Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ:GMBL) (FRA:40Y1) and its secure esports betting platform VIE.bet have partnered with Liquipedia.net, the world's largest esports wiki and an affiliate of top esports organization Team Liquid.
The company said VIE.bet and Liquipedia will partner to create the most community-centric and responsible betting integration in esports, launching May 3, 2021. Through their alliance VIE.bet will be integrated into select Liquipedia pages, allowing Liquipedia's millions of monthly visitors to see betting odds and place bets through VIE while having a safe experience.
By partnering together, Esports said Liquipedia and VIE.bet are able to instill safety mechanisms that ensure betting information is only shown to users of legal age in VIE's 150 whitelisted jurisdictions around the world (license in New Jersey pending). Betting information will be shown with visible guidelines on gambling safety, and users who prefer not to see sports betting odds will have the option to toggle them off.
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Esports noted that Liquipedia will also be publishing Esports Betting Advertising Guidelines as a Commons Wiki resource, to establish esports industry-wide best practices for safety, integrity, and accountability in betting advertisements and partnerships.
VIE.bet and Liquipedia also are committed to collaborating with enforcement and integrity institutions dedicated to safe and responsible esports betting and advertising, Esports said.
This includes working with the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC), a not-for-profit association taking responsibility for disruption, protection, investigation, and prosecution of all forms of cheating in esports. In 2019, the coalition designated Esports Entertainment an Anti-Corruption Supporter, enabling VIE.bet to participate in ESIC's global suspicious bet alert system, contribute to anti-corruption education initiatives, and tap into ESIC's accumulated best practices for sports betting.
"Esports communities have incredible passion and competitive drive, which makes for an exciting betting landscape. Unfortunately, that passion and drive is often taken advantage of, and there's significant distrust towards betting platforms in the space,” said Esports CEO Grant Johnson.
“We believe there's a better way forward in esports betting that comes from collaboration with trusted institutions. We're proud to work with Liquipedia and VIE.bet on this new initiative, and we're confident in VIE.bet's ability to foster an active esports betting community by building a safe, trusted experience."
Erik Saler, head of Liquipedia, added: "A lot of esports sites have integrated betting in careless ways, sadly. As one of the largest resources in esports, we not only felt a responsibility to do this better, but we also felt that if we do it right - with the right partner, in the right way - we could help improve betting in esports as a whole and make it safer for all. We are proud to have found like-minded allies in VIE.bet, who share our values of community, safety, responsibility, and integrity."
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