The Esports industry is booming worldwide, including in the USA, and competitive online gaming has never been as popular. It’s getting to the stage where Esports is rivalling some traditional sports in terms of popularity and revenue and this inevitably results in the emergence of Esports betting.
However, Esports betting is still relatively new. In this article, we take a closer look at the legality of Esports betting in New York as a starting point. It is important to remember that gambling is monitored and regulated at a state level in the US and that each state has widely varying laws regarding online casinos, sports betting and Esports betting.
The Legality Of Esports Betting In New York
At the moment, Esports betting is NOT legal in New York. This unfortunately means that NY residents cannot bet on their favorite Esports’ teams and competitions. Currently, in New York, the following types of gambling are legal:
- Lotteries
- Sweepstakes
- Horse racing
- Sports betting
Sports betting was the most recent change and was only legalized for mobile and online sports betting in 2022. However, Esports remains untouched.
There doesn’t appear to be any immediate expectation for this to change either. Generally, across the US, Esports betting doesn’t have great support and it is legalized in very few states.
This does follow a trend. Historically, the US has been slow to update its gambling laws, and this is evident in its lack of support for online casinos and Esports betting sites.
What You Can Expect If Laws Change
We can envision a world where Esports betting does become available in New York but it’s going to need a country-wide approach as there is currently barely any support nationwide. This is strange as the Esports industry is booming in the USA and there is a great deal of money involved in competitions, sponsorships and marketing.
If laws do change, you can guarantee that New York will be one of the first to jump on the bandwagon. But what can you expect from Esports betting if it happens? We offer some insight below based on how the platforms have developed in other regions.
Platform Adoption
To start, we can expect existing sportsbooks to adopt Esports betting as opposed to Esports-only platforms popping up. This typically happens first while the Esports industry grows and it’s not until the main sports books have established Esports betting that we see more websites emerging.
Oftentimes when main sportsbooks offer Esports betting, it’s usually only on the most popular games such as League of Legends, CS:GO and DOTA2, and only for the most popular tournaments. In contrast, when dedicated Esports sports betting sites emerge, they will provide a much wider range of betting options, competitions and games.
Game Selection
You will find that some games are simply better suited for Esports, which makes them immensely popular in the Esports scene with millions of dollars worth of prize money at the biggest tournaments and leagues. Currently, the following are the most popular Esports games and you can expect these to be supported by Esports betting sites once they become available in New York:
- League of Legends
- DOTA2
- Counterstrike: Global Offensive
- StarCraft 2
- Valorant
- Apex Legends
- Rocket League
- NBA2K
- Overwatch
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
You will be able to bet on the major tournaments and individual matches within the competitions and leagues. This will vary from platform to platform though depending on the demand from Esports bettors.
Bet Variety
The betting variety is also something to look forward to if Esports betting becomes legal in New York. Typically, there are three main types of bet categories for Esports games:
- Overall tournament/league winner
- Individual match winner
- Individual bets based on game-specific stats
Obviously, you have simple bets where you predict the match outcome and bet on who is going to win. You will find a range of futures bets too where you can bet on the overall tournament winner or the group winner in leagues for example.
You then get a dizzying range of individual bets that vary from game to game. For example, in CS:GO you can get a bet on who wins each round, or the overall round score.
Alternatives To Esports Betting For NY Residents
While Esports betting isn’t legally supported for New York residents, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any gambling opportunities. Online casinos are not legal in New York either, but sports betting, lotteries, horse racing and sweepstakes are. There is now a range of popular sportsbooks available in New York. Similarly, New York residents have access to a range of state lotteries and sweepstakes that are drawn regularly.
Sweepstakes and sweepstakes casinos are also on the rise in popularity and US sweepstakes laws are some of the most lenient. Sweepstakes casinos are legal in all states except Washington.
For now, sports betting is your best option if you want to make a few wagers and there are some excellent New York sportsbooks available. These generally support the major sports in the US, including NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS, plus many other popular worldwide sports such as golf, tennis, MMA and boxing.
Esports Fans Have To Wait A Little Longer For Legal Betting
We hope the laws change and that Esports betting does become available in New York. However, this currently appears to be part of a larger roadblock in the USA as barely any states have legal Esports betting. There just isn’t the same appetite as there is for sports betting and online casinos.
