The Online Casino Gambling Bill 2025 in New Zealand aims to address gambling issues associated with digital platforms; however, by neglecting esports betting, it overlooks a rapidly expanding and susceptible demographic.

This bill has recently made its first appearance in parliament, designed to bring regulation to offshore online casino operations. Applicants for licenses must create harm-reduction strategies. The legislation also empowers the Secretary to introduce regulations, which may include self-exclusion measures, spending caps, and other management tools to oversee gambling activities.

Nevertheless, the focus of the legislation is narrowly on online casino gambling, disregarding other forms of online wagering such as esports betting, which has witnessed substantial global growth in recent years. The esports betting sector is projected to generate $3 billion in revenue by the year’s end, providing fans an avenue to engage with popular titles like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Dota 2.

Failing to specifically include esports betting in the bill represents a missed chance to regulate a particularly vulnerable group, namely the youth demographic. This form of betting tends to attract a younger, tech-savvy audience who may not fully grasp the associated risks and are less inclined to seek assistance when issues arise.

The harm reduction section of the bill suggests that the authorities could implement various strategies to manage this issue. These could include imposing restrictions on betting amounts and frequency, enforcing self-exclusion protocols, establishing player-set limits, curbing promotions and bonuses, mandating operators to identify and assist problem gamblers, and integrating harm-reduction technologies such as player tracking and pre-commitment systems. Applying these strategies to esports betting could provide much-needed safeguards for this at-risk audience.

New Zealand has the potential to set a forward-thinking standard for online gambling regulation, but this objective may be compromised if the needs of young esports bettors go unrecognized.