The Nevada Gaming Control Board has approved betting on five new esports events.
Consumers in the state can now bet on this year’s Call of Duty League, Overwatch League and the North America League Championship Series (NA LCS), European Championship and European Masters in League of Legends.
The Call of Duty League is the leading esports event in the Call of Duty series of games and is organised by Activision, the game’s publisher. The league consists of 12 teams, 9 of them based in American cities, one in Toronto, one in London and one in Paris.
The league is in its inaugural season, which started in January.
The Overwatch League is also publisher-run, by Blizzard entertainment, and its 20 teams are based in 11 US cities, four Chinese cities, London, Paris, Toronto and Seoul.
The league was founded in 2018, and the San Francisco Shock are the defending champions. Although teams in both the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League initially hosted home series, events have since been taken online due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The NA LCS is organised by Riot Games, who publish the title, and serves as both the continent’s leading League of Legends competition and as qualification for the World Championship. The tournament is held twice per year, with Team Liquid winning each of the last four contests.
After a delay due to the pandemic, the Spring tournament is set to conclude this weekend, with one semi-final to be played tomorrow (18 April), while the final will occur on Sunday (19 April). The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s permission applies to both the Spring and Summer events.
The Gaming Control Board also gave permission to accept wagers on Riot’s League of Legends European Championship, which was founded in 2013, and like the NA LCS, takes place twice per year, with the Spring season set to finish this weekend. Permission to take bets again applies to both the Spring and Summer events.
In addition, permission was granted for bets on the European Masters, also organised by Riot. The tournament is a 16-team tournament featuring teams from eight countries or regions. The 2020 tournament is scheduled to start next week (22 April).
For each event, bettors may place wagers on winners of individual head-to-heads, match winners and the overall winner of the league, with any further bets requiring a separate application process. In-play betting is not permitted.
With almost all traditional sports across the globe cancelled, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has been expanding the state’s esports offering. In March, it gave permission for bookmakers to take bets on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ESL Pro League.