With the official implementation of its legal sports betting legislation, the state of Connecticut is now allowing licenced operators to accept wagers on esports events as well.
Connecticut’s HB 6451, which legalises sports betting, was approved earlier this year and went into effect on Tuesday. The bill recognises esports as a’sporting event,’ allowing operators to place and accept wagers on competitive gaming events in the same way they would on traditional sports.
The state’s esports betting regulations appear to be flexible and at the operator’s discretion. There are many different marketplaces for video game titles and events that fall under the broad definition of ‘electronic sports and competitive video games played as games of skill.’
Intercollegiate esports competitions, with the exception of those featuring a Connecticut-based team, are authorised to be bet on under the bill. Only four intercollegiate teams can participate in the event, and the wager must be put on all of those teams’ outcomes in the tournament for it to be legal.
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Players, coaches, officials, and anyone else involved in an esports event may not wager on the outcome of the event or match in which they are taking part.
DraftKings, FanDuel, and PlaySugarHouse are the three currently operating sportsbooks in the state that have been granted a gambling licence. Except for DraftKings and FanDuel’s fantasy sports betting, none of the bookmakers offer match odds on esports events at the time of this writing.
Connecticut will be the latest state to allow legal sports betting on esports, joining a growing number of other states already doing so. New Jersey, the third state in the tri-state area, is included. New Jersey enacted bill A637 in July authorising wagers on esports events, however, bookmakers can only accept wagers of up to $100 (£72), with a maximum winning wager of $500 (£361) in the event of a tie.
This wager limit may rise if approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).
