Gambling Commission to examine eSports betting

Great Britain’s Gambling Commission will put eSports betting under the microscope over the coming months as the regulator looks to understand whether the product poses a risk to young people.

Writing in the regulator’s annual report, which was published this morning, recently appointed CEO Sarah Harrison said she would place a special focus on “emerging products and digital currencies”, including eSports, going forward.

“The growing market in eSports and computer gaming has scope to present issues for regulation and player protection,” Harrison said.

“These issues range from the emergence of real-money eSports betting markets, to trading in-game items which blur the lines between gambling and social gaming.

“Our focus will be to understand developments, including engaging with key stakeholders, and we will work wherever we can to ensure the risks associated with these, particularly to children and young people, are minimised.”

The Commission is understood to have already shut down at least one of these betting sites, called Futgalaxy, where players can wager items such as Fifa Ultimate Team coins on real life sporting events.

So-called ‘skins’ betting is estimated to be a US$4bn industry, with one British bookmaker telling EGR “no-one really knows what to do about it”.

The eSports industry may provide the answer itself, as several skins gambling sites shut down this week after the creator of the system that allows items to be traded said its technology could not be used for gambling.

The eSports betting market – both regulated and unregulated – has raised other concerns around the gambling industry, with Betway, Pinnacle and Unikrn among a number of bookmakers backing a new industry body designed to tackle match fixing in eSports.