The German insurance group breaks new ground and expands its sponsorship commitments to the market of esports. At the beginning of the 2021 season, die Bayerische will start as the official insurance partner of Berlin International Gaming (BIG), one of the most successful esports organizations in Europe. As BIG’s League of Legends team’s main partner, the insurance group also backs the department that has an EU Masters championship and multiple trophies under their belt.

“We have been watching the triumphant advance of esports in Europe with great enthusiasm for some time now,” says Martin Gräfer, member of the Board of Management of the insurance group die Bayerische. “With our commitment to Berlin International Gaming, we are now taking the first step in this young, dynamic and rapidly growing environment. It gives us immense pleasure to do this side by side with one of the absolute big players of German esports clubs. We can’t wait to go on a title hunt together with BIG and the BIG Family.”

“As a club, we are very honored to be able to accompany such a traditional insurance company as a partner in esports for the first time,” says Daniel Finkler, CEO Berlin International Gaming. “The partnership is another milestone in our history and shows the relevance of the German esports market. We are looking forward to a long-term cooperation.”

Based in Berlin, Berlin International Gaming (known worldwide by the acronym BIG) is one of the most successful European esports organizations. Currently, the German club employs top teams and players in the titles League of Legends, CS:GO, Quake, StarCraft, Valorant and Trackmania. Since 2017, the club has been able to establish itself at the top of the world and celebrate numerous respectable successes in various disciplines. BIG’s partner portfolio includes OMEN (HP), Corsair, Red Bull, Betway, SkinBaron, Backforce (Interstuhl) and Volvic.

BIG’s League Of Legends Team secured a total of six championships in 2019, including three Premier Tour wins and one German championship. The highlight of the team is considered to be winning the European Masters Summer 2019 in Katowice, Poland. Since 2020, the team has been playing in the Prime League, the most prestigious League Of Legends division in the DACH region.

As the official insurance partner of Berlin International Gaming, the two partners will develop target group-oriented esports products and services in the future.
As part of the partnership, die Bayerische acquires an extensive main partner rights package in League Of Legends as well as additional rights in the renowned game titles “Trackmania” with racing driver Dennis “Massa” Lotze and “StarCraft 2” with Tobias “ShoWTimE” Sieber.

Die Bayerische and Berlin International Gaming focus on brand visibility and addressing target groups via digital channels in all rights packages. In this way, the insurance group aims to raise its profile among the young target group and create added value for the esports community.

Since 2016, die Bayerische has been the main sponsor of the traditional football club TSV 1860 München and thus has a prominent presence in traditional sports as an insurance partner. In addition, the insurance company also supports clubs and projects in popular sports and is involved in social partnerships. The two brand ambassadors Samuel Koch and multiple Olympic champion Magdalena Neuner, brand ambassador of the sustainable insurance and pension brand Pangaea Life, round off the company’s current sponsorship portfolio.

The insurance group die Bayerische was founded in 1858 and consists of the companies Bayerische Beamten Lebensversicherung a.G. (parent company), BL die Bayerische Lebensversicherung AG and the composite company BA die Bayerische Allgemeine Versicherung AG. The total premium income of the Group amounts to over 600 million euros. The Group is continuously increasing its equity capital and is well above the industry average. Investments of over 4.8 billion euros are managed. More than 12,000 personal advisors are available to Bayerische customers throughout Germany. In a recent comprehensive company analysis, the rating agency Assekurata again awarded Neue Bayerische Leben a quality rating of A+ (“very good”), attesting to the company’s financial strength, which is far above the industry average.

Berlin International Gaming, known worldwide under the acronym BIG, is one of the most successful European Esport organizations with headquarters in Berlin. The German club currently employs top teams and players in the titles League of Legends, CS:GO, Quake, StarCraft, Valorant and Trackmania. Since 2017, the club has established itself at the top of the world rankings and celebrated numerous respectable successes in various disciplines. The partner portfolio of BIG includes OMEN (HP), Corsair, Red Bull, Betway, SkinBaron, Backforce (Interstuhl) and Volvic.
In 2019, the German club was able to secure a total of six League Of Legends championships. In addition to the three Premier Tour wins, they also finished the last ESL Championship season in first place. The highlight of the League Of Legends team has been the championship title of the European Masters Summer 2019 in Katowice. Since the beginning of 2020, the German team is playing in the Prime League, the highest rated national league in League Of Legends.

Bookmaker LOOT.BET has summarised the past year’s statistics on esports betting. According to the research, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tops the list as the most popular discipline to bet on in 2020, the biggest winnings from a single bet reached as much as €6 540, and the luckiest bettors came from Ukraine, Sweden, and Hungary.

In 2020, the greatest share in betting volumes on LOOT.BET belonged to CS:GO, occupying a lion’s share of more than 53% of the total money placed on esports. The second place in the respective chart was occupied by Dota 2 with a share of 35%, while the third place was occupied by LoL with 7%.

It’s interesting that in the context of classic sports being paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA 21 — previously one of the least popular games — managed to finish fourth, and Valorant, being a newcomer in the esports world, placed seventh, ahead of established disciplines such as Overwatch and Rocket League.

The most successful bet on LOOT.BET for the past year brought a bookmaker’s client €6 520 of net profit, with only €20 risked and the total odds of 327.

By average bet size, the leader was LoL (€32.34), followed by King of Glory (€30.65) and Call of Duty (€27.20). Here, the two most demanded games – CS:GO and Dota 2 – end up at the 10th and 11th place, with €21.41 and €20.64, respectively.

Within the ‘big three’ esports games, LOOT.BET’s users placed the most money on the following events – ESL One Road to Rio (CS:GO), Epic League (Dota 2), and Legends Pro League Summer (LoL).

The most popular teams for betting in their disciplines were Na’Vi (CS:GO), Team Nigma (Dota 2), and T1 (LoL). By average bet size, the champions are Team Liquid (CS:GO), Just Error (Dota 2), and Victory Five (LoL) whilst the max bets in the respective disciplines belonged to Heroic (CS:GO), Team Aster (Dota 2), and DAMWON Gaming (LoL).

The most money, in total, were won thanks to Sprout (CS:GO), VP.Prodigy (Dota 2), and FlyQuest (LoL). The teams that disappointed bettors the most were fnatic (CS:GO),Team Nigma (Dota 2), and FunPlus Phoenix (LoL).

Going by profit on every EUR placed, the leaders were Gambit (CS:GO), 496 Gaming (Dota 2), and LDLC OL (LoL), while the anti-champions were Team Singularity (CS:GO), B8 (Dota 2), and Team Vitality (LoL).

LOOT.BET has also shared statistics for countries, according to which the luckiest bettors were citizens of Ukraine, Sweden, and Hungary and the unluckiest users came from Spain, Canada, and South Korea. The most active, by the average quantity of bets per client, were Hungary, Japan, and Switzerland, while the least active by the same parameter were Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The highest median odds were recorded in India, the Philippines, and Poland, and on the bottom of the respective rankings are Spain, Indonesia, and South Korea.

Despite a row of notable events being canceled on the grounds of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as The International, in 2020, LOOT.BET showed significant growth. In the past year, the bookmaker saw an impressive 67% increase in betting volumes while active users grew by 58%.