Officials in New Jersey are prompting businesses to put in an application for gambling licences before a decision is reached by the Supreme Court of the United States, which will directly affect the future of sports and esports betting.
The case known as Christie v. NCAA is a disputation between the state and a coalition between the NCAA and other major sports organisations. This debate has been going on for five years, and is over New Jersey’s right to offer legal, taxed sports betting. The decision could be made as quickly as March 5th.
Alex Dubin, COO and General Counsel of SportsGrid, owns esports betting start-up PWN.GG and spoke to The Esports Observer about this case. He said: “There are several ways in which the ruling could come down, as not all Supreme Court Decisions are a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but no matter the details, a win of any kind for New Jersey in Christie v. NCAA will almost certainly transform all sports and esports betting in the United States.”
Esports betting is slowly becoming more and more popular, though it’s still leaps and bounds behind betting on traditional sports. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding in-game gambling with the inclusion of loot boxes – packs that gamers can buy which contain random collectibles. Many believe it’s a type of gambling, and a lot of younger people play video games so that’s typically where the problem lies.
Esports Insider says: Recent developments on this case seem promising for those who are for sports and esports betting, we hope the NCAA can pull through and deliver. Properly regulated gambling in the US would allow for huge new revenue streams for esports and sports teams and leagues alike.