FIFA is one of the oldest and most popular video game franchises in the world. According to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) itself, the game sports over 240 million players globally.
While multiplayer FIFA is incredibly competitive by nature, its professional district has made a real case for itself in the last several years. FIFA esports is a truly global phenomenon, and in the last few years major soccer organizations and world-renowned players have gotten involved by sponsoring leagues and fielding their own teams.
See Odds Shark’s Best Esports Sites
As with any growing esport, the possibilities for betting on the digital sport have sprouted alongside it. As a betting product, FIFA’s overall handle may be small in comparison to that of other heavy hitters such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, but we don’t think anyone should rule it out as FIFA odds can be found on a number of licensed sportsbooks and the number of betting operators hosting moneylines on the game will likely swell over time.
In this guide, we’ll tackle the FIFA betting market comprehensively so you can have the upper hand when placing your first bet.
What is FIFA
FIFA is a soccer (or football, depending on where you’re from) simulation video game franchise that was first released in 1993. In total, FIFA has seen 35 editions of the game released since then. FIFA is developed by popular American video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA).
Each year, when the newest FIFA comes out, it absorbs responsibility as the primary competitive title. The latest FIFA game on the market is FIFA 20. This information is important because if you’re looking to bet on FIFA, you’ll want to know which version of the game is the esports standard.
FIFA Esports
Any FIFA 20 betting markets will be offered through the game’s esports leagues. For that reason, you’ll want to understand that hemisphere clearly before surfing over to a sportsbook to place a wager.
The FIFA Global Series is the leading competitive league for FIFA. Each year, the FIFA Global Series hosts a series of online qualifiers and tournaments culminating in the FIFA eWorld Cup, the league’s most prestigious event. The structured league coupled with midseason tournaments has helped make the FIFA Global Series a working betting product.
While the Global Series has established itself as the apex of FIFA, there are a number of other leagues and tournaments in the calendar year that offer premier gameplay and betting odds. A number of different countries boast their own competitive FIFA leagues in striking resemblance to traditional sport counterparts such as the eLaLiga, eSerie A, eSuperliga, eMLS and the Virtual Bundesliga. Many of these leagues are formatted in a similar fashion with online qualifiers and seasonal tournaments culminating in a championship.
ePremier League
Outside of the FIFA Global Series, the ePremier League is up there for FIFA’s most competitive and prized esports leagues. The ePremier League is the product of a partnership between Electronic Arts and the Premier League itself, giving the FIFA competition the legitimacy and prestige it needs to top the charts. Of all the options, betting on the ePremier League will be one of your more common simply due to the structure and credibility of the tournament series.
eMLS League
The eMLS League is another popular option for punters looking to bet on FIFA 20. Owned and operated by Major League Soccer, its esports derivative hosts 25 players, each represented by an MLS club team in the Eastern and Western Conferences. The competition is played in a scheduled format similar to the MLS, concluding in the eMLS Cup. The 2020 edition of the eMLS Cup will take place in Austin, Texas.
Where to bet on FIFA 20
If you feel a bit more comfortable on your FIFA basics, then good! Now, you may be asking yourself, where’s the best place to bet on FIFA?
As we mentioned, FIFA may be a widely popular video game, but it’s still not quite in the upper echelon of esports titles. For that reason, you won’t find a big number of Sportsbooks putting up odds on FIFA 20. Nevertheless, there are places you can bet on FIFA, and we’ve done our part and outlined a few of your best bets below:
Looking for the best FIFA esports sportsbook? Take a look at our guide to the best esports betting sites.
FIFA betting markets
Since FIFA is a comparably newer and smaller betting handle than that of its esports counterparts, most FIFA betting markets are quite limited. Match and tournament Sportsbooks will be your usual suspects on FIFA sportsbooks with the occasional variation. While these markets are a bit dull, the velocity with which FIFA esports are increasing year over year makes us think it’s probable FIFA betting sites will expand its markets over time.
Match Sportsbook
This is one of your more common markets to see on FIFA gambling sites. Match Sportsbook is betting on the Sportsbook of a match between two teams. It’s also possible to bet that the match may end in a draw, similar to traditional soccer betting.
Tournament Sportsbook
As opposed to wagering on a match Sportsbook in FIFA, the tournament Sportsbook market will allow a punter to bet on the overall Sportsbook of a tournament. When placing a bet on the outright Sportsbook of a tournament, you’ll definitely want to consider all the teams at hand and their upset potential – well, at least when you’re betting on the favorite!
First goal
This market seems pretty self-explanatory, but we’ll touch on it briefly just in case. A first-goal bet is simply betting on which FIFA team will score the first goal in a match. This is more of a special bet – or at least in the context of FIFA-limited gambling markets – and can add a great deal of excitement when watching a match.
Betting Smart on FIFA
Perhaps more vital than any of the other information we’ve gone over already is the importance of smart gambling on FIFA. The obvious and clearcut options when picking a Sportsbook should always be the operator’s legitimacy.
With that being said, check out a few options before registering to see what kind of bonuses you can reel in. Just about every betting site we can think of offers generous welcoming bonuses and occasionally incentives for betting on specific markets. Who knows, there may even be a FIFA 20 betting bonus out there or even one on the title’s biggest annual tournaments.
