I was also surprised by that sponsorship. While cs2 is not that popular to the gambling community, sponsporing the #1 team will add huge exposure to Stake's gambling platform.
actually, gambling is huge in counter strike. almost every tier 1 team is/has been sponsored by a gambling site, especially skin gambling websites.
but nothing as big and mainstream as Stake, which is why it's a crazy sponsorship for the cs2 scene.
That only shows E-Sports may become the next big thing
onin the future in the landscape of betting, if you think carefully about it, it makes sense. We are starting to see a youth which has grown up using internet and is more accustomed to watching tournaments of E-Sports than traditional sports, like football and basketball. I am convinced it is just a matter of time before more young adults start to integrate to the gambling and betting community and they will be rather attracted to stake their money on professional players and teams of games they have enjoyed, instead of seeking what previous generations of bettors did.
Stake and big casinos do not take those steps without studying the market first, they are aware the next generation is going to me more digital and interested on games like Counter Strike, League of Legends, Dota, And other popular games.