UK sports betting firms gamble on US after sports betting wager judgment
5 June 2018
By Natalie Sherman
Business press reporter, New York
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It's high stakes for UK companies as sports betting starts to spread in America.
From Tuesday, new guidelines on sports betting entered effect in Delaware, a small east coast state about two hours from Washington.
Neighbouring New Jersey might begin accepting sports betting bets as early as Friday.
The are the very first in what might end up being a wave of legalisation after the Supreme Court last month cleared the method for states to allow sports betting wagering.
The market sees a "when in a generation" chance to establish a new market in sports betting-mad America, said Dublin-based monetary expert David Jennings, who heads leisure research study at Davy.
For UK firms, which are facing debt consolidation, increased online competition and harder guidelines from UK regulators, the timing is especially appropriate.
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But the industry states counting on the US stays a dangerous bet, as UK business deal with complex state-by-state guideline and competitors from established regional interests.
"It's something that we're really concentrating on, but similarly we do not wish to overhype it," stated James Midmer, spokesperson at Paddy Power Betfair, which recently bought the US fantasy sports betting website FanDuel.
'Take some time'
The US represented about 23% of the world's $244bn (₤ 182bn) in video gaming revenue in 2015, according to a report by Technavio, external published in January.
Firms are wishing to take advantage of more of that activity after last month's decision, which overruled a 1992 federal law that barred states outside of Nevada and a couple of others from authorising sports betting.
The judgment found the law was an over-reach of federal power. But the court it did not actually legalise sports betting, leaving that question to local legislators.
That is anticipated to result in significant variation in how companies get licensed, where sports betting wagering can occur, and which events are open to speculation - with big ramifications for the size of the marketplace.
Potential revenue ranges from $4.2 bn to nearly $20bn every year depending upon aspects like how lots of states transfer to legalise, Oxford Economics estimated in a 2017 study for the American Gaming Association.
"There was a lot of 'this is going to be big'", stated Will Hawkley, London-based head of leisure for specialists KPMG.
Now, he said: "I believe many people ... are looking at this as, 'it's an opportunity but it's not going to be $20bn and it's going to be state by state and it's going to take some time'."
'Remains to be seen"
Chris Grove, managing director at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, forecasts that 32 states will legalise sports betting in some kind by 2023, developing a market with about $6bn in yearly earnings.
But bookmakers deal with a far various landscape in America than they do in the UK, where sports betting stores are a regular sight.
US laws limited gaming mostly to Native American lands and Nevada's Las Vegas strip up until reasonably just recently.
In the popular imagination, sports betting wagering has actually long been connected to a 1919 baseball World Series match-fixing scandal.
States have likewise been slow to legalise numerous types of online gambling, despite a 2011 Justice Department viewpoint that appeared to remove obstacles.
While sports betting is typically viewed in its own classification, "it clearly stays to be seen whether it gets the type of momentum people believe it will," stated Keith Miller, law teacher at Drake University and co-author of a book about sports betting policy.
David Carruthers is the former president of BetonSports, who was jailed in the US in 2006 for running an offshore online sportsbook and served jail time.
Now a consultant, he states UK companies must approach the marketplace thoroughly, selecting partners with care and preventing missteps that could cause regulator backlash.
"This is an opportunity for the American sports betting gambler ... I'm not exactly sure whether it is a chance for organization," he says. "It really is reliant on the outcome of [state] legislation and how the service operators pursue the opportunity."
'It will be collaborations'
As legalisation starts, sports betting wagering firms are lobbying to ward off high tax rates, along with demands by US sports betting leagues, which desire to collect a percentage of income as an "stability charge".
International companies deal with the added challenge of an effective existing gaming market, with gambling establishment operators, state-run lottery games and Native American tribes that are seeking to safeguard their grass.
Analysts say UK firms will need to strike partnerships, using their know-how and innovation in order to make inroads.
They indicate SBTech's current statement that it is supplying innovation for Kentucky Derby operator Churchill Downs as an example of the kind of deals most likely to materialise.
"It will be a win-win for everybody, but it will be partnerships and it will be driven by innovation," Mr Hawkley said.
'It will simply depend'
Joe Asher, president at William Hill US, is clear-eyed about the realities.
The business has actually been purchasing the US market considering that 2011, when it bought 3 US firms to develop an existence in Nevada.
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William Hill now uses about 450 people in the US and has actually revealed collaