As if the boom of New Jersey sports betting isn’t enough, Garden State bettors now will have the opportunity to wager on competitive video games, more commonly known as esports.
London-based Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) announced Monday that it has received an order approving a transactional waiver from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) that will permit the company to begin accepting bets in the state.
Esports Entertainment will be affiliated with the Bally’s Atlantic City casino license but will only take bets on esports. In addition to being the top state for sports betting handle, New Jersey online casinos complement the bricks-and-mortar casinos in the state.
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5-Day Soft Launch Ready
EEG will launch its betting platform following a five-day “soft play” period that begins Tuesday afternoon and runs through Sunday.
There will be limitations imposed throughout the five-day soft launch to the overall online experience to make sure proper regulatory operations are in place.
Customers on the company’s platform will be able to bet on other people playing games including Call of Duty, CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive), League of Legends and DOTA 2, among others.
The NJDGE also has given the company approval on a case-by-case basis for individual events or tournaments involving esports. This approval is the first for a company for an ongoing schedule of games that will not need to be individually approved.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be the first esports-dedicated operator to be granted the right to commence business in New Jersey. On behalf of our entire team, I would like to thank the Division of Gaming Enforcement for their approval of our platform and the trust they have placed in our Company,” said Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, in a news release.
“Global esports betting is estimated to exceed $205 billion by 2027, and we are thrilled to be playing such an important role in this fast-growing market with the launch of our first esports wagering offering in the United States.”
EEG spreads out over the whole field of esports and gaming and his established partnerships with teams in FIFA, the NFL, NHL and NBA.
In addition to New Jersey, Esports Entertainment also has offices in Malta and in Hoboken, N.J.
What Will N.J. Numbers Show?
It will be interesting to see what the handle and revenue numbers are for the state of New Jersey when those figures are released later in the month.
The conjecture has been that New Jersey numbers would suffer when New York launched mobile sports betting.
Well, that happened on Jan. 8 and the very early indications are that New Jersey is holding strong. According to the geolocation company GeoComply, only 9.3% of New Yorkers had placed bets previously in New Jersey. The state also averaged 12.6 million geolocation transactions the two weekends before the Empire State’s launch and posted 13.1 million the two weekends since its neighbor’s launch.
The state of New Jersey set the national record for handle last October when it posted more than $1.3 billion. The numbers were lower in subsequent months but have remained above $1 billion. Will that still be the case for similar months in 2022?
