History of Esports in the UK

Esports emerged in the early 2000s and began to gain popularity around the world as both a fun pastime and a potentially lucrative source of betting revenue.

Both these aspects of the industry were ramped up in the 2010s, as video games began to be streamed live worldwide via platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.

As interest in esports betting increased, it became clear that esports fell into a grey area with regards to gambling and was, therefore, not officially subject to the rules and regulations usually associated with online gambling.

It was the 2016 stratospheric rise of skin betting – trading in-game cosmetic enhancements for cryptocurrency or real money – which led the UK gambling authorities to decide that esports must be regulated.

Skin betting carried no age restrictions and was thought to appeal to under-age teenagers and even young children, given that they were already shown to be fans of the games esports were built on, such as CS: GO and Dota 2.

The idea of cosmetic changes to change the appearance of a character or weapon is also likely to appeal to young people who may become bored more easily than older players.

Finally, the fact that skins have no real money value so could be easily purchased by someone without an income, and then gambled without much sense of consequence was also deeply troubling to the UKGC.

With skins being traded for thousands of pounds and more than $7 billion being wagered in skins in 2016, and a further $500 million in cash, it became clear that esports and skin betting, in particular, were not going anywhere and had to be investigated.

In August 2016, the UKGC produced a huge paper of research to determine whether esports constituted gambling.

Finding that it did, the body took esports into its jurisdiction and set about making it safer for UK gamblers.

Esports in the UK – Stats & Findings

According to the UKGC’s 2017 ‘Virtual Currencies, esports and Social Casino Gaming’ position paper, most esports bettors are young men who prefer to alternate between betting real money and in-game items, such as weapon or avatar skins.

Stats highlighted by the report are as follows:

• 5% of respondents have ever bet on esports
• Regular participation in esports betting is closer to 3%
• 58% of esports bettors are male
• 42% of esports bettors are female
• Most esports bettors are 25-34 years old (44%)
• Though 18-24 and 35-44 make up 20% and 21% respectively
• 90% have bet with in-game items
• 88% have bet with real money
• 78% have bet with both in-game items and real money
• Women prefer to bet using in-game items rather than real money

Looking at these stats, it would appear that the majority of esports bettors are a few years older than often thought.

However, esports in the UK remains an area of extreme concern with regards to facilitating under-age gambling, and many of the rules in place are there to protect the bettors who place esports bets online.

UK Gambling Laws for Esports

Today, esports betting is legal in the UK providing you are at least 18-years-old and meet the other criteria of the site in question, such as the country you reside in and are not identified as a vulnerable person.

Esports in the UK are subject to the Gambling Act 2005 which covers the following objectives:

• Preventing gambling from becoming a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder, or being used to support crime
• Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way
• Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling

This means that not only must esports betting sites include age verification (something many skin betting sites fail to do).

Betting site in the UK also have measures in place to protect problem gamblers and other vulnerable people, they must also have robust anti-fraud practices in place and crackdown on cheating.

The latter is a constant struggle for gambling companies who have little to no control over how players choose to conduct themselves, and cheating remains rife at every level in esports.

However, the UKGC continues to work alongside the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) the global governing body for Esports to minimise cheating in esports and its potential impact on gamblers.

As with all forms of gambling, there is a risk, which bettors must weigh up before participating, however, in the UK at least, esports betting is a predominantly safe and legal pastime which can be enjoyed responsibly.