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Are Women’s Esports Tournaments Any Different?

As a rule, esports competitions are not divided by gender. In practice, however, most teams are composed of men, which has sparked a substantial debate around the subject. To help bridge this gap, several women-only tournaments have appeared on the scene, such as Game Changers (Valorant), the MLBB Women’s Invitational (Mobile Legends) and ESL Impact (Counter-Strike).

Esports has become one of the fastest-growing areas of interest within online sportsbooks. Online bookmakers also cover major women’s esports matches in the same way as other cyber sports events. Provided the terms allow them to be applied, bettors can also use betting promotions and offers on these esports events, such as free bets earned from a welcome bonus.

When it comes to women’s esports competitions, though, their reach varies considerably. Game Changers and the MLBB Women’s Invitational, for example, can draw more than 300,000 simultaneous viewers, while others, like ESL Impact, were eventually discontinued because they were not financially viable.

This shows that women’s leagues still do not enjoy the same status as “regular” events on the standard sports betting circuit like soccer, tennis and golf. This is where the discussion begins about how betting on the two categories of sport differs.

The Difference Between Traditional Sports and Esports

From football to cricket, and tennis to athletics, traditional sports draw a clear line between men’s and women’s competitions, with the reason being that there is an obvious difference in physical capacity rooted in biology. This makes it easy to see how results and dynamics can differ between men’s and women’s events, as in women’s football, for instance, the average goal count tends to be slightly higher.

But what happens when you look at esports, where the games do not rely on physical attributes such as strength? Does anything really change between women’s and men’s competitions? The short answer is that it doesn’t. If there is an apparent weighting of male players having a perceived higher level of skill or competitiveness, it is largely because the player base is much bigger.

With the same amount of training, however, both male and female players can reach the same level of proficiency in esports. Interestingly, though, it’s often argued that the technical disparity within women’s competitions tends to be wider. Men’s esports tournaments usually have more competitive fields, while there is often more separation in skill levels within women’s events, which is down to the women’s esports scene not being as developed.

But with all that in mind, when you consider in-game esports factors and approaches to strategy and play, very little actually changes between women and men on the base level, a stark contrast to physical sports, where these elements can shift quite noticeably.

What Changes Come from Outside

Inside traditional sports, the technical gap between participants in the same competition naturally opens the door to bolder betting options. More points, higher scorelines and a wider range of markets all depend on this. Yet the factors that genuinely shape women’s esports tournaments come from outside the server:

• The number of competitions is far smaller. This alone limits general knowledge about the teams and weakens competitiveness.
• Public access to data and statistics is reduced, which makes it harder for anyone trying to build a strategy.
• The market around these tournaments is less developed, affecting how much attention bookmakers give them. As a result, you may see wider margins in the odds.

The Strength of Valorant

Valorant and Mobile Legends are the two esports with the highest participation of female players, while classics such as League of Legends, CS2 and Dota 2 remain dominated by male audiences. Valorant deserves special mention, as it offers almost four times more women-only tournaments than Counter-Strike, the game naturally attracting far more women, even outside the competitive scene.

Tips for Betting on Women’s Esports Competitions

For betting on women’s esports tournaments, odds won’t appear as often as they do on traditional sports or even higher-profile esports events. On the other hand, this can be a strong opportunity if you want to carve out a niche and really understand a specific corner of the market.

The keyword here is volatility, because with far less general knowledge available, the odds are not adjusted as tightly as in the more established competitions, which gives bettors the chance to catch a bookie off guard.

Even so, this doesn’t mean you should trust very narrow or risky guesses, but instead, build a solid strategy and look for balance. For instance, prioritise bets on Best of 3 and Best of 5 formats rather than tournaments that use the higher-volatility Best of 1 format, giving yourself room to assess team performances.