Counter-Strike and IEM Cologne drive huge esports betting numbers
23 June 2026
It is no secret that esports betting is one of the fastest growing sectors within the wider world of international esports. Earlier this year, for example, ComeOn Group, a major runner of online casinos on the international stage, announced the arrival of esports betting and IEM Cologne recently showed why. According to public data on Kalshi, one of the world’s leading prediction markets at the moment, IEM Cologne generated over $ 30 million in online betting volume over the duration of the tournament. That made Counter-Strike 2 by far the biggest international esports out there in terms of betting volume.
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Since its inaugural edition all the way back in 2014, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne Major has grown into one of the biggest events on the international Counter-Strike 2 calendar. It took place from June 2nd to June 21st this year, with Saudi Arabian organization Team Falcons taking the cake and the accompanying $ 500.000 in prize money. The Grand Final against Brazilian organization FURIA was played at the LAXNESS Arena in Cologne, known affectionately among many CS2 fans as “the cathedral of Counter-Strike” in front of 18.500 spectators.
Betting on Counter-Strike
That is serious interest and those are serious numbers, and it only becomes more serious when we look at the betting numbers. Between June 7th and June 13th, for example, predictions platform Kalshi processed no less than $ 66.2 in online esports bets. That was just over $ 30 million more than the preceding week, when IEM Cologne 2026 was just getting underway. It is known that online betting on esports tends to pick in the later stages of major events.
That is clearly what happened at Kalshi as well. When looking at their total numbers for esports betting over that same period, we see that no less than 63,1% was generated by Counter-Strike 2. It is no coincidence that IEM Cologne Major 2026 was reaching its playoff stage right at that time. With about 22% of Kalshi’s total esports betting volume for League of Legends and around 10% for VALORANT, Counter-Strike 2 and IEM Cologne 2026 were clearly the absolute highlights of the week for players.
Team Falcons surprise
As we wrote earlier, it was Team Falcons who eventually managed to win the IEM Cologne Major 2026 by beating FURIA in the Grand Final. As far as tournament winner contracts on Kalshi though, which are basically bets on who will win the tournament, the Saudi organization were not the outspoken favorites for the title.
Instead, bettors favored Belgrade-based Team Spirit, who generated just over $ 101.000 in tournament winner contracts, followed by French organization Team Vitality with $ 75.500 in contracts. Eventual champions Team Falcons finished third in this ranking, having generated just over $ 49.000 in tournament winner contracts. Even FURIA, number eight in this ranking, generated more value for Kalshi ($19.300) than the number one VALORANT team during the Masters London 2026 (EDward Gaming, $ 11.200).