The Nevada state government's Gaming Control Board and the Esports Integrity Coalition have signed a memorandum of understanding to share information regarding potentially suspicious bets in Nevada esports betting, the two organizations announced Wednesday. These suspicious bets could be signs of illegal activity such as betting fraud or match fixing.
"As wagering on esports grows in Nevada, it is important for the GCB to work with integrity-focused groups such as ESIC," Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman A.G. Burnett said in a statement. "This [memorandum] will allow for the exchange of information and sharing of data that goes toward our mutual goals of ensuring wagering on esports is done safely, with integrity and a focus on removing the chances of issues arising with esports betting."
In 2016 and early 2017, three major esports tournaments came to Vegas, the North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring Finals, the Evolution Championship Series and DreamHack Masters Las Vegas. The Halo World Championship North American qualifier and the 2017 Evolution Championship Series intend to come to the City of Lights later this year.
As a result of the growing esports presence, sportsbook William Hill received approval and opened esports sportsbook-style betting for the first time in Las Vegas around Intel Extreme Masters Oakland in November 2016. It also took bets on DreamHack Masters Las Vegas in mid-February 2017.
For its part, the Esports Integrity Coalition is comprised of some of the largest names in esports, including Modern Times Group-owned tournament organizers ESL and DreamHack and computer hardware company Intel. It is currently partnered with several esports-oriented sportsbooks and betting websites, including Unikrn, ESP, betWay and ebettle.
"We are delighted that the Nevada Board have agreed to work with us as they start their journey in the regulation of esports wagering," Esports Integrity Coalition commissioner Ian Smith said in a statement. "The GCB is the gold standard in the regulation of sports betting in the U.S., and it has already been a pleasure working with them. Adding the experience and vital information of our other partners in the information exchange to the Board's intelligence database and vice versa will undoubtedly strengthen all our efforts considerably."
Match fixing in esports has been a concern since the industry's inception more than a decade ago. One situation involving North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team iBUYPOWER and betting website CSGOLounge (which has since been deemed illegal), in which the team threw a match after betting against their opponents, NetcodeGuides, is among the most notable.