Esports Players still Undergo Problems with Verifications, officials at ICE London Lament

With the current developments seen surrounding esports, including tournaments and competitions, strong calls have been raised for a consensus umbrella body for these events.

At the just concluded ICE London 2022, among the panel was the CEO of Luckbox, Thomas Rosander, who raised the call for improvements in the regulation of the fast-developing industry. He proffered a solution in the form of the establishment of another body.

While this seems reasonable, the question remains if esports can still be regulated and governed the way soccer is done.

Although the establishment of the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) is a strong voice for a sports industry devoid of corruption, Rosander believes a sister body should also be established to complement the efforts of ESIC.

Already, ESIC has been actively involved in governing all stakeholders in esports, including players, betting operators, and esports sites. The commission has also issued sanctions, including bans to players and coaches who have been found guilty of manipulating the game to their advantage.

Age Verification Remains a Problem in the Esports Industry

Rosander and other panelists at ICE London still raised concerns over the inadequacy of verifying age claims by the consumers – a considerable deficiency in the industry’s regulations.

One of the peculiar issues was that KYC is no longer sufficient to verify if consumers, especially those bettors who participate in esports betting. Although ESIC claimed that the demographic of customers who placed bets is mostly young adults, stakeholders are worried this may not be the case.

However, Rosander, together with the other panelists at the event, believed the involvement of other significant stakeholders is crucial to curb this inadequacy.

As such, the establishment of another commission that will be involved in implementing strategic policies for better KYC of customers should include publishers. Head of Esports Gaming and Lottery at Nuvei, Warren Tristram, believes this is possible.

A more stringent means of performing “Know your customer” procedures could be used to understand esports betting consumers further.

A Gambling Niche with a Bright Future

While this issue lingers, all the panelists agreed that the esports industry has a bright future. Esports is one of the betting categories making rounds in the gambling sector. The sports category is currently worth over a billion dollars, with tournaments that offer up to seven-figure amounts as cash prizes.

Many betting operators are now turning their focus on esports, offering different events and betting options. Some of the big names in sports betting operations are already involved, including Rivalry, Loot.Bet, Luckbox, and Clarion Gaming.