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Future of Legal Esports Betting

Will Brown by Will Brown, December 11, 2025

Competitive esports competition

Once thought of as a niche industry, esports have emerged to become one of the most popular sporting events in the world. Thanks to its global fanbase of millions, the future of esports betting is shaping up to be highly lucrative. However, with many states still restricting wagers on the market, there are still several hurdles it must overcome to become mainstream. In this guide, we’ve dissected the current state of the industry and its future outlook.

What is US Esports Betting?

Esports, or electronic sports, refers to competitive video gaming between individuals or teams. These competitions are often held in major tournaments across the world, with the US being one of the biggest markets. While betting on esports is legal in some states, there are some regions where the activity is explicitly illegal.

We’ve started this guide by discussing the current state of the market, before listing the states where the activity is legal and available. We’ve then gone into speculated and confirmed legal changes in other states, before diving deeper into how the market is predicted to grow and evolve.

The Current State of the US Esports Betting Market

The appeal of esports betting is that it’s an extremely diverse category, with games such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike: GO, Valorant, and DOTA 2 among the most popular markets. There are plenty of quality betting sites with esports markets, including BetMGM, DraftKings, BetRivers, and Caesars, meaning that players in legal states have easy access to competitive odds.

In North America, more than 26 million esports bettors were recorded in 2023, with CS: GO and Valorant being the most popular. It is predicted that the handle on US esports betting is set to exceed $850 million by the end of 2025, with 70 percent of bettors under the age of 35.

The esports industry has been highly receptive to the gambling industry. This year, Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends and Valorant, opened up sponsorship of Tier 1 teams to betting operators. Around 25 percent of total esports sponsorship revenue now comes from gambling-related deals for many leagues.

It’s not just the USA that is seeing huge bettor interest in the market, too. It was estimated that in 2024, more than $10 billion was wagered on League of Legends and Valorant alone. All of these figures indicate not only a robust appetite from sports bettors but also a very promising future of the sector.

The answer to the question, “Is esports betting legal in the US?” isn’t straightforward due to the varying laws for each state. Sports betting in general is now legal in 39 states, with 19 states specifically permitting esports betting. Interestingly, 13 states have prohibited it in legislation, while 19 states have not addressed it in regulations.

The states where the activity is permitted include:

  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Tennessee
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington State
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

There are plenty of esports betting options available that mirror those of traditional sports betting. The most popular esports betting market is a match winner, which is essentially a line bet. Players can also wager on series winners and winners of individual maps, spreads and totals, and futures for major tournaments.

The sector remains heavily regulated, though. Because of the popularity of esports among younger players, games involving minors are prohibited. Wagers can also only be made on official major tournaments rather than user-hosted games. Currently, the most popular betting event on the esports calendar is the League of Legends World Championship, which is essentially the Super Bowl of the esports world.

The legal future of esports betting across the nation is quite promising when looking at the momentum of the sports betting industry’s growth as a whole. Currently, there are 19 states that have no explicit stances on esports betting, so they remain in a legal grey area.

Without clear standpoints on the market, states such as New York, Michigan, Oregon, and Illinois simply don’t offer these types of wagers. That said, US states have been known to regularly update their regulations to respond to the market, with New Jersey famously updating its laws to become the first to offer legal esports betting.

States where gradual refinement of their betting laws has been reported include Maryland and Virginia, both of which periodically review their wagering catalogues. Even Washington, which restricts sports betting to tribal casinos, has permitted esports wagers, which indicates an openness to an esports betting market even in more conservative states.

Currently, a lawmaker in Pennsylvania is pushing to expand the state’s betting laws to permit esports wagers, which are currently prohibited under state law. There are also several states that are proposing the legalization of the whole sports betting market, including Alaska, Alabama, and Minnesota. Because the esports market is more developed now, there remains a good chance that they will permit these types of wagers.

Predicted Growth of the Market

Several promising esports betting statistics indicate that speculators predict a major growth in esports betting spending in the future. According to Deep Market Insights, the US esports betting industry is forecast to reach over $1.1 billion by 2033. This represents a compounding annual growth rate of 13.48%.

The growth is attributed to not only the increasing rate of regulation in the sector but climbing rates of participation and viewership of esports. Roughly 31% of people aged 18-29 in the USA have reported an interest in esports viewership, with a global audience expected to reach 900 million by the end of the decade.

The change in Riot Games’ stance to allow sports betting sponsorships will also likely set a trend for other major esports organizations to follow suit. Although developers such as Blizzard and Valve have previously been opposed to betting sponsorship, their attitudes may shift in response to Riot’s success.

How Will Esports Betting Evolve?

The future of esports betting is set to undergo massive changes as esports organizations become more closely intertwined with the betting ecosystem. Just as has been witnessed in major US sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, and MLB, we expect to see sportsbooks offer more refined products and promotions aimed toward esports bettors.

These major leagues have created deals with numerous betting companies to provide official stats to bookmakers so odds can more accurately reflect reality. This real-time data sharing has also helped to make the live betting market more popular in the US, which has fast become the most popular betting product offered.

Currently, live betting options for esports remain limited to certain events and tournaments. As the integration between the sectors becomes more pronounced, there will likely be an inclusion of the market’s more granular achievements into the in-play betting options, such as winners of rounds, kills, and completion of achievements.

Much of this evolution will rely on the use of technology to monitor game integrity and supply advanced predictive data. In turn, more states will likely permit the sport as it becomes easier to regulate. Furthermore, we expect more wagers to be accepted for domestic events and leagues, and, possibly, live streams of events offered alongside in-play betting.

Challenges to Overcome

While the future of the esports betting sector looks promising, there are still several challenges that could curb its growth. For the time being, major developers such as Valve and Blizzard have remained firm in their opposition to betting company sponsorship. That said, so too did Riot Games before its pivot this year.

The relative immaturity and fragmentation of the esports industry have also meant that creating a broader regulatory framework is challenging. Every game has its own unique rules, tournament structures, and governing bodies, so creating a one-size-fits-all approach to esports in general may not be entirely effective.

The appeal of video games to younger audiences also creates challenges for betting sponsorships, and lawmakers may be reticent to back this closer integration. It cannot be denied that esports are also misunderstood by a certain generation of lawmakers, too, due to their unfamiliarity with the structure of competitions.

We expect that as the market continues to breach the mainstream, there will be growing pushes to see that esports betting options become a standard legal option. Regulators will need to ensure that concerns around exposure to minors are addressed, as well as enhance oversight to guarantee betting integrity.

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