Sergii Mishchenko about the difficulties of the cybersport direction
On the 15th of May in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian Conference on Sports Marketing SBC Summit Ukraine 2025 took place. GGBET, a regular participant of SiGMA exhibitions, was a premium sponsor of the event, representing the cybersports industry. The brand organised a discussion panel and a small museum dedicated to the achievements of Ukrainian cyberathletes.
The discussion panel entitled ‘Ukraine in cybersport: facts and fakes’ highlighted the twenty-year history of Ukrainians’ participation in global eSports events. It also revealed the potential of this trend for the development of two industries – sports and betting.
Ukraine’s potential as a cybersports hub
The participants of the discussion panel were Evgeniy Zolotaryov, CEO of NAVI cybersports club, who took the championship of PGL Major 2024; Andriy Hryshchenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian E-Sports Federation (UESF); Sergii Mishchenko, CEO of GGBET; Viktor Pronyakin, Head of Product at Esports Charts analytical company; and Vitaliy Volochay, co-founder of Maincast studio of cybersports broadcasts and TV channels. The moderator was the famous cybersport commentator Mykhailo Olsior Zverev. Announcing the event, Mishchenko (in the photo with the microphone) noted that the GGBET brand has many years of experience in partnerships with the cybersport industry and is making efforts to develop this direction. He is sure that ‘Ukraine has the potential to become a global cybersports centre. Thanks to the cooperation with SBC Summit, we have the opportunity to share our knowledge with sports marketing professionals and tell them how cybersport really works and what opportunities it opens for business.’
During the discussion, the speakers shared interesting facts and insights from their professional sphere. For example, Evgeny Zolotaryov said that today cyber sports clubs have balanced business models and have more monetisation formats than traditional sports (e.g. lootboxes), which creates additional opportunities for partners and sponsors. Legendary commentator Vitaly v1lat Volochai noted that the NAVI match in the CS2 World Cup final 2024 was in the top 3 regarding views among all sporting events, behind only the two Shakhtar vs. Dynamo soccer matches.
Viktor Pronyakin emphasised that when it comes to qualification matches, cybersport is already on the same level as traditional sports, and in some cases even ahead of it. Thus, an average event can gather from 30 to 50 thousand Ukrainian-speaking spectators. Andriy Grishchenko spoke about an important direction – socialisation and reintegration of servicemen through cybersport. The Federation already pays attention to working with veterans and active military personnel, considers ideas coming from fighters, and sees huge potential in this direction.
The dynamics and uncertainty of cybersport
Commenting on the widespread belief that betting on eSports does not require the same skills and knowledge as traditional sports, Mishchenko spoke about the challenges for bookmakers. At the moment, a small number of bookmakers are involved in eSports trading, and there are only a few that are fully eSports-oriented. This is due to the fact that specific skills and approaches are required.
According to Mishchenko, the first difficulty of the vertical is non-standard marques: you can bet on the number of kills, find an item and so on. The second difficulty is the high degree of uncertainty due to the unregulated duration of matches and the emotional state of players, which noticeably affects the results of even top teams. A cybersport trader must be deeply immersed in the process.
Conclusively refuting the proposed stereotype, Mishchenko noted the dynamism of the direction: ‘The final difficulty is that data on traditional sports have been collected for decades. They remain relevant because the rules remain unchanged. In cybersports, everything is very dynamic: the following map change makes all existing game strategies and traders’ analytical approaches irrelevant.’
Not everyone can become a cyberathlete
Evgeny Zolotarev commented on another stereotype that it is easy to succeed in cybersports. He said that, on the one hand, cybersport does not require any special infrastructure; it is available to all owners of PCs and mobile phones: ‘You can be spotted by a scout being in your bed’. On the other hand, out of millions of users of famous games, only a few become champions, as this sport requires strict discipline.
In conclusion
Cybersport continues to gain momentum in Ukraine and around the world. In particular, partnerships between bookmakers and cybersports teams are allowing the development of a new sport that is already claiming a place in the Olympic Games. To succeed in cybersports, it is not enough for a bookmaker to create a betting platform – they need to find a way to unite fans with their favourite teams.
This article was first published in Russian on 16 May 2025.
