New Jersey quietly banned esports betting earlier this week after the Supreme Court overturned the\u00a0Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which, until May 14 2018,\u00a0outlawed sports betting nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As reported by Compete<\/a>, New Jersey lawmakers had passed a law allowing for sports betting at casinos and racetracks in 2014, but the law couldn\u2019t go into effect\u00a0until the Supreme Court overturned the PASPA. When PASPA\u00a0was overturned last month, New Jersey legislators quickly began drafting a new bill<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The draft, which initially didn’t\u00a0mention esports, includes\u00a0a ban on some forms of sports betting. Between the May 14 draft and the June 4 vote, esports were included.\u00a0\u201cA prohibited sports event includes all high school sports events but does not include international sports events in which persons under age 18 make up a minority of the participants.\u201d<\/p>\n However\u00a0the language surrounding the legislation isn’t very clear. The updated bill writes that “a prohibited sports event includes all high school sports events, electronic sports, and competitive video games but does not include international sports events in which persons under age 18 make up a minority of the participants.\u201d<\/p>\n