Parimatch Becomes a Partner of the Ukrainian Esports Federation

Sports bookmaker company Parimatch is one of the betting pioneers in Ukraine, where gambling was legalized just a year ago in 2020. The company was the first sports betting operator officially approved by the KRAIL (the Ukrainian gambling and lottery regulator) and is now tasked with the responsible mission of reestablishing a betting ecosystem in the country. 

Parimatch Joins the Ukrainian Esports Federation

As a part of those efforts, Parimatch will be partnering with the Ukrainian Esports Federation to host the championships in two of the most popular competitive video games: Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The competition will take Parimatch’s name and, in turn, be renamed to UESF Parimatch Championship of Ukraine. 

The tournament will be held in two parts – one online and one offline for the grand final. The online part will begin on July 17 and will last until October 3 this year. The conclusion of the event will be held live in WePlay Esports’ Arena in Kyiv, Ukraine, where the AniMajor, one of the biggest Dota 2 events, was recently held. The grand final will be in October, with exact dates yet to be announced. 

The total prize pool of the event will sit at around $55,000. Out of those, $36,500 is reserved for the winners of the competition, while two shares of $9000 will be set aside for other prizes. One of the shares will be spent on material prizes such as gaming devices, peripherals, etc., and the other will be used for various smaller prizes for the crowd at the venue and the online audience. 

Some notable teams and players have been directly invited to the semi-finals of the two events. For Dota 2, those are BackStreetBoys, Burning Fire, Cascade Esports, and PayForWin, while for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, those will be BlackSea, EC Dnipro, Hatemania, and Purple Pills. 

Leading the Way of Sports Betting

Parimatch is one of the few companies to receive a license for running a legal betting business in Ukraine. The country had banned gambling altogether after an incident in 2009 but, with time, warmed up to the industry and legalized it once again in 2020. Parimatch was among the first to be excited by the news and, by extension, among the first to join the fresh Ukrainian betting market. 

Other names that have been currently approved for running a betting business in the Eastern European country are Vbet and Cosmolot. Vbet just recently received the approval of KRAIL for operating casinos and poker games. 

It will take time for Ukraine to establish a healthy gambling system after a decade of betting hiatus. The government will now have some hard work with busting illegal underground gambling businesses and establishing fair laws on taxation.