Regulators are laying the groundwork for rules that could someday turn wagering on esports into a staple of sports betting in Nevada.
The latest step by Nevada watchdogs was an eight-person Esports Technical Advisory Committee advancing proposed regulatory amendments on Monday that would allow retail and online sportsbooks in the state to take bets on esports competitions without seeking prior approval.
Now the proposal must be approved by both the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission. If that happens, esports, either staged in-state or online, could be much more widely offered by Nevada sportsbooks.
No timeframe, however, was given on when possible approval by the NGCB or NGC will occur, although both bodies are set to meet in November.
Streamlining esports approvals
The proposed amendments to Regulation 22, which governs race books and sports pools in Nevada, would prescribe the process for operators that want to take bets on esports.
The changes would allow an operator to take wagers without receiving prior approval from regulators if they abide by certain rules, including that they obtain information that the event will "be effectively supervised" and have strong integrity procedures in place.
Nevada sportsbooks have been allowed to take bets on esports since 2016, but they were lumped in with "other" events that require regulatory approval before bets can be made. So, while wagering on games such as League of Legends has caught on with a younger crowd, Nevada sportsbooks have had some red tape to cut through before they could accept action.
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Other possible changes
But the esports committee has been working since March to clarify and set up a framework for sportsbooks that want to take esports wagers. Their work could streamline the process for sportsbooks keen to take bets on those events.
One of the first steps the committee took was to propose putting these rules within Regulation 22, rather than create a separate set of rules.
Another early provision was to define esports. The amendment now states esports are “competitions between individuals or teams using video games which are hosted at a physical location or online.”
Another amendment to Regulation 22 would give the Gaming Control Board chairman the authority to prevent sportsbooks from taking wagers on events with “a questionable past,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“The chair is hereby granted the authority to issue an interlocutory order prohibiting books from accepting wagers on events conducted by an event operator,” the amendment says.
