Esports Betting USA

It is difficult to overstate the run-away success of legal esports betting sites. The global esports betting market is worth an estimated $2.5 billion per year, with the US accounting for an outsized portion of that amount.

The US esports betting industry is poised for even further growth, but there are several hurdles that must be overcome before this potential can be realized. Aside from such hurdles, which are discussed below, it is unclear whether the legacy sportsbook operators will truly embrace online esports betting.

Best Esports Betting Sites

There are several different forms of esports betting as we will explain in the next section, so our recommendations of the best esports betting sites are organized according to the type of wagering you have in mind.

Many of the top esports betting sites listed here offer our readers free bets and a special deposit bonus when using our promo codes at signup.

Standard Esports Betting Sites

Fantasy Esports Sites

Daily fantasy esports contests are legal in all states where daily fantasy is offered. If your state does not offer legal online betting, DFS contests are your next best option.

Player vs. Player Esports Sites

If you would rather try your own hand at competitive esports and try to win some money at the same time, these are the best esports sites for you. These apps allow you to play against other players for money and are classified as contests of skill in most states. Therefore, these sites accept customers from most of the US.

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Esports Betting Explained

The biggest hurdle that must be overcome for esports wagering is its classification. It might seem counter-intuitive for some to call an activity done sedentary a sport.

The greatest similarity between traditional sports and esports is the competition they both foster. Our working definition of esports reflects this competition and removes single-player video games from the equation.

The Harvard International Review (HIR) provides a simple but accurate definition of “esports:” video games that are played in a highly organized competitive environment.

That gives us a definition for esports, but we can further classify esports betting into four broad categories:

• Standard esports Betting: Wagers placed on the outcomes of other people’s matches using real money, similar to spectators betting on the outcome of a football game
• Skins Betting: Wagers placed on games using in-game skins, usually through unregulated gambling websites
• Fantasy esports: Daily fantasy sports sites such as DraftKings offer contests involving esports competitions
• esports Competition: Wagers placed on one’s own results. Same idea as paying to enter an in-person esports tournament and winning a prize for finishing well, but can also be done online with heads-up contests

Truth be told, how we classify esports has moved beyond dinner table discussions and is the focus of policy debates around the country. The undeniable popularity of esports betting sites spurred these debates and the fate of esports wagering rests in the balance of these policy discussions.

It is important to keep these categories in mind when we discuss esports betting because each is treated very differently by the law. Let’s take a closer look at each.

Standard Esports Betting

For the lack of a better term, we’ll call wagers placed on the outcomes of other people’s matches “standard” esports betting. This is the form that most closely resembles betting on any other sport: you study the participants, choose a person or team to back and then watch the game to see if you’ve won.

A growing number of US betting sites take wagers on esports competitions, but growth in this area has been a bit slower than we saw with the explosion of skins betting in previous years. However, that is beginning to change. In early 2022, New Jersey regulators approved the nation’s first online sportsbook dedicated to esports betting, VIE.gg (now closed).

The rise of esports betting was more organic in nature; it began with skins betting and mostly involved people who were already deeply involved in esports. By comparison, traditional sports betting operators have had to do some major catching-up in terms of education and understanding the market.

Some of the largest betting operators outside the US now offer a plethora of esports markets on a daily basis, but the big brands in the US have been reluctant to enter the market due to the fluid nature of US gaming legislation.

Lawmakers in some states have addressed the issue in legislation. A proposal in Maine, for example, specifically named esports betting as a legal form of wagering.

However, the confusion in New Jersey surrounding sports betting shows how lawmakers are still grappling with the issue. When New Jersey legalized sports betting in 2018, the law seemed to prohibit esports betting sites. Regulations issued later reversed that decision but added a caveat: people may bet on esports, but only on competitions in which all players are 18 or older.

Standard esports betting is where we see the biggest potential growth opportunity in the United States. With licensed online betting operators taking interest and esports viewership still trending upwards, it is in this category of esports wagering where demand and potential are greatest.

Skins Betting

esports wagering has historically avoided legal oversight because it did not involve the wagering of real cash money. Much of esports gambling is built on “skins” as currency.

