Lewis Pek Editor
Comment August 2016
The President of the American Gaming Association, Geoff Freeman, has been on a crusade to legalise and licence sports betting across the United States. He’s been banging the drum at every iGaming event both in the US and abroad, highlighting the fact that the existing situation in the States leaves consumers without protection, encourages multi- billion illegal sports betting to thrive and fails to protect the integrity of games and those that provide them.
It feels, listening to Mr. Freeman’s rational, common sense argument to license sports-betting across the US, that to do otherwise is foolish at best, and at worst, following some unspecified agenda. Whoever is closing their eyes, putting their fingers in their ears and humming, needs to look at what’s happening in the eSports space right now.
Just as responsible members of eSports industry gathered in London to form an Integrity Coalition in July, appointing dedicated members to a body that will bring transparency and integrity to eSports betting, a scandal broke that rocked the eSports community.
YouTubers Trevor 'TmarTn' Martin and Tom 'ProSyndicate' Cassell were not just celebrity gamers watched by 11 million followers, they were also founders, president and vice president of CS:GO Lotto – a site they promoted with videos depicting them winning, without disclosure of
THE EXISTING SITUATION IN THE US LEAVES CUSTOMERS WITHOUT PROTECTION AND FAILS TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF GAMES
their interest, thousands of dollars worth of skins - cosmetic items in Valve games like Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. These items have real world value and arrive randomly in drops that players buy access to with keys through Valve's distribution platform Steam.
While it’s likely that both YouTubers will face some form of sanction, it will be from the US Federal Trade Commission for misrepresentation of paid/sponsored content and disclosure, as opposed to running a website that exploits a betting loophole in the US, allowing minors to engage in betting thousands of dollars online. The CS:GO Lotto site and others like it, create gambling environments, but aren't subject to the same regulations and laws as traditional betting sites. CS:GO Lotto for example, only requires that its users are over the age of 13.
Whatever legislators are doing right now, even if they’re not listening to Geoff Freeman, they should at least listen to their conscience.
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