When Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a bill that clarified the law for betting on esports and non-sporting events, some in the gaming and esports industries might have been left scratching their heads.

After all, Nevada regulators already said sportsbooks could allow esports betting under current law. In fact, the Downtown Grand already took the first esports bets in the state late last year.

So what exactly happened when Sandoval’s ink turned a bill into law?

First, current Nevada law limited types of wagering

Here was the initial impetus of the bill: Current law limited the types of wagering Nevada’s sportsbooks could take on esports and other events to straight bets.

“The purpose of the bill was to make clear in Nevada law that pari-mutuel wagering on ‘other events,’ which includes esports as well as other non-sporting events such as the WSOP, NBA draft, etc., is permitted,” Jennifer Roberts, of UNLV’s International Center for Gaming Regulation, told Esports Betting Report.

The bill was the brainchild of the UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law, which has students in the gaming law program gain the experience of going through the process of creating or amending laws that affect gaming. Roberts said adjunct professor Greg Gemignani was the leader of the effort.

Sometimes such efforts result in laws, like the case here.

The problem was that the statute that governs pari-mutuel wagering is separate from the statute governing other gaming laws. In order to offer pari-mutuel wagering on esports — if anyone should wish to do so — the state had to amend the law.

Then comes a new bill…

So amend the law is what the Nevada government did.

Sen. Becky Harris, who graduated from the Boyd School of Law, told ESBR she was glad to sponsor the bill.

“When approached, I was happy to help my alma mater develop and usher the bill through the legislature, Harris said. “I believe it is good for the law school, good for Nevada business, and good for the state as a whole. I am fortunate to work with colleagues in the legislature that are willing to pursue new opportunities for our state.”

Will anyone offer this type of esports betting?

That’s certainly up in the air. Although the impetus to clarify the law is one thing, it’s not terribly useful if no one offers such wagering. (Of course, the bill allows pari-mutuel wagering on a lot of things beyond just esports.)

“I’ve heard of possible interest, from a few different parties that might be interested,” Roberts said. “If it’s something that’s in the law, then it’s something that they might pursue. Now they have the opportunity to do it, versus it was unclear before. And the Gaming Control Board needed that clear authority to authorize it.

While no one is likely ready to offer such a product immediately after the ink on the law dries, it could be on some gaming interests’ agendas. One platform in Nevada — USFantasy — already offers pari-mutuel type wagering on tradition. sporting events. It’s not a stretch to think it could adapt its platform to include esports contests.

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Las Vegas still working on becoming a worldwide esports hub

The law is also one step toward becoming a hub for esports activities of all types, according to Harris.

“The hope is that this bill, along with other legislation, will encourage growth in the gaming, hospitality and events industry statewide,” Harris said. “Esports events are events that we would like to encourage in Nevada as I believe that our state has the best combination of available event locations, technological infrastructure, lodging, and additional entertainment offerings for esports event operators and fans.”

Earlier this year, the Nevada Esports Alliance launched in response to the developing overlap between esports and gambling. Leaders in government and business have set the goal of making Las Vegas the “esports capital of the world.”

While the new law may just be a small part of that, it still puts Nevada on a path to being a more welcoming environment for esports.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a bill on Saturday that makes pari-mutuel betting on esports events permissible under the law.

The legislation amends the Nevada statutes regarding pari-mutuel betting systems to include competitive gaming and will go into effect on July 1.

Back in November, state regulators already gave the green light for straight betting on esports. Now, esports wagering, on a pari-mutuel basis is officially a part of the law.

Esports betting bill without word “esports”

While the bill is “the esports betting bill,” it actually doesn’t feature the word “esports” in its language. Instead, competitive gaming in the bill has been included under the “other events” part, which was added to the current list of betting activities.

A hearing held on March 23 served as the pivotal point for the activity to become law. It included a testimony of former professional esports player Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel. He detailed his training regime, which helped convince regulators that esports players are “athletes.”

AG Burnett, chairman of the Gaming Control Board, said:

“Ideally, you would have people coming from all over the globe to compete, with people paying to come in and bet on that event like you would a sportsbook.”

He added that hopefully one day we would see esports events held at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip. That’s a 20,000-seat venue that hosts concerts and UFC fights and eventually for NHL hockey games.

