The big business of video gaming tournaments, esports as they’re popularly known, has lawmakers in Nevada considering ways to persuade the industry to think of the Silver State as its regulatory home.
State Senator Ben Kieckhefer, a Republican representing Carson City and parts of Reno’s Washoe County, is sponsoring a bill to create a five-member Nevada Esports Commission, an oversight body whose work would be similar to the Nevada Athletic Commission’s regulatory and sanctioning power over boxing and mixed martial arts.
The bill also calls for creation of a technical advisory committee of esports professionals, including game publishers, event organizers and players.
“This is an effort to bring new events to our state by doing one of the things that Nevada has always done well, which is working with industry to make them want to be here,” Kieckhefer said.
According to Kieckhefer, more than 5,000 live and online video game competitions were conducted around the world in 2019, drawing tens of thousands of players and generating wagering in the realm of $15 billion a year, equal from a betting perspective to golf and tennis.
Estimates he cites put the revenue potential over the next couple of years at more than $1.5 billion.
“I’m looking at it primarily from an economic development perspective,” Kieckhefer told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
He sees it as a tool to lure big-time competitions and the tourism that goes with it.
“That’s the hope,” he said. “Just like the success story of the Athletic Commission and MMA. That partnership with those events really helped that industry explode and grow to what it is today.”
In Las Vegas, the Luxor casino hotel on the Strip already is home to the 30,000-square-foot HyperX Esports Arena, the state’s first-of-its-kind hub for gamers to compete against each other in tournaments, sometimes for cash prizes.
“We work with all the big game publishers and try to attract their esports events to Nevada, obviously with our place being the destination for all that,” said Jud Hannigan, the CEO of Allied Esports, which owns the venue.
Kieckhefer added that venues like Las Vegas’ new 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, home to the Raiders of the National Football League, would be perfect for mega-tournaments such as the League of Legends World Championship, which is held at different venues around the world every fall and draws tens of millions of unique viewers.
Paul Hamilton, president and CEO of Atlanta Esports Ventures, said he sees Las Vegas as a potential “esports mecca.”
“The goal here is not to put up so many guardrails that we prohibit esports from coming or scare people away, but to show the publishers and the public that we understand it in a way that we can help make it better, bring it here and cast it in the biggest light possible,” he said.
But the potential wouldn’t be limited to Las Vegas either, Kieckhefer said.
“There’s a great opportunity for Reno and Northern Nevada to create a name for itself in this space as well. You’ve got those big tournaments, but you’ve also got ongoing events that happen continuously throughout the year, kind of like what we see with the (National) Bowling Stadium. That place brings in people continuously.”
The bill, SB 165, currently is awaiting action by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
