The world of eSports has seen a surge in interest the past several months because of the coronavirus, with other sports being forced to stop in order to control the pandemic. Even before this recent heightened attention, though, eSports was already on its way to becoming one of the most lucrative forms of gaming entertainment and had found a solid footing among gambling channels. Without any clear regulations governing the space, it’s not surprising, then, that some would take advantage of the popularity to practice double-dipping – operating eSports teams and eSports gambling sites at the same time. The owner of FaZe Clan is apparently one of these.
Richard “Banks” Bengtson took part in a podcast by BADNWZ, talking about how FaZe Clan got started and how it has grown as eSports grew. He mentioned the team’s desire to get into Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) competitions a few years back, explaining that, at the time, it didn’t have the financial backing it needed to make the leap. As a result, per Bengtson’s own admission, he helped launch a gambling site to raise the necessary capital.
The endeavor apparently worked well, taking in, at times, up to $200,000 a day. Bengtson didn’t offer the name of the site, stating only that it was run out of a mansion in Antigua after paying $100,000 to secure the necessary permits. He explains, “We flew there private, sat down with the guy who runs the country and basically paid him a hundred thousand dollars and he gave us the license.” Bengtson added that the site operated legally for only a few months and that it is no longer active.
The issues surrounding a sports team owner operating a gambling site tied to the sport are obvious – it would be too tempting for certain individuals with low ethical standards to fix matches in order to turn a greater profit. This is one of the reasons sports gambling has had such a difficult time finding success in the U.S., even if the barriers to widespread legalization are finally being removed, and more states are setting up their own sports gambling markets. There is also the concern that owners would unfairly promote their teams in order to increase their bottom lines.
There have been issues seen in the CS: GO space previously that had many calling for stricter controls. eSports personalities, such as Trevor “Tmartn” Martin and Tom “Syndicate” Cassel, have been called out for promoting gambling sites, only for it to be learned later that they were actually the ones behind the sites’ curtains. They were accused of using their positions to gain an advantage and of manipulating the outcomes of wagers.
