With the same three states offering iGaming as for the past two edition of the iGaming North American conference, and few legitimate prospects, the focus of this year’s conference became the one remaining interactive gaming opportunity left: eSports. Some of the statistics about eSports are astounding. Chris Grove of LegalSportsReport.com said eSports is a $5.1 billion industry. At its height, daily fantasy sports was around $2.5 billion, so is eSports the most important secret in gaming. According to Seth Schorr, the chairman of Fifth Street Gaming, which operates Downtown Grand Las Vegas, it is. Schorr has been producing small eSports tournaments at the property that have been remarkably successful. “Vegas has a unique opportunity to position itself as the destination for eSports,” he said. He points out that MGM is using it as a spectator sport, scheduling a massive eSports tournament for next weekend. But the potential for eSports is as a betting vehicle, which it is not at the time. Grove says the worldwide wagering numbers for eSports is now on a par with rugby and Formula One racing, so it’s an untapped reservoir. Grove anticipated eSports leagues—and there are more than a dozen professional leagues, with over 150 teams—getting licensed by Nevada gaming regulators. Integrity isn’t an issue, he said, for two reasons. First, the leagues have much at stake and wouldn’t risk their status. Second, the same data that prevents match-fixing in other sports would also be applied with eSports. “It’s always possible,” said Grove, “but like with other sports, the lower you go on the professional ladder, the more problems you are likely to have.”

This year’s EVO 2016 tournament is set to be the biggest in the event’s history.
Entries for the Street Fighter V tournament had exceeded 4,000 by early April, which is one reason why Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino wants EVO 2016 to be the first esports event on which players can legally wager on the outcome in a Las Vegas casino.

The esports phenomenon has drawn in mainstream media like ESPN, major arenas like Madison Square Garden, and investors ranging from Shaquille O’Neal to Mark Cuban. As esports continues its torrid growth, the commercial gambling industry is asking how to effectively embrace and engage esports companies and fans.

The esports phenomenon has drawn in mainstream media like ESPN, major arenas like Madison Square Garden, and investors ranging from Shaquille O’Neal to Mark Cuban. As esports continues its torrid growth, the commercial gambling industry is asking how to effectively embrace and engage esports companies and fans.

Answering that question is the central aim of “Esports & Casino Resorts,” (http://naruscope.com/), a two-day event produced by Narus Advisors that will connect stakeholders from the commercial gambling and esports industries.

“Esports & Casino Resorts” takes place on October 25-26, 2016 at the SLS Casino and Resort in Las Vegas.

By building an esports lounge, one notable East Coast developer could be following the lead of a downtown Las Vegas casino.

On a recent Friday night, Isaac Perez walked out of Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino $250 richer.

But it wasn’t because he wagered his money at a slot machine or tried his hand at blackjack.

He won a “Street Fighter V” video game tournament.

“We are at the convergence of eSports and gaming,” said Carson Knuth, co-founder of LEET, a startup that has been operating esports tournaments at Downtown Grand since January. “Our whole vision is that the 21st or 22nd casino floor would be video games and gambling.”

Last week, reports surfaced that Glenn Straub’s Revel casino resuscitation project could offer an esports lounge, one of the first of its kind at a New Jersey casino.

Just as Seth Schorr’s Downtown Grand Las Vegas has formally applied to the Nevada Gaming Control Board to offer wagering at its esports lounge, a natural extension of any esports activity at the Revel would be allowing for some form of esports wagering.

That could take the form of esports tournaments, head-to-head player wagering, esports slot machines, audience-based sportsbook-style wagering, as well as other forms.

In a rare move, the largest sports arena in Columbus, Ohio, relaxed a key policy for an event in April, allowing attendees to freely exit and reenter a game in progress.

Nationwide Arena simply couldn’t expect fans to stay seated for nine hours of action.

It’s among the accommodations event spaces across the country are making in bids to capitalize on the rise of arena-packing video-game contests, which they hope will attract a new generation of event-goers — and with them increased ticket and concession sales.

The International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada Las Vegas will both harness, and help further, the growth of esports initiatives in the gaming industry with the formation of its new esports lab.
A course taught by director Robert Rippee will incentivize students to design solutions to business challenges in the esports field, such as the development and implementation of competitive esports events that attract millennials to the gaming space.

Yahoo Esports and ESL, formerly known as Electronic Sports League, are uniting to become the planet’s largest distributor of competitive video gaming content.

Based in Cologne, Germany, ESL is one of the oldest eSports companies still in operation. ESL is behind many of eSports’ most notable tournaments including “Dota 2,” “Call of Duty World League,” and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).”