Highly respected broadcaster and esports veteran Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner has called for better education around esports betting.
Esports has been hit by a number of scandals where gambling is concerned in the past, including issues around underage betting. In February, Chaloner signed an agreement to become an advisor for Luckbox – a new esports betting platform preparing to launch later this year.
Chaloner sees something of a lack of understanding in the esports community about the risks of gambling, and will be looking to change that in his new role.
He said: “We can educate them along the way – that’s the key part for me. I don’t want to see underage gambling and I don’t want to see irresponsible gambling. I want people to be educated so they understand what they’re doing and the risks involved.
“And I think we can do that together with Luckbox.”
Luckbox has launched with the primary intention of setting itself apart from the numerous shady operators by promising to comply with the highest levels of gambling jurisdiction, and going above and beyond to “do things right”.
Chaloner said that, following discussions in this vein, this was among his main reasons for accepting the offer to work with them.
He said: “For me, I’m not anti-gambling, never have been and I think gambling has a place and it needs to be done responsibly. I think that we’ve had far too many problems with gambling, both underage gambling and illegal gambling in esports over the years.
“It’s always been my belief that we shouldn’t condone that and we should actively go out there and get rid of that.Until now, I haven’t felt there is a company I could work with that shares those core beliefs and those same values that would actively go out of their way to not only produce a great product but to look at the flaws in esports and tackle them head-on.”
The growth and potential of esports is well documented and, with that, comes more and more inevitable interest from new avenues which includes betting companies. Chaloner says, until now, no one has really cracked esports betting. In September we’re running a conference, ESI London, which will have a full day dedicated to this; our second Betting on Esports Conference will have panels, workshops and extensive networking – the idea being to unite these two worlds properly and ensure esports organisations, and the industry at large, is better placed to gain from the business of regulated gambling. You can read more about the event, which takes place just prior to the FACEIT Major in the city, right here.
On the subject of esports betting offerings to date, Chaloner commented: “I think we’ve had some attempts to do esports betting. The traditional companies have looked at it in a very similar way to sports perhaps but they haven’t looked at it as deeply as I would like. And in terms of doing something for esports people, with the way that we consume our media and watch the games, some of it has been very simplistic.
“Yes I can bet on this team beating this team, but there is nothing else, there is nothing around it. I can’t join in socially around it, I can’t discuss anything about it with anyone other than my social media feeds. It’s very difficult to be social about it, and obviously Luckbox can change that.
“Luckbox comes to a point where it does offer those things, does offer some social scaling and allows people to bet in a safe environment, which again means they can be sociable about it.”
Esports Insider says: We’re definitely in agreement with Chaloner’s views that there needs to be a lot more education in esports betting, and that legitimate and regulated gambling for sure has a place in esports. We disagree that no one has really cracked esports betting yet but absolutely there are precious few operators ‘getting it right’. We look forward to seeing what comes of the Luckbox project, especially with Redeye involved.
