Is Betting On eSports Legal?

In short, yes, betting on eSports is completely legal in the UK. Although eSports are a relatively new phenomenon, and gambling on them even more so, the Gambling Commission has confirmed that bookmakers can legally offer bets on eSports, and that punters can take those bets.

It’s wise to be wary, though, especially when you’re first finding out about the sport (if you consider eSports to count as sports - which not everybody does). If you’re not already au fait with the world of eSports, it may be riskier to start betting on them, as you won’t have the advantage of detailed knowledge of the competitors.

In this article, we’ll explain eSports and their legal position in detail, so you can be confident when you dip your toes into gambling on them that you’re doing so safely.

What Are eSports?

eSports are video games played competitively, either remotely or at in person events. eSports can be played between teams or individuals, depending on the game in question, and, much like with normal sports, are played at both an amateur and a professional level.

Although eSports are relatively new compared to traditional sports, they’ve been going on longer than you might expect. Multiplayer competitions have been a feature of videogame culture for a long time, although it took the advent of platforms such as YouTube and, especially, Twitch, in the late 2000s, to bring them to a wider audience.

eSports gained their first foothold in East Asia - South Korea first licensed professional players as early as 2000! - but in recent years the western world has caught up, and their popularity is now global. The value of the global eSports market has ballooned, reaching approximately $1.4 billion in 2022, and expected to increase to $1.85 billion by 2025.

Source: Statista’s Global eSports Market Statistics

There has been a good deal of debate as to whether eSports ought to be classed as ‘sports’. To many people, an activity that involves being entirely sedentary cannot be considered a sport in any fair sense of the word. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the health of many eSports players, who will play for many hours at a time, and can suffer from a variety of health problems as a result.

On the other hand, those in favour of considering eSports to be sports point out that darts and snooker involve very little physical activity, but require fine motor skills and good reaction speeds - in many ways, very similar to eSports.

eSports have even been considered for inclusion in the Olympics - and although the International Olympic Committee haven’t quite gone so far as to have eSports as medal events in the games, a dedicated Olympic Esports Games has been approved and will take place in 2025 in Saudi Arabia.

What’s The Difference Between eSports And Virtual Sports?

The terms ‘eSports’ and ‘virtual sports’ may sound similar, but they aren’t the same thing at all. Virtual sports are designed explicitly for gamblers, and are virtual versions of some of the most popular sports betting sports, such as horse racing, tennis or football.

Although virtual sports look fairly similar to regular sports, the outcomes are decided by a random number generator. The mechanism is arguably more similar to a casino slot game than to the real version of the sport in question.

It’s important not to get eSports and virtual sports mixed up, especially if you’re intending to gamble on either of them. They may sound like related concepts, but in actual fact they have next to nothing in common.

UK Law Regarding Gambling On eSports

The Gambling Commission has stated quite clearly that betting on eSports is perfectly legitimate. So long as a bookmaker has a UK betting licence, they can offer markets on eSports, which ‘should be treated no differently as betting on any other live event.’

Source: Gambling Commission

The Gambling Commission does note that there are additional risks associated with eSports betting, especially relating to the existence of virtual currencies within games, which may be exchangeable for real money, and the fact that some video games commonly played as eSports are also popular with children.

Due to the eSports world being relatively young, the lack of an overarching regulatory body, either on a national or an international level, is another concern. In most sports, there are strict controls in place to avoid problems with competitors cheating or throwing their matches. In eSports, protections against cheating or corruption are much less robust, so there is a lot more scope for unethical behaviour.

Nonetheless, it is entirely legal to bet on eSports - but the factors above mean that gamblers would be wise to be cautious when placing bets.

International Law Regarding Gambling On eSports

eSports gambling is not legal worldwide, although it is gaining legitimacy as it grows and becomes more professional. In the USA, gambling in general is legally restricted, and betting on eSports is entirely legal in only a handful of states: New Jersey, Nevada, Tennessee and West Virginia. There are, however, also states where eSports gambling is strictly regulated but possible.

eSports gambling is legal in many western and East Asian countries, including China, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, but it still faces legal challenges in many other countries. Gambling in Japan, for example, is very strictly controlled, with only a few types of sports betting being legal at all. This means that despite the overall popularity of video games, eSports betting faces significant challenges in Japan.

Major eSports Games And Competitions

eSports tournaments have become major events in recent years, with the available prize pools growing ever larger. The biggest tournaments are for only a handful of video games, which are particularly suited to tournament-style play. The most played games in eSports include:

• DOTA 2 (the sequel to ‘Defense of the Ancients’), a multiplayer online battle arena game, played by two teams of five players in matches

• League of Legends, which was originally inspired by Defense of the Ancients, another multiplayer online battle arena game, again where two teams of five players compete to win matches

• FIFA, the much-loved football-based video game

• Fortnite, still one of the biggest games in the world, although not quite so popular as at its peak a few years ago

• Counter Strike: Global Offensive, usually shortened to CS:GO, another game in a similar format to DOTA 2 and League of Legends, with teams competing against each other to win matches

• Valorant, a team-based game inspired by Counter Strike, first released in 2020

• PUBG (previously known as Player Unknown: Battlegrounds), a battle royale style game, considered to be one of the highest-grossing video games of all time

eSports tournaments themselves are now huge events, with staggeringly high prize pools available. Some of the biggest are:

• The eSports World Cup, which took place for the first time in summer 2024, included a number of competitions across a range of games, including PUBG, Call of Duty, Fifa and Fortnite. It offered the largest prize pool in eSports tournament history, with a total of $60 million available to win across the various tournaments.

• The International. Historically the biggest eSports tournament in the world, players compete in DOTA 2 for an estimated prize pool of around $3 million in 2024. This is much lower than in previous years, however; at its peak in 2021, the prize pool was as much as $40 million!

• League of Legends World Championship. A particularly drawn out tournament, the LoL Worlds takes place over more than a month, and offers a prize pool of at least $2.23 million in 2024.

• Valorant Champions, the biggest Valorant tournament of the year, which offers a $2.2 million prize pool in 2024.

• PUBG Global Championship, held over nearly two weeks, with $1.5 million in prize money in 2024.

• Intel Extreme Masters Cologne, regarded as one of the most prestigious Counter Strike tournaments, which has a $1 million prize pool in 2024.

eSports And Matched Betting

As with any other sport, if you come across a great eSports offer with a bookie, it’s worth seeing if you can take advantage of it through Matched Betting (for more information about Matched Betting, check out our full guide).

You may find it a bit trickier to lay your bets on eSports, though, as not all exchange sites offer eSports markets. And even for exchanges that do offer markets on eSports, such as Betfair, the available odds may not be brilliant, as the volume of betting can be quite low. It’s therefore a good idea to check out the available lay markets before committing to an eSports offer when Matched Betting, to make sure you’ll be able to make enough profit for the offer to be worthwhile.

The Future Of eSports

Most pundits predict that eSports will continue to increase in popularity, gaining wider audiences and probably greater legitimacy in the eyes of lawmakers and the public. It’s natural that, as eSport tournaments grow, investors and sponsors will see opportunities to make larger profits, resulting in higher prize pools and further expansion.

There are now over 30,000 professional eSports players worldwide, more than double the number that existed in 2015, demonstrating the improving prospects for players looking to make their living from eSports.

However, both physical and mental health concerns have damaged the reputation of eSports. Meanwhile, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, which aren’t banned in most eSports competitions, has resulted in problems with addiction for some players. It’ll be important for the burgeoning eSports industry to tackle these issues to secure the success of eSports in the future.

Summary

Gambling on eSports is entirely legal in the UK, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its drawbacks. As regulation surrounding eSports is inconsistent, and few regulatory bodies exist, there is a lot of scope for unethical behaviour on the part of both players and bettors, which can make eSports a risky proposition for bookies and for ordinary punters.

When it comes to Matched Betting, good opportunities to make profits on eSports bets are likely to be limited - but that’s not to say they won’t improve in the future, as the industry continues to grow. If you’re a matched bettor, keep a sharp eye out for eSports offers - but make sure to double check they’re profitable before committing yourself to betting on eSports.

If you’re new to Matched Betting, however, we’d recommend sticking with more mainstream sports at first. To get started, give our free trial a go - before you know it, you’ll be making guaranteed profits from all manner of sports, eSports included!