Maryland discussed eSports legislation

A House committee heard last week a measure that would allow and regulate eSports in the state.

US.- The House Ways and Means committee from Maryland discussed last week a legislation that would define eSports, allow prizes and prevent gambling. The legislative piece establishes that eSports is a competition involving video games.

The legislation also says that eSports include first-person  shooters, real-time strategy games and multiplayer online battle arenas where players compete against each other. It says that eSports should not generate random plays, and that players’ skills must determine the results of the competition. This would separate video games from being defined under gambling statutes.

Delegate Eric Luedtke said that there is no actual reason why winning prizes for video game competitions should be against the law, and added: “eSports is a multi-billion dollar industry. We just need to catch the laws up in Maryland to where society is.”

If the bill gets passage, tax revenues would start increasing in 2020, according to a state legislative analysis.