Contrary to its neighbours in North America, such as the United States and Canada, Latin America’s esports scene is much more similar to football than to gaming, with similarly die-hard fans and fantastic atmospheres on events, such as the IEM Rio Majors in Counter-Strike. Additionally, the region is home to some of the world’s best players, such as former CS Major winner Gabriel FalleN Toledo and Marcelo coldzera David, a player voted the best in the world in 2016 and 2017 – another similarity to traditional sports. In another contrast to the rest of the world (bar perhaps India and the SEA region), Latam has a very strong and fast-growing mobile gaming scene, which has grown for much of the same reasons as those in the mentioned regions: lower wages and high costs of broadband internet outside of major cities.
Latin America is actually a mobile-first market, but one where any and all esports competitions are popular. According to esports intelligence reports, mobile games accounted for around 48% of the gaming market in 2021, with a steady rise in players year over year. One of the most popular games in the region is Free Fire, a mobile battle-royale shooter, but other games and other platforms, such as Counter-Strike, have long been favourites in Latin America.
Big teams, big brands
Latin America is home to some of the most famous names in esports, be it tournaments and leagues or organisations and teams. The country with the highest amount of notable events and organisations is definitely Brazil, followed by Argentina, and some of the region’s most popular teams are MIBR (Made in Brazil), Red Canids, Leviatan, Imperial, FURIA and LOUD. All of these teams compete in renowned global tournaments, such as the VCT Americas in VALORANT, the LTA in League of Legends and the ESL Pro League in CS2, with dozens of others being present as well.
In terms of tournaments, LATAM has hosted several large-scale esports events, the most recent one being the LTA finals in Brazil, the first-ever LAN final of the newly-created League of Legends league. In addition, ESL hosted the IEM Rio Major in 2022 and followed it by IEM Rio in 2023 and 2024. All of these events were known for exceptional atmospheres and very big support, mostly for local teams.
When it comes to prize pools, the Free Fire World Series Global Finals 2024, held in Rio, had a prize pool of $1m, and the Rio Major had a prize pool of $1.25m. Various other tournaments, such as the Rainbow Six Brazil League, saw their prize pools grow – the Rainbow Six Brasileirão had a prize pool of just under $73,000 in 2022, but due to the game’s popularity and changes to the esports circuit, that pool grew to more than $300,000 for the regional league.
The reason Latam is so interesting to big esports brands and organisers is due to a combination of several factors: there’s a very large number of young people living in Latam, the region has been historically very open towards sports and competition in general, and the fans are much more engaged with their favourite brands than in some of the other regions.
According to data from a Brazilian operator partner that offers its bettors tournaments via our Esports Odds Feed, the most popular titles for betting in the region are currently Counter-Strike 2, League of Legends, Dota 2, and VALORANT, with over 70% of bets placed especially on CS2.
Die-hard fans and their engagement
Speaking of fan engagement, the likes of FURIA (through a Blocksport partnership) and LOUD (Loud Club) have created dedicated fan engagement platforms that help their fanbases with special perks and ways to connect with the teams. This move has proven to be popular ever since, with global esports brands such as Team Liquid and Team Vitality operating their platforms (V.Hive and Liquid+).
Brazil has also recently allowed for regulated casino gaming in the country for the first time, which will make the country much more open towards betting in 2025. With the country opening up to betting, the trend of fast betting has been steadily growing. According to Gambling Insider, almost three-quarters of Latam bettors prefer real-time betting, with around 80% of Brazilians betting in real-time. Focusing on fast betting, especially in the off-season of some competitions, like the LTA, can lead to better engagement and increased revenue for operators, especially with younger audiences. In addition, Brazil has made moves towards esports regulation by launching a public consultation on the topic in early 2025, shaping up the trends for the region.
All in all, the region is one of the fastest-growing and most important in esports to date, providing a great mix of high market potential, exceptional quality players and teams, a wide range of titles and events and a great fan base mirroring that of traditional sports. In our years of being a part of the Latam esports ecosystem, we saw the interest in esports rise, and the best advice we can give anyone is to keep an eye on the region’s esports scene, regardless of whether you’re a fan or a brand in the esports space.
Vitalii is an esports industry professional with over 15 years of hands-on experience in product strategy, tournament operations, and international business development. Throughout his career, he’s been involved in projects with major publishers and partners such as Riot Games, Krafton, Tencent, Epic Games, Wargaming, Valve, and others — contributing to events ranging from regional competitions to global tournaments like The International. He has worked on the execution of large-scale esports events and the rollout of new products across various markets.
Before joining BETER, Vitalii co-founded startups — including a hiring platform in Malta — and held senior roles at companies like StarLadder, ImbaTV, and WePlay. While his background is rooted in esports, his recent work touches on betting-related products and content, offering perspective on how these industries increasingly intersect.
The article was originally published at Next.io
