Nevada Esports Betting and DFS – What are the options?

For years, esports betting in Nevada and fantasy esports have been an obscure past time that hasn’t really been accessible through mainstream channels. However, recent law changes enacted in April 2020 by the Nevada Gaming Control Board approved wagers for League of Legends European Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), and the Overwatch League (OWL).

Since the COVID-19 epidemic, esports betting in Nevada has been embraced with open arms as bettors switch to online platforms. Esports has the distinct advantage of not being needed to play in front of open crowds and competition can still be held regardless of new social distancing guidelines, thus making the betting space as diverse and robust as ever.

Status of esports betting in Nevada

After initial concerns with esports betting in Nevada due to match-fixing allegations, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has changed their tune on a variety of game titles and competitive leagues. As of April 2020, Nevada’s approval of esports betting for games such as CS:GO and ESL Pro League Season 11 and even eNASCAR events are examples of how Las Vegas is opening their approach to esports.

Nevada esports betting is still a fairly new trend that has only just been given a direct line of access for US consumers this year. With Nevada’s approval of esports betting, the door has been opened to more fantasy esports and esports betting hubs to take shape within the US. At the moment, there is a vacuum for official leagues and sponsorships to be had in a gambling community that is lacking other avenues for live sports given the climate of COVID-19. In this respect, esports betting in Las Vegas has the potential to become a force to be reckoned with as more infrastructure and money gets put into the scene.

While betting menus aren’t as robust and open as they would be prior to the pandemic, there are still a healthy amount of competitive leagues holding competitions as Overwatch League, LCS, LEC and Call of Duty League are all scheduled to continue within the coming months. More than likely as conditions continue to improve in other sectors of the world, esports global initiative will take advantage of that fact as their ability to host tournaments across the globe and not necessarily in one localized venue (especially for esports games like Rocket League and CS:GO) is stronger than most traditional sports.

What is esports betting?

Currently, there are three wager types approved by the NGCB. Those wager types include:

Head to head
Match winner
Overall winner.

The Control Board has prohibited ‘all-in’ play staking, and has listed a series of requirements and rule sets to be adhered to by the event organizers and sanctioning bodies of the given esport titles.

Esports betting in Las Vegas has the potential to revolutionize the scene even further. The industry is estimated to gross $30 billion in the next couple of years now that restrictions have been lifted, and access has been made more available. Esports betting in Nevada was always stifled due to bureaucratic issues that stemmed from esports bookmakers wanting to maintain their established forms of revenue. But the diversification of fans and revenue that esports betting in Las Vegas brings is impossible to neglect.

What are my options?

The best options for esports bettors in the United States when it comes to game titles like League of Legends (LCS, LEC) and Call of Duty (Call of Duty League), DraftKings is the most popular and established betting service available.

DraftKings

If you missed the old versions of fantasy esports from League of Legends in the past, DraftKings Esports new and improved version of Fantasy esports for LCS and LEC is a great option. DraftKings possesses a massive collection of pros and live statistics that mimic weekly stats from those pros on Summoners Rift. Assembling a master craft esport team while remaining under salary cap budget is crucial to success, and the more points you gain on a certain week against other players will determine if you pick up a larger share of the prize pool.

At this stage, odds and markets are in a limbo in Nevada, due to ongoing regulatory pains. A new meeting of the Nevada Gaming Control Board was set for August 2022, to discuss and establish a rulebook and guidelines to ease the implementation of esports betting markets into daily wagering.

Future of the Industry

The future of esports betting in Nevada continues to grow as the clamps on monetization within the gambling space continue to be lifted. While there were temporary lifts for esports betting in the past (most notably the state of New Jersey approved sportsbook betting for World Championship 2019), Nevada’s recent actions to enable betting on entire esports league is a monumental step in the right direction, that could soon become the new standard to bear for multiple states in the United States if results continue as projected.

As of right now, Nevada is among 18 states states to go ‘all in’ on their sports betting ventures. States like New Jersey, Mississippi and Texas could soon follow suit with the popularity of esports, fantasy sports and eNASCAR picking up speed. This past March, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series streamed to more than 1.3 million viewers. Those numbers are a stark indicator that there is a hunger for esports, even in markets that haven’t been fully tapped before. Virtual F-1 racing also gained popularity in the absence of traditional sports.