- West Virginia has introduced House Bill 4826 which seeks to legalize wagering on esports events
- If the bill passes all adults in the Mountain State will be able to place bets on professional gaming tournaments
- The bill has been approved by the state’s House of Representatives and its future is now in the Senate’s hands
West Virginia is a pioneer in sports betting but has been rather slow in legalizing esports betting. The state has decided it is finally time to change that.
West Virginia House Bill 4826 Gets Approved
The growth of esports as a worldwide competitive sporting event has caused numerous bettors to eye the opportunities of esports betting. Some regulated markets across the world have already legalized esports betting while others are still pondering whether to do so. The state of West Virginia is one of the latter.
West Virginia proposed legalizing esports gambling in February when House Bill 4826 was introduced. The bill seeks to make betting on competitive gaming events legal, expanding the budding gambling market the state already has.
Luckily for fans of esports and betting, the bill has now been passed by the House of Representatives after the third reading. It is now up to the Senate to decide what happens next.
The State Seeks to Expand Its Wagering Market
House Bill 4826 was introduced in February and quickly received the backing of influential delegates such as Bennett Queen, Clay Riley, Daniel Linville, Moore Capito, Shawn Fluharty, Steve Westfall, and William Nestor.
The bill proposes to legalize betting on esports events, describing them as “electronic sport or competitive video game played as a game of skill for spectators.” If the bill passes, punters will be able to wager on all events that fit these criteria if they are of legal age to gamble.
West Virginia is a pioneer in gambling. The state was one of the first to legalize sports betting after the ban was lifted in 2018. However, it has been rather slow in getting into esports betting, with many states already preceding it in this regard. Seeing that it is losing millions of potential money, the Mountain State has finally realized the need to legalize esports wagering and how beneficial it can be to help firms connect with younger audiences. Esports betting as a whole has been experiencing unprecedented growth. When COVID-19 hit, esports was one of the few competitive disciplines that barely got affected. If else, the pandemic actually benefited the esports betting sector, helping passionate bettors find a new form of competition worth betting on.
