New Jersey: esports betting bill passes lower house

A bill sponsored by Assemblymen Ralph Caputo and Eric Houghtaling was unanimously passed Thursday, and if approved by the Senate, it would permanently include additional skill-based competitions such as electronic sports (eSports) in New Jersey’s legal sports wagering industry.

The unanimous vote means that everyone in the assembly —the state legislature's lower house—supports the inclusion of esports in the existing sports betting rulings, as well as the other changes proposed in the bill.

So far, New Jersey residents were allowed to bet on a number of sports events, but this bill extends those definitions to include other skill-based competitions like esports.

"Whether they follow along online or in person, hundreds of millions of people watch eSports each year – and that number is only growing. This bill will amend our existing sports betting law to include eSports and ultimately expand on the industry to make it more successful," said one of the assemblymen backing the bill.

"With online sports betting now legal in New Jersey, a large number of people already interested in this type of gaming and a lack of physical sporting events to bet on right now due to the pandemic, the time is right for us to expand legal wagering beyond traditional sports." assemblyman Houghtaling stated.

According to Esports.net, the inclusion of esports gambling in the US betting market is what esports bookmakers look forward to, especially since New Jersey and Nevada are setting the betting industry-standard the rest of the states follow.