Skins are game-specific items that can be used virtually and traded amongst players. A skins value to players is aesthetic and does not affect in-game performance. That is until third-party trading sites began using the skins as currency creating a skin betting market.

These sites shaped the use of skins and they soon became a casino chip of sorts. Online betting sites began to deal in skins giving players the ability to bet on the games they or others were playing or gamble on jackpot-style games and casino-style games.

Skins betting is largely unregulated around the world and people who bet esports do so at their own risk. The legality of placing wagers at such sites is uncertain, but no US state has authorized skin betting sites to operate. We strongly recommend all players stay far away for now.

Fantasy Esports

Fantasy esports contests are legal in most US states because they are classified as fantasy sports contests rather than sports betting.

The Valve scandal did not prevent licensed operator DraftKings from offering fantasy esports wagers for the massive esport game League of Legends back in 2015.

“It was our fastest-growing sport last year”, commented DraftKings Co-founder and CRO Matthew Kalish in 2018.

DraftKings’ esports business increased 60% from 2016 to 2017. “It’s something that’s growing actually really fast for us. It was our fastest-growing sport last year … and all of that is without expanding into more games,” Kalish said in an Engadget article.

Additionally, more esports games are coming into their own e.g. Fortnite and Overwatch. DraftKings daily fantasy offered esports fans the next best thing to actual betting prior to the 2018 Supreme Court decision to repeal the federal sports betting prohibition, but now we are seeing renewed interest in the esports betting experience.

Note: We go into more detail on how fantasy esports and understanding how esports odds work a bit further down this page. In the meantime, read on to learn more.

Esports Competitions

Player-vs-player esports contests played for money such as those offered by PlayersLounge.co and GamerSaloon.com tend to fall more under skill gaming laws rather than sports betting. Both sites operate in a surprisingly large number of states because they are considered contests of skill rather than luck.

Is Esports Betting Legal?

This is a difficult question to answer in most states right now. When the Supreme Court overturned PASPA on constitutional grounds, the decision made room for an expanded legislative framework for sports betting as a whole.

The Supreme Court decision never mentioned esports betting by name, but the entire industry was indirectly affected. In the post-PASPA USA, individual states now have the authority to legislate and regulate “sports betting” as they see fit. Whether or not that includes esports is for each state to decide on its own.

For example, Indiana’s sports betting law specifically names esports and amateur youth events as not allowed. Laws with similar language have been introduced in other states as well. On the other hand, esports betting is alive and well in Nevada.

The Supreme Court’s decision made way for fantasy gambling on esports, but it also expanded sportsbook operators to offer single-match betting, without having to create their own fantasy teams.

Applied to esports, this means companies like Unikrn, an online esports betting platform, would be able to allow cash tournaments on esports in some states.

Unikrn launched in 2014, with notable early investors like Mark Cuban, Elisabeth Murdoch, and Ashton Kutcher.

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, Unikrn co-founder and CEO Rahul Sood said this in an interview with Compete:

“We are very excited and we’re working with casino partners across the US who want to build the best gamified esports wagering experience for their customers after the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

Unikrn operates in over 20 countries and is looking to expand its U.S. operations. The company has been public in pursuing a federal legislative scheme for esports gambling to avoid an “unnecessarily burdensome patchwork of regulations and requirements.”

States Where Esports Betting Is Legal

Although a handful of bills introduced to date specifically name esports betting, most states have not yet fully addressed the issue. This is a whole aspect of legal sports betting that still needs to be dealt with by regulators in most states.

Of the states that have legalized sports betting, some have specifically named esports betting as a legal form of wagering.

A handful of other states have specifically outlawed esports betting. Sportsbooks in those states have no option to offer esports even if they want to.

However, most states with legal online betting have not clarified where eSports stand in terms of the law. This is a question that will have to be answered over time, and the answer will likely depend on whether or not lawmakers decide to treat esports the same as traditional sporting events.

