In the spring of 2018, Sports Betting got new life in the United States as the highest legal body in the land, the Supreme Court, eliminated the 26-year-old law that banned sports betting. Today, all 50 states are free to legislate on their own sports-betting laws.
Given its role as a sport that has developed rather recently (and therefore not touched by the legal quibbling of the past by all the major U.S. sporting leagues), eSports betting may very well lead the sports betting legalization way in Massachusetts just as it has done in other states.
What are eSports?
Blossoming with the dissemination of global technology and increasingly fast internet speeds, eSports has changed quality video game play into full-time professional sports, whereby leading players now sign multi-million-dollar contracts with professional teams.
Team tournament play rather than individual competition is generally how eSports are played at their highest levels. However, champion individual eSports stars can have cult global followings and the contrasting styles of the top eSports athletes are loved and copied by amateur players the world over.
eSports games themselves like Fortnite, Starcraft and Overwatch are equivalent to, say, the NBA, NFL and MLB, with the phrase ‘eSports’ describing the broad overarching concept (like Sports).
eSports betting has become widespread and a big global business. Sportsbooks worldwide offer betting markets on all major eSports tournaments played globally. eSports business revenue grows massively year-on-year, and in 2018-19, the revenue of the industry is expected to reach the $100 billion mark worldwide.
It may be possible that the initial legal sports bet you make in Massachusetts, could possibly be a wager on eSports.