A few years ago, Esports became a trendy industry. To be more specific, the online video gaming industry is a fast-growing billion-dollar sector with millions of fans. There are live events, online streams, and tons of fans who are love tuning in for competitions. With that being said, millions of fans and considerable attention from the media make the online gaming industry a billion dollar sector. Those crazy numbers don’t even include the insane amounts of funds that are shared on different casinos. New Zealand is a great example. It’s a very small country but the revenues of the online casinos reach millions of dollars each year.
Just like Tennis or golf when the most professional players compete with each other for millions of dollars in prizes and fame, the same scenario goes with the Esports industry, where we have seen more tournaments than in professional Tennis.
Who is watching Esports?
According to the latest reports, 380 million people worldwide are watching Esport events every year. Half of those audiences are very active and engage in every possible Esports tournament. Social Media guru Gary VEE predicted that the Online gaming industry would be massive in a few years. With the latest data, we see that this sector is growing every year.
Match-fixing and corruption in Esports
Australia is seriously fighting against corruption and match-fixing. Especially if events happen in Australia, local investigators try their best to uncover the truth. Australian police have arrested up to 6 persons who were involved in match-fixing. Along with football, tennis, basketball, Esports is already on the list of sports with a growing corruption problem.
International boards of the online gaming industry are too focused on revenues and promotion. As it seems, international committees of the online gaming industry aren’t paying enough attention to match-fixing cases. Australian authorities are thinking differently however and local police are cracking down on the issue.
Neil Paterson, the Police Assistant Commissioner of Victoria Police met with media representatives to talk about the latest cases. The Commissioner said that Australia is very strict with corruption and match-fixing. As we have recently learned, the Australian police also have their eyes on Counter-Strike and Overwatch professional teams as well. It’s very likely more high level arrests of Esports related people are forthcoming.
Commissioner Paterson also noted that while Australia has a very liberal approach to the online gaming industry, corruption and match-fixing, could transform a healthy environment into an ugly one. Corruption cases may give shade to legal and honest Australian online pokies, who are abiding by the law. That’s why Neil Paterson promised to Australians that police would do their best to arrest corrupt people, behind the match making schemes and leave honest Australian gaming platforms alone.
Reason for match-fixing
As the reports claim, six men were arrested for match-fixing in a Counter-Strike online event. Those players are mainly from Australia (Western Australia and Victoria). Specific gamers were betting on different options, and they were fixing matches to win gambled money. If the court can prove the gamers’ involvement in match-fixing, they will face ten years in jail. But for now they’ve paid the New London County bail so they’re going to be released and have their court date scheduled.
Online gambling platforms joined Esports a few years ago. Match-fixing and corruption aren’t affecting honest operators in Australia, but a few bad apples can ruin an entire basket. That’s why police are doing their best to investigate these kinds of cases and knip them in the butt.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on these match-fixing stories out of Australia. Check back here for updates on the developing situation. What do you think about match-fixing in Esports? Should it be treated like it would in any other traditional sport? Let us know in the comment section below.
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