Sports betting data provider Betradar has smoothed the way for bookmakers to offer eSports betting markets via a new data deal with DOJO Madness.
Betradar, a brand of Sportradar, announced Thursday that it had signed an exclusive partnership with DOJO Madness, a Berlin-based eSports big data startup launched by several eSports gaming veterans, including Electronic Sports League founder Jens Hilgers.
The Betradar-DOJO partnership aims to provide betting operators with pre-match and in-play odds on a range of online and offline eSports competitions, including CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends and Overwatch. Hilgers told Forbes’ Darren Heitner that the eSports betting product would go live in a couple of weeks.
The eight-year deal reportedly includes major upfront payments for DOJO Madness as well as revenue participation from however many of Betradar’s 450 third-party bookmaking clients decide to dip their toes into the eSports pool.
James Watson, Betradar’s head of eSports, said the company had long been itching to add the latest betting craze to its list of options “but we weren’t prepared to rush in at the cost of our, and our clients’ reputations.” Watson said the recent closure of major skin-betting sites convinced Betradar that the timing was right to take the plunge and fill the eSports betting void.
NEVADA EMBRACING ESPORTS BETTING
Word of the data deal comes just one day after the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee – a select group of regulators, legislators and state officials that meets infrequently to discuss matters of import – held a hearing on how to incorporate eSports betting into the state’s licensed sportsbooks.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the consensus of Wednesday’s meeting was that adding eSports betting options wouldn’t require new legislation, only tweaks to existing regulations. As a result, public discussions could begin as early as December and sportsbooks could conceivably be taking eSports wagers early in 2017.
Concerns were raised regarding potential match-fixing and collusion issues, as well as the possibility of malicious hackers attempting to hobble one side of an eSports match. Nevada reportedly favors allowing wagers only on “terrestrial” eSports matches that are less vulnerable to such digital interference.
