Esports betting on the menu in North Carolina

Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and betting

Apr 06, 2023

Hi everyone, and welcome to Sharpr.

This is an exciting issue for a couple of reasons.

1) I’m debuting Sharpr’s design refresh with new banners, wordmarks, icons, and more. Let’s be honest, this was well overdue.

2) Sharpr is welcoming its first-ever sponsor, Bayes Esports. It’s a pleasure to have them supporting the newsletter and my writing – everyone give them a warm welcome in whatever capacity you can.

There are plenty of other reasons to keep reading too, including esports finding its way into North Carolina’s pending sports betting law and a Sportradar integrity report (that also raises a few questionable flags…).

All that and more. Let’s dive in 🏊

In this week’s edition of Sharpr…

North Carolina sports betting law to permit esports wagering.
Sportradar report: suspicious match alerts down in esports.
Bayes Esports has launched an esports betting podcast.

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North Carolina sports betting law to permit esports wagering

North Carolina online sports betting legislation is one step closer to reality as bill HB 347 heads to the Senate for approval, and esports wagering is on the menu.

The bill would authorize esports wagering across both in-person and online events, lending itself to a potentially broader catalog of competitive gaming matches.
Current legislation does not include bet limits or additional regulatory approvals as other states have instituted in the past.
Interestingly, game publishers are noted as the “sports governing body” in the context of esports wagering, giving companies such as Valve, Riot Games, and Activision Blizzard control over regulated betting on their IP in the Tar Heel State.

Under the proposed bill, game publishers are authorized to enter into commercial agreements with licensed operators and “may share in the amount bet” from wagering in the game titles they represent. Publishers will not need to obtain a license or any other approval from the commission to lawfully enter such an agreement.

Publishers will also have the ability to submit a written request to restrict, limit, or exclude specific events, markets, or its IP in whole if it’s believed that sports wagering may “undermine the integrity” of its games or tournaments.

Esports continues to incrementally trend in an upward direction in the US.

Last month, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Dep. Attorney General Anthony Strangia said that half of the state’s licensed sportsbooks accept esports wagers.
Pennsylvania is still working to advance a bill that would legalize esports betting.

🦈 Sharpr Take: North Carolina’s regulation is unique in how a big a role game publishers can take on, as well as the potential to enter commercial revenue sharing agreements. With that being said, it seems unlikely publishers will exercise these rights, at least for the foreseeable future.

As I’ve said many times in the past (probably most recently here), game publishers want to keep a healthy distance between themselves and betting (regulated or not). While it would be hard to imagine publishers are completely unaware of the betting activity on its games, openly addressing it, almost in any form, is typically a one-way ticket to public reckoning. I mean, look at how well Riot Games’ reported exploration into betting sponsorships for Valorant went. It’s sensitive stuff.

Back to the Tar Heel State, though.

It’s good to see North Carolina propose broad language around esports, particularly including both in-person and online events. In the future, the state will likely benefit from a pre-approved list of esports events, both to ensure competitive integrity and to help steer operators in the right direction.

This piece has been historically difficult for US regulators to figure out. New Jersey did a great job by authorizing leagues operated by specific publishers and organizers. Nevada has also been trending in the right direction with how this is managed.

Sportradar report: suspicious match alerts down in esports

Sportradar has released its annual “Betting Corruption and Match-Fixing” report detailing suspicious activity and global betting estimates, esports included.

Sportradar detected 36 suspicious matches in esports in 2022, down from 47 in 2021.
Esports ranked fifth in most suspicious alerts after soccer, basketball, tennis, and table tennis.
According to its statistics, 0.20% of esports matches (approximately one out of 500) were suspicious.

Only data from “traditional esports” titles were considered in the report, calling out Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 specifically, but excluding sports simulation games such as FIFA and NBA 2K.

The data—particularly game titles—included in the report seems slightly ambiguous. Avoiding mention of key betting properties such as League of Legends and Valorant implies they may have been excluded from the study. It’s hard to get a clear read on the full picture.

The publisher of those two titles, Riot Games, issued numerous bans last year for match-fixing and other integrity-related concerns. These sanctions were dealt at a variety of levels, from lower-tier Chinese competitions to one of its flagship leagues, the League of Legends Pro League.

It’s worth noting Sportradar and Riot Games inked a commercial agreement together in 2019. The pair worked together as recently as November to identify match-fixing in one of Riot’s academy leagues, suggesting the deal is still intact. Makes you wonder whether or not these game titles were purposely excluded from the report, or in the least, not named.

TLDR: Take these figures with a grain of salt.

🗞 In the news

Bayes Esports has launched Bayesically, a new podcast covering esports betting.*
Rivalry CEO Steven Salz speaks to the company's marketing and brand strategy in SBC Leaders Magazine.*
Unikrn CEO Justin Dellario spoke with iGaming Business about the company’s esports presence and strategy.

📈 By the numbers

Approximately 31% of all consumers worldwide play video games on a weekly basis, according to YouGov.
Half of gamers watched March Madness via a streaming platform, according to a study by NRG.
Entain agrees to $150M acquisition of sports media business 365scores.

Contact us

News tips, feedback, and sponsorship inquiries.

Reach me directly at luongomanagement@gmail.com 📩 or on Twitter 🐦

*Disclaimer: I am a full-time employee of Rivalry and Bayes Esports sponsors this newsletter.