For years, the relationship between iGaming and esports has been fairly straightforward. Betting companies sponsor teams, tournaments and streamers, get their logos in front of an audience, and hope that visibility translates into new customers.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with that model. Sponsorship has helped fund competitive esports, and it's given iGaming brands access to an audience they might otherwise struggle to reach.
But I think there's a much bigger opportunity here, and it's one we've started exploring ourselves at Nordic Network.
Earlier this year, we launched Nordic Partners Gaming (NPG) and acquired a Counter-Strike 2 team. Rather than sponsoring an existing organisation, we decided to become directly involved in building one.
And that decision wasn't simply about getting our name on a jersey.
Understanding the audience, not just reaching it
I've spent much of my career in iGaming, particularly in affiliate marketing, where we're constantly looking at traffic, conversion, acquisition costs and performance.
These things matter. They always will.
But esports approaches audiences differently.
People don't just watch Counter-Strike. They follow the players, get involved in the community, discuss matches, create content and spend money on things connected to the game.
But measuring every esports partnership purely through short-term acquisition numbers misses part of the value
Just look at the CS2 skins market. Industry estimates put its total value at several billion dollars, with around $4.2bn in skin trading volume reported for 2025 alone. And we're talking about virtual items that don't even improve your performance in the game.
I find that fascinating because it shows how invested people are in this ecosystem. They're not just consuming content. They're actively participating in it, spending money and building communities around something they care about.
For me, that's where iGaming can learn from esports. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to acquire customers, but esports shows what happens when people have a genuine reason to stay involved.
Why we decided to build NPG
When we started discussing esports seriously, one thing became clear quite quickly: we needed people who understood the industry from the inside.
That's why working with Fabian Broich was so important.
Fabian has spent more than a decade in esports, while I bring a background in iGaming and building commercial partnerships. We approach things from different perspectives, and I think that's a good thing.
We also wanted to do more than talk about esports' potential.
We acquired a Counter-Strike 2 team that had been competing outside the world's top 200 and started building around it.
Since then, the team has climbed around 70 places in the world rankings, reaching #123. That doesn't mean we've figured everything out. Competitive esports is unpredictable, and building a successful organisation takes a lot more than a few good tournament results.
But it's given us a much better understanding of what teams actually need.
Players need the right environment to perform. Organisations need reliable commercial partnerships. And sponsors need to understand what they're investing in beyond the numbers on a social media report.
You learn these things differently when you're responsible for the organisation yourself.
There's a difference between sponsorship and partnership
I think one of the reasons esports and iGaming still operate quite separately is that we've approached the relationship too narrowly.
A company pays for visibility. A team delivers that visibility. Both sides fulfil the agreement, and everyone moves on.
But what happens after that?
If you're serious about reaching esports audiences, you need to understand the content they enjoy, the personalities they follow and the communities they're part of.
For me, that's where iGaming can learn from esports
You also need to give something back.
That might mean supporting original content, creating experiences around tournaments or helping an organisation build a more sustainable business.
It shouldn't just be about putting a logo somewhere and expecting immediate results.
Of course, there has to be a commercial return. I'm not suggesting otherwise.
But measuring every esports partnership purely through short-term acquisition numbers misses part of the value. Brand recognition, trust and community engagement develop over time.
And for licensed iGaming operators, any strategy also needs to respect age restrictions, local regulations and responsible marketing standards.
What comes next?
I don't think every iGaming company needs to buy an esports team. In fact, for most businesses, a well-structured partnership with an existing organisation will probably make more sense.
But I do think more companies should consider what a longer-term commitment could look like.
With NPG, our ambition is to build a competitive esports organisation that can stand on its own, while using our experience in iGaming to create better commercial opportunities for teams, creators and partners.
We're also documenting the team's journey, including the preparation, setbacks and work that people don't normally see when they watch a tournament.
For me, that's a much more interesting story than simply announcing another sponsorship deal.
Esports has spent years building communities that genuinely care about the teams and people involved. iGaming has developed considerable expertise in partnerships, commercial growth and performance marketing.
There's a lot both industries can learn from each other.
But I think that starts with getting involved, understanding the people you're working with and being prepared to build something together.
That's what we're trying to do with NPG.