Below is a list of states that have legalized sports betting to date and see what, if anything, they have to say about esports. We’ll be focusing strictly on standard esports betting (i.e. betting on matches as a spectator) rather than fantasy contests and player-vs-player wagers in the following table.

When it comes to betting on other people’s matches, the law is much less clear. To begin, betting on esports in this manner is prohibited in all states that have not legalized sports betting to date. Furthermore, we need to consider the law on an individual basis for each state that offers legal sports betting.

Esports Appeal To Younger Generations

What makes esports wagering so attractive to the gambling industry is the demographic it attracts. While interest in traditional gambling seems to be waning over the years, especially with younger crowds, esports wagering draws a younger demographic of potential customers.

With that being said, it is imperative to keep gambling away from minors, in terms of the athletes being wagered on and those doing the wagering.

Esports leagues will be responsible for protecting their underaged players, but esportsbook operators will need to ensure age compliance of the people betting on esports.

Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures will be essential for the future of esports gambling, and it seems that current sportsbook operators are in a good position to ensure such compliance. But then again, Unikrn is already on track with its own KYC procedures.

Unikrn verifies the age and location of their users and then links their accounts to the games they play. This gives players a chance to bet on their own skills and games. Unikrn generates matches for the player based on their game profile and the profile of said opponents.

Players place bets in a mutual pool on Unikrn, play their favorite game, and come back to Unikrn to claim winnings. Again, product offerings are currently being regulated by states with Unikrn’s U.S. operations still largely based on skins rather than currency.

What’s Next For Esports Wagering?

According to Bryce Blum, founder of Electronic Sports and outside general counsel at Unikrn, any next steps for esports will have to include considerations of several issues.

He suggests any future legislation around esports wagering needs to address “licensing protocol, age verification, geo-blocking technology, mechanisms to identify and exclude people with gambling problems from participating, responsible gambling education, and mandatory monitoring and reporting of unusual betting-line movements.”

Additionally, states will have to clarify where they stand on esports competition. Do they consider it in the same category as other sports such as football and baseball? Should it be regulated any differently than those sports?

All of these regulatory components will be essential for esports wagering to follow the break-out success of esports itself. Of course, it also remains to be seen if US sports betting sites can appeal to the esports audience.

More About Daily Fantasy Esports

We touched on fantasy esports above but would like to take the opportunity now to go a bit more into detail regarding how it works for those of you who live in a state that does not yet have legal esports betting.

Competitive video gaming meshes well with the daily fantasy sports model because it involves competitions between teams of active competitors. Once you get past the fact that your roster picks are filled by people playing games like Dota 2 and League of Legends rather than football and baseball players, you will find that daily fantasy esports contests work just like “normal” fantasy sports contests.

The best fantasy esports sites host contests that revolve around upcoming gaming tournaments. For example, you might visit DraftKings and join a $3 contest for some upcoming League of Legends tournament. Once you enter the contest, you’ll be given a virtual salary of $50,000 that you spend to build an 8-man roster.

At DraftKings, your lineup in a League of Legends contest would consist of 7 players plus one team slot. Your job as the manager of your own fantasy team is to choose gamers to fill slots for top, jungle, mid, ADC, support, and two flex spots (can be filled by anyone). Lastly, you would need to choose one entire team to fill your final slot.

Player prices vary based on their perceived strength in entering any tournament. If someone has been on a tear lately or is otherwise expected to perform well, that person will cost more virtual money for you to add to your team. Building an effective roster is both challenging and fun because you have no choice but to make tough decisions so you can stay within the salary cap.

Next, your esports site will monitor the next competition and track each player’s stats as he competes with his team and against other players. As your picks play in the tournament and achieve kills, assists and other stats, you earn fantasy points for your team. The more points you earn, the more likely you are to win the fantasy league and earn a cash payout.

Popular Esports Games

One of the more interesting things about daily fantasy esports is that it is such a dynamic landscape. Old games are frequently updated and new games can be added to the lineup as they grow in popularity. It’s a much more fluid environment than the traditional DFS world. The list of games covered by the biggest fantasy sites is bound to change, but here’s a quick look at what is popular right now.

Esports Betting FAQ