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The traditional land-based casino sports betting has obviously been shut down to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Casinos, resorts, arenas, and sportsbooks have all been stopped due to the government guidelines regarding social distancing during the spread of the Coronavirus.
This coronavirus pandemic has grown the interest in industry experts toward eSports. It was already a rapid growing industry, but the betting community has grown interest since America’s recent quarantine.
What is Bringing Interest in the Field of eSports?
eSports, commonly known as competitive video gaming was once expected to elevate in popularity in Las Vegas, but many casinos have been refusing to market the eSports brand despite the increase of popularity.
Since the early decisions were brought to the table, practically every major sports platforms have been cancelled or suspended. Many operators are calling for operators to consider eSports as an outlet to regain revenue during the widespread lockdowns.
Seth Schorr, chairman of the Downtown Grand, says eSports is a key part of their casino’s strategy to remain competitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schorr also founded the Nevada eSports Alliance, a entity which has been pushing for Nevada to become the lord of competitive video games.
Major sportsbooks are currently evaluating eSports as their top 10 profitable areas by volume. Eilers & Krejcik reported in 2016 their numbers on eSports reached $5.5 billion, and expect that number to rise to $12.9 billion in 2020.
Nevada a Perfect Landing Spot for eSports?
Stuart Irvin, founder of Covington & Burling LLP’s eSports practice, still believes that Las Vegas is a perfect location to grow the world of eSports betting.
Robert Rippee, the director of the Hospitality Lab at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, stated the surge of eSports of gamers was not necessarily tied to a surge in betting.
“The casinos see the customers are changing and they are asking, ‘How do we bring it into our economic model.’
Nevada sportsbooks are quickly jumping on board on the eSports bandwagon, desperately latching on to what platforms are left to continue the sports betting world alive.
The longer sports are either suspended or cancelled, the chance for eSports to take over the sports betting community continues to gravitate toward this new world of online gambling.