Category: eSports

GAME Act seeks to legalize sports gambling

A new bill seeking to repeal the current ban on sports gaming was introduced into Congress on Thursday.

The bill is a likely response to the U.S. Solicitor General’s recommendation that the U.S. Supreme Court not take the sports gambling cases litigated in New Jerseys.

The Gaming Accountability and Modernization Enhancement Act or GAME Act was introduced on Thursday per an ESPN report.  The GAME Act would repeal PAPSA, the much-litigated federal legislation which prohibits sports gambling.

The GAME Act defines a bet or wager as “the risking of something of value including virtual currency or virtual items, upon the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting event or a game of skill or a game of chance, on the expectation that the person will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome.”  This includes daily fantasy sports.

The Act, according to the drafter of the bill, is an opportunity to update the gambling laws.

Live eSports coming to Facebook

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook will pay eSports teams and others related to the industry to post videos on the social network platform.

The news comes at about the same time that Major League Baseball aired its first game on Facebook without regional blackouts.  The move is a new strategy for Facbook as it is bringing live content to the platform.

The eSports and MLB deals join Facebook’s deal in March with Major League Soccer to air its games.

No financial terms were disclosed although terms revealed state that “esports partners must produce a minimum number of hours of video” for Facebook.  But, most can publish to rival platform Twitch, which is owned by Amazon.com.

The new deal hopes to develop a new “ecosystem”  Facebook.  For esports teams, Facebook exposure should help teams with marketing and generating ad revenue.

17 NBA teams to participate in NBA 2K League

The NBA announced that 17 of the 30 teams will participate in the forthcoming NBA 2K League coming in 2018.

The league is a joint project with the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software.  The NBA teams that are participating have agreed to a three year deal where each team will pay on average $250,000 per year.

The upcoming eLeague will be the first time one of the major sports leagues have directly collaborated to establish an eLeague of its own.

The investment in eSports shows the growing reach of the gaming community as well as the recognition that the sport will attract a younger demographic.

With the NBA involvement, it is likely that we’ll see more leagues collaborating with video game makers.

Vegas expanding to cater to esports patrons

The Wall Street Journal reports that the MGM Resorts in Las Vegas is turning a former nightclub at its Luxor Hotel and Casino into a permanent venue in hosting esports contests.  The restructure should be done by next year according to the company.

The move is a nod to attract younger visitors to Vegas at a time with “subdued growth.”

Gambling on the Las Vegas Strip is down 7% since 2007.

With the average esports fan between 21 and 35 years old, the move to attract younger people to Vegas hopes to spur growth for the gambling industry.  Certainly, younger adults have more disposable income due to a lack of a mortgage or children.  Esports is a niche industry that is trending upwards.

University of Utah announces eSports team sponsored by school

The University of Utah announced that its forming a “Varsity ESports” team through its Entertainment Arts & Engineering (EAE) video game development program.  It is starting with League of Legends as its first game with additional games in the offing.  It’s the first eSports program in the Power Five conferences.

The EAE program has been ranked the No. 1 video game design program in the nation.

There are multiple eSports teams sponsored by college gaming clubs across the U.S. but this is the first of its kind where a university department is sponsoring a team.

According to Bloomberg, gamers on the Utah’s League of Legends team will receive partial scholarships at first with a long-term plan of expanding to more games and monetizing the effort through marketing and sponsorship deals that will lead to full scholarships.

This is a sign that eSports is being considered as more than a club sport on college campuses.  Certainly the opportunity to monetize the endeavor is a reason for the push.  With conferences seeking content for its cable networks and sponsors looking to market to a young demo, eSports is gaining traction.

NJ Senator issues statement on skin gambling

New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Pallone has issued a statement regarding unregulated online gambling and underage betting in which he specifically pointed out esports gambling and skin gambling.

“Gambling is taking new forms—from daily fantasy sports, to betting on e-sports, and even online casino games using virtual ‘skins’ instead of cash—that attempt to bypass the law,” the Senator went on to state in a press release, “Current federal gambling laws are hopelessly out of date, leaving the American public vulnerable to unscrupulous behavior. No matter the form of the games, we must ensure integrity, accountability, and basic consumer protections, including appropriate age limits, are in place.”

 

NBA Commissioner praises esports tourney winners

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that eSports players are a “different kind of athlete.”

Commissioner Silver’s comments came during NBA’s All-Star weekend.  The league recently announced an eSports league to coincide with the NBA.

NBA players made a guest appearance at the 2K17 All-Star Tournament in New Orleans to face off against a five-man team named “Still Trill” that had just won the video game’s tournament championship.

Still Trill won a $250,000 prize for the championship as well as getting to meet the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

H/t: Sports Techie

Madden NFL 17 champ docked $3K of prize money for inappropriate social media posts

EA, makers of Madden NFL 17, have docked the prize winnings of Chris “Dubby” McFarland after he failed to comply with their requests to refrain from derogatory comments made on his social media account.

According to an EA release, his posts were “referenced inappropriate content.”  It violated EA’s Code of Conduct.  EA met with McFarland and was warned of the inappropriate posts.  Yet, he continued and was subsequently docked $3,000 from his grand prize winnings of $75,000.

Notably, the release does not mention the withholding as a fine.  Yet, it was due to a violation of a Code of Conduct.

The $3,000 fine is small and less than 10% of the $75,000 prize.  Should EA have gone farther or was the small deduction a warning for future players?

Esports comes to the NBA as it announces 2K league

ESPN reports that the NBA and Take Two Interactive have joined forced to create an eSports League based on the NBA 2K series.

Its anticipated that each of the NBA teams will eventually have a team in this newly developed league.  The teams will consist of 5 individuals playing out a 5-month season.  The league is scheduled to begin in 2018.  The teams will play head-to-head and have playoffs leading up to a championship.

via Wikimedia Commons
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Via ESPN:

The NBA will hold an initial draft of esports players, and each NBA franchise will pick five to play as its eLeague team. They will draw salaries, train and essentially treat the NBA 2K eLeague as full-time jobs during the season.

It’s clear that this is the next step for esports to become more mainstream.  The NBA investment in this league is likely substantial with the prospects of it becoming a lucrative stream of revenue for the league.  The report indicates that they will hold events to promote the league, sign sponsorships, sell tickets and produce merchandise.

Perhaps the only drawback for those into the realism of the video games, is that real-life players will not be represented in the games.  Players will come up with their own avatars.  Perhaps the inability to use NBA players likenesses is an issue that has yet to be discussed between the league and the players union.