eSports betting site Unikrn is now live
Americans can watch, but not wager.
There's now a site dedicated to eSports betting. It's called Unikrn (pronounced "unicorn") and it just launched earlier today.
Unikrn will only allows bets to be placed in jurisdictions where it's legal, so most of the US - including Seattle where the company is based - is unable to partake in this aspect of the site. Those in Europe, Asia and Australia, however, can partake in the wagering.
Americans can still view the site, however, and follow the various eSports statistics. "You can register, you can win prizes, and you'll be able to watch and see the odds and chat," CEO and co-founder Rahul Sood told Geekwire. "You just won't be able to bet."
The newly launched site it entirely on the level. Unikrn has partnered with Australian wagering company, Tabcorp, to "control the geographic areas where wagering is offered and will also handle all account identification processes."
Sood is no stranger to ambitious tech enterprises either as he was formerly the founder of VoodooPC and GM of Microsoft Ventures.
"eSports is one of the largest sports globally, attracting viewer numbers that are on par with traditional sports such as American football and basketball," said Sood in Unikrn's launch announcement. "We couldn't have found a better partner than Tabcorp to drive innovation and bring wagering to the fast-growing eSports market.
"Tabcorp's track record as a global leader in responsible betting and its experience running an integrated wagering and media business provides Unikrn with the platform to build a secure, legal and fun arena for adults to gather, game, and bet on eSports."
Unikrn noted that an estimated 71.5M spectators watched eSports in 2013 and the 2014 League of Legends World Championship had 28M viewers with 288 million cumulative daily unique impressions. It also stated that 16B minutes of live-streamed games were watched per month on Twitch in 2014, with the numbers generally increasing month over month.