William Hill, who is known in the United Kingdom for their sports betting and online casino, has been granted a historic license in the United States. For the first time, American players will now be able to legally place wagers on eSports events in America. This is the first time in American history that players have been able to wager on eSports and William Hill is thrilled to be part of it.
William Hill in Nevada gets license
The license itself has been specifically given to William Hill’s sportsbook branch at the Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the first time anyone in the state or country has been able to legally offer betting opportunities on eSports events.
Nevada has been hoping to become the world’s eSports capital, and this ruling has put Nevada one step closer. After the ruling had been announced, it allowed William Hill to accept wagers on the IEM Oakland eSports event that took place over the weekend, 19 -20 November 2016.
What are eSports?
Some of you may now be wondering what eSports are? Essentially, eSports is an abbreviation for Electronic Sports. In other words, eSports are professional video game competitions where the best players in the world compete against each other.
The eSport scene is one of the fastest growing competitive sports on the planet, with players able to win hundreds of thousands of pounds at the top levels of competition. One of the most popular eSports titles is a game called League of Legends, which is perhaps the biggest and most competitive eSport title around.
Now thanks to this ruling, gamblers in America can now start placing wagers on eSport matches and join in on the fun. The ruling determined that betting on eSports could be classified as betting on athletic sports events, just as all other forms of sports betting. This means that no major regulations need to be written and only small changes to existing laws can be made.
