Hard Rock Atlantic City recently became the first hotel and casino to host a skill-based wagering esports tournament. Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) hosted its first-ever skill-based wagering esports tournament in the country thus attracting hundreds of gamers. The gamers signed up to take part in the Madden NFL 22 Event, where they battled each other out for cash prizes worth an estimated $9000.
The 2-day event was held between March 19th and 20th at Hard Rock’s Seminole Ballroom. The tournament was only open to participants over the age of 21. However, spectators aged 18 and over were allowed to attend.
Throughout the Madden NFL 22 tournament, participants were given the option to bet on themselves for every round of the tournament. The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement also gave the go-ahead for each player to receive $25 in free wagers to bet on themselves. If a player placed a wager successfully, the player was easily allowed to withdraw their winnings as real money.
Last year, EEG and Hard Rock entered into a partnership agreement to organize the country’s first skill-based betting event in esports. This partnership was highly regarded as a great accomplishment that will offer both competitors, as well as esports payers and punters a one-of-a-kind experience. This tournament will no doubt kick-start a surge of esports activity on LANDuel.
LANDuel is the esports betting platform that hosted the first Madden NFL 22 tournament. LANDuel is also a subsidiary of EEG and is the first peer-to peer-based wagering platform dedicated to esports in the country. Peer-to-peer wagering, which is also commonly referred to as wagering exchange, typically involves punters that create their own odds as opposed to placing bets that have been determined by a bookmaker’s odds.
Wagering exchange has grown in popularity, especially among younger punters, because it is very similar to placing a wager between friends. Thanks to LANDuel, gamers can now wager on their own skills to beat other games in a controlled and official betting exchange environment.
Not only has this enhanced the entire betting experience in esports gaming but it has also presented esports gamers with an excellent opportunity to win cash prizes whenever they challenge other gamers with similar skill sets or when they take part in tournaments such as the recently concluded one.
Moving forward, EEG will continue to work closely with Hard Rock casino to install a permanent esports wagering structure that will help the industry grow even further. While the Hard Rock skill-based tournament was truly unique, it isn’t the first occasion where a peer-to-peer betting platform has organized such a tournament. Whole LANDuel may have been the start of the show, but it doesn’t mean that there are no other similar platforms available to esports gamers.
Another well-known platform that’s similar to LANDuel is Unikrn UMode, which was created to allow gamers to host or join private tournaments that offer various prize pools. Similar to LANDuel, gamers using UMode could also wager on themselves for a chance to walk away with immediate cash prizes. At present, the Unikrn platform is temporarily down as it rebrands itself following an acquisition by Entain.
If this partnership between Hard Rock and EEG persists, it could lead to the growth of the biggest esports betting markets in the country. The recently concluded tournament at the Hard Rock successfully managed to attract thousands of young participants, many of whom made the effort to attend in person or watch through online streams.
EEG initially acquired LANDuel esports wagering platform last year in June. However, since then, the brand has also successfully soft-launched its fixed-odds wagering site in New Jersey. This will allow EEG to further dominate the burgeoning betting market that is esports.
What we cover
VIE.GG New Jersey launch
Early this January, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement approved EEG to start offering esports wagering to punters and esports lovers in New Jersey. With this approval, VIE.gg became the first esports operator of its kind to offer such services in not just the Garden State and the country.
EEG has been focused on its mission to connect the world with esports entertainment in unique and entertaining ways to grow the market. According to many analysts, esports wagering is expected to experience considerable growth as people continue to take advantage of wagering opportunities that involve the esports that they enjoy watching and taking part in. Today, the VIE.gg platform caters to punters that love a wide range of video games including League of Legends, DOTA 2, CS: GO, as well as Call of Duty.
The esports wagering market is expected to exceed the $205 billion mark by 2027. EEG has been playing a crucial role in the rapidly expanding market by operating the first esports betting platform in the US. New Jersey has always had various sports betting platforms offering bets on esports events. However, VIE.gg is the first platform that’s dedicated to video gaming on a competitive level.
To further secure its place in the esports betting market in the country, EGG also recently partnered up with Oddin.gg to supply esports odds on VIE.gg. In doing so, EGG has successfully managed to leverage iGaming and esports, which has opened up brand new avenues of expansion while also uniting punters, gamers, and video game fans in unprecedented ways.
Oddin.gg’s platform will provide VIE.gg with a wide range of products and services including risk management, odds feeds, as well as iFrame. This will allow VIE.gg to deliver the best experience and esports betting packages to its customers. Oddin.gg is a well-known and respected brand in the gambling scene as it also powers many other heavyweights including Softswiss AND Betway.
Final Thoughts
In 2019, FanDuel became the first online sportsbook in the country to offer wagers on esports competitions. Esports betting has, therefore, been available in almost every state that FanDuel operates including Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey. The first event that FanDuel accepted wagers on was the League of Legends World Championship which saw G2 Esports defeated by FunPlus Phoenix.
