WHAT IS ESPORTS AND HOW DOES IT FIT INTO SPORT?
There are enough similarities between Esports and sports to justify them being in the same broad category, but enough differences to justify the topic of this panel. When it comes to integrity, however, Esports behaves very much like traditional sports – it faces threats from cheating and doping to win and match-manipulation for betting fraud, but, in the absence of a meaningful overarching governing body, there are huge challenges for the industry and countering those integrity threats. Esports is approaching a $1 billion business and the betting turnover for 2020 will exceed $15 billion, so it’s safe to say it should be at the table, especially when sports betting integrity is discussed.
There are enough similarities between Esports and sports to justify them being in the same broad category, but enough differences to justify the topic of this panel. When it comes to integrity, however, Esports behaves very much like traditional sports – it faces threats from cheating and doping to win and match-manipulation for betting fraud, but, in the absence of a meaningful overarching governing body, there are huge challenges for the industry and countering those integrity threats. Esports is approaching a $1 billion business and the betting turnover for 2020 will exceed $15 billion, so it’s safe to say it should be at the table, especially when sports betting integrity is discussed.