $100,000 registration fee and a 25% tax on DFS revenue.
Conclusion
Sony’s PlayStation 5 has the capacity to revolutionize the fantasy sports market, blending gaming and DFS into an immersive, all-in-one experience. With their patent for an eSports Betting Platform, Sony is setting the stage for a seamless transition between gaming and DFS engagement, positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for all things gaming and betting.
How we interact with video games and digital sports betting is about to change, and the sooner betting sites jump on the bandwagon, the more likely they’ll secure a firm foothold in the fiercely competitive industry of betting.
