On May 15, GGBET UA, a licensed bookmaker, held a fascinating panel discussion with leading experts in the eSports market in Unit.City in Kyiv, during which participants debunked stereotypes about eSports that still exist in the minds of the general public. The discussion became one of the key topics of the III All-Ukrainian Conference on Sports Marketing — SBC Summit Ukraine 2025. GGBET UA also showed guests a museum exposition with unique trophies of Ukrainian eSports teams and important facts from the history of eSports development in Ukraine.
The eSports panel discussion "Ukraine in eSports: Facts and Fakes" became the first platform in the history of SBC Summit Ukraine for professional dialogue between experts in this industry. They discussed three beliefs about eSports that exist in the minds of the general public: "eSports is not a serious industry," "eSports in Ukraine will never be as popular as traditional sports," and "it is easier to succeed in eSports than in traditional sports."
During the discussion, the speakers shared interesting facts and insights from their niche. Thus, CEO of the most successful Ukrainian club NAVI Yevhen Zolotarov said that now eSports clubs have balanced business models and more monetization formats than traditional sports (for example, digital items), which creates additional opportunities for partners and sponsors. Legendary commentator and co-founder of Maincast Vitaliy v1lat Volochai shared that the NAVI match in the final of the CS2 World Championship in 2024 was in the top 3 in terms of views among all sporting events and was second only to two Shakhtar-Dynamo football matches. Viktor Proniakin, Head of Product at the Esports Charts analytical service, highlighted that when it comes to qualifying matches, eSports is already on par with traditional sports, and cases of it surpassing it are becoming more frequent. Thus, an average event can gather from 30 to 50 thousand Ukrainian-speaking viewers.
Executive Director of the Esports Federation of Ukraine Andriy Hryshchenko spoke about an important area - socialization and reintegration of military personnel through eSports. The Federation is already devoting time to working with veterans and active military personnel, is considering ideas coming from soldiers and sees great potential in it.
"We deliberately collected beliefs about eSports that are typical for society, but controversial. This made it possible to create a lively and frank discussion. In fact, eSports has long had its fans, a system of tournaments, a structure and partnerships, and disciplines such as CS2 and Dota 2 are already in the top 10 among all sports on GGBET UA. We are glad that we were able to demonstrate its true scale to the participants of SBC Summit Ukraine", — said Serhiy Mishchenko, CEO of GGBET UA.
GGBET UA also presented a museum of eSports, where visitors could get acquainted with the original trophies of Ukrainian teams from world championships, learn about the history of the eSports scene in Ukraine and make sure that eSports is an important component of modern sports culture.
Two CS:GO Record Books were also raffled off at SBC Summit Ukraine 2025 – an exclusive edition about global achievements in the iconic game, created by GGBET in collaboration with the global publication Dot Esports.
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