Treating esports in the right way

As esports grows and becomes highly popular around the globe, proper structures have to be added to the activities surrounding it, including esports betting. Making esports wagering a part of the bill is a great example of proper progress.

“Wagering on events other than sports and races continues to gain global popularity, but Nevada statutes regarding the types of events allowed under the pari-mutuel system wagering are unclear,” said Boyd law student Nelson Lambert, testifying before the Senate Committee on Judiciary in March. “Our proposed modifications adapt the Nevada Revised Statutes to suit the growing popularity of these events.”

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Nevada’s road to becoming the US esports hub

Besides being the first U.S. state to offer legal betting on esports, Nevada is going big on esports. The area has seen steady developing of local infrastructure towards becoming as welcoming as possible for potential esports events.

The Halo Championship Series and Madden NFL Championship taking place in Millenial Esports’ 15,000 square-foot venue was a success. Moreover, MLG Vegas and the Battle on the Strip also serve as great examples of how perfect the city is for hosting esports events.

As more events pop up, more local players show interest in the growing industry. This should help grow the scene further and attract more fans to the area.

With the progress towards a welcoming esports environment, Las Vegas is on the right path to becoming an esports hub. Additionally, the never-ending growth of the overall esports scene will also play a positive role.

With its popularity, we can expect no shortage of enthusiastic fans to attend these great events.

William Hill US will be taking bets on the 2017 Las Vegas Dreamhack Masters after receiving approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The CS:GO event runs from February 15 to February 19 and has attracted most of the top names in competitive esports.

William Hill powers 108 sportsbooks and a mobile app in Nevada. All customers will be able to use their preferred betting portal to lay their bets.

Esports betting options will include matchup wagering on quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of the tournament.

Dreamhack is the second event with legal esports bets

Working with Seth Schorr, CEO of the Downtown Grand Casino and Hotel, William Hill offered the first legal esports bets in Nevada last November for the IEM Oakland League of Legends tournament.

The Dreamhack will be the second event for which the NGCB has authorized wagers. The prize pool for the teams is a hefty $450,000. That is one reason why the top esports teams have put it on their schedules.

The presence of so many big names should ensure a massive audience, both on and offline. Plenty of out of state visitors will be able to take advantage of William Hill’s esports betting options.

Initial odds and the teams taking part are:

• Astralis (3/1)
• Virtus.Pro (7/2)
• Natus Vincere (5/1)
• SK Gaming (6/1)
• Fnatic (7/1)
• Faze Clan (12/1)
• Ninjas In Pyjamas (12/1)
• North (12/1)
• Optic Gaming (16/1)
• Gambit Esports (20/1)
• Cloud9 (30/1)
• Mousesports (30/1)
• Renegades (100/1)
• Tyloo (100/1)
• Misfits (150/1)
• complexity Gaming (200/1)

Esports betting set to grow in Nevada

The news bodes well for the future of esports betting in Nevada. There are a slew of future esports tournaments coming to the state on which William Hill should be able to get similar approval.

Most recently, Millennial Esports announced that it would be hosting the North American Qualifier LAN event in Las Vegas as part of the HALO World Championship.

The event will be the most prestigious yet presented at Millennial’s new esports arena at Neonopolis.

Later in the year in July, the EVO Evolution Championship Series will be returning to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Last year’s event attracted a record-breaking number of around 15,000 players who completed at least one of the fighting game events. More than 5,000 registered to play the Street Fighter competition.

The event was broadcast on ESPN2 as well as streamed on Twitch, creating a huge audience.

The NVEA wants to drive even more esports in Nevada

The launch of the Nevada Esports Alliance at the end of last week was well-timed to give a push to the burgeoning esports scene in Nevada.

Both Schorr’s Fifth Street Gaming and William Hill US are involved as founding members. They and other stakeholders came together to help establish Nevada as a global esports hub.

The NVEA will work to bring more top tournaments to Nevada working closely with regulators, the state government, academics and the casino and hospitality industry.

The trend, helped along by organizations like the NVEA, is definitely toward more esports in Nevada. William Hill’s esports betting operations look to have a lot of runway for future growth.