EEG & Ohio Hall of Fame Partner Up
The full-stack esports and online gambling company Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) is partnering together with Ohio’s Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company to bring esports offerings to the Hall of Fame Village in Canton. Used for competitions, tournaments and practice space, the gaming complex is set to open in mid-2022.
Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) has partnered together with Ohio’s Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company to bring esports to the Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio. ©stephaniequinn65/Pixabay
Partnership Will Likewise Expand EEG’s Presence in Ohio
Esports and iGaming provider Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) has revealed that it has entered into a partnership with the Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company, which most famously runs the American football Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio.
The deal will see EEG assume the role of official esports provider for the Hall of Fame Village, with plans to build and operate a state of the art Helix Esports entertainment center within the village.
Though still in the works, EEG intends for the gaming complex to be used for a variety of functions, ranging from competitions to tournaments to running as a practice space for competitive gamers. The current plans are for it to open in the middle of 2022.
The partnership between EEG and Ohio’s Hall of Fame Resort, however, is not solely limited to the upcoming Helix Esports complex in Canton’s Hall of Fame Village. EEG’s reach in Ohio is also expected to expand as part of the deal, with the potential for esports and fantasy sports betting to become part of the state’s sports betting offerings.
While sports betting is currently not yet legal in Ohio, a senate bill which is currently being debated could very well change this reality. The piece of legislation, which would formally legalize sports betting in the state, passed the state’s finance committee in June 2021, after initially being introduced in May.
Gaming Complex Will Feature Top of the Line Gaming Consoles and PCs
Esports Entertainment Group’s Helix Esports Complex, which is set to launch in Ohio’s Hall of Fame Village in the middle of next year, will feature top of the line equipment: 80 high-end gaming PCs, an Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, and other advanced gaming equipment. It will simultaneously be used for educational STEM-related events.
Commenting on his company’s nascent partnership with Ohio’s Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group Grant Johnson cited the importance of placing the group’s brand in front of football fans:
blockquote class=”none”>”We are excited to work with HOFV to bring esports to the Hall of Fame Village powered by Johnson Controls. This partnership places our brand in front of professional football fans globally and will place a Helix eSports center right in Canton.”
Michael Crawford, president and CEO of Canton’s Hall of Fame Village, evoked the increasing popularity and importance of esports in his shared statement: “With the popularity of esports and its continued upwards trajectory, we are thrilled to partner with the highly respected EEG to offer fans a new state-of-the-art facility at the Village.”
Crawford continued his statement by touting the significance of the EEG-powered esports complex, set to be housed inside of the Hall of Fame Village:
“Having an EEG-powered esports complex as part of our development on campus adds another compelling opportunity for gaming enthusiasts and guests to engage in virtual environments as well as offering us the ability to draw in fans from all over the world – both in person and virtually – providing us with strategic growth opportunities within our company’s gaming vertical.”– Michael Crawford, President and CEO, Hall of Fame Village, press release
Ohio Sports Betting Bill Passed State Assembly in June 2021
As previously mentioned, sports betting is currently not yet legal nor regulated in the state of Ohio, though Senate Bill 176, which would allow sports betting to be licensed in the state, did recently move onto the state assembly’s finance committee for approval in June 2021.
Initially introduced in May by republican Ohio senator Niraj Antani, SB 176 would pave the way for 20 land-based and 20 online sports betting licenses to be issued to willing operators in the state, while also introducing a sports betting offering courtesy of the state lottery.
The scheduled launch of sports betting in Ohio was subsequently pushed back to April 1st, 2022, as a result of amendments made to the bill by the state’s Gaming Committee. The original plan would have seen the market open from January 2022 onwards. The licensing application window will instead open in January, with the license approval process beginning shortly afterwards in April 2022.
Match-Fixing on the Rise in Esports Leagues
With the rising popularity and cultural significance of esports comes, unfortunately, the increased pressure to bend or even break the rules set forth by the biggest leagues and tournaments.
An increasingly prevalent issue is match-fixing in professional esports, with cases of players in professional teams participating in forbidden betting activity rising sharply in 2021 alone.
Match-fixing in esports leagues is infamously difficult to identify and combat, with Asian gaming circuits seeming to be the most affected by this particular issue. Authorities tasked with combating match-fixing across the globe, such as Interpol, are now looking to collaborate more with betting platforms and data analysis firms with the hopes of gaining a better understanding of how this issue proliferates across the esports scene.
In just these last weeks of July 2021, Singapore police were given a tip concerning several professional esports players betting against their own team in a regional competition in which they were participating.
Six players from the Resurgence esports team were subsequently found guilty of breaching the player betting guidelines of the Valorant Esports tournament, with one individual even making over $3,000 worth of illegal bets against his very own team.
Esports Also On the Rise in Brazil
Meanwhile, further down south from Ohio, esports continues its gradual takeover of Latin America, with Las Vegas-based company Esports Technologies announcing the launch of a new wagering platform in Brazil — Gogawi.
As a leading global provider of advanced esports wagering products and technology solutions, Esports Technologies first relaunched its Gogawi.com product in March 2021 following significant updates to the platform.
Brazil is Latin America’s leading gaming market, as revealed by PricewaterhouseCooper’s recent 19th Global Entertainment Survey. Harsh coronavirus restrictions saw a correlating rise in esports gaming, with Brazil’s gaming revenue for the market expected to reach $1.17 billion by 2023.
