The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down laws barring states from allowing gambling in sports brought the spotlight to the growth of esports, which features a young, affluent and tech-savvy consumer.
Among the statements released by the industry were from the Esports Integrity Coalition, which welcomed the decision. The org’s Integrity Commissioner, Ian Smith, said, “The US is one of the world’s largest esports betting black markets. The action by Valve to shut down access to skins betting sites in 2016 had some impact, but a large number of American esports gamblers just moved to cash sites and continued betting in an unregulated environment, with all its attendant dangers to the bettors and to esports integrity. Recognizing that people will continue betting, we welcome the decision that should mean that betting on esports can be brought into the light of good regulation well enforced and we look forward to working with State regulators, operators and esports organizations to make the shift to legalization as smooth as possible with competitive integrity at the forefront of everyone’s thinking.”
Meanwhile, Unikrn CEO and co-founder Rahul Sood, posted that “Regulated sports betting is healthy for the environment as it means more consumer protection and will undermine skin betting and other illicit gambling outlets which take advantage of at-risk individuals, including minors, by operating outside of regulation. Unikrn’s goal is to not collect money at all costs, but to offer a standalone product that is worth trusting and using – to building the best experience possible for regions where esports betting would be regulated.”
Millennial Esports respondedto Monday’s decision with the news that it is exploring opportunities to leverage its current assets in relation to legalized esports betting. “The push towards legalized sports betting has been building for some time and the Supreme Court decision is potentially the tipping point, with individual states now able to make their own rules regarding sports betting, including the option of legalizing Esports betting,” said Millennial Esports CEO, Alex Igelman. “This presents an incredible opportunity for Millennial as we have a number of assets that can provide real value and innovation to what will in effect be a new industry – having only previously existed, for all intents and purposes, in Nevada. The fact that we already own these assets and can quickly deploy them in support of Esports betting initiatives is also significant considering the speed with which this is predicted to happen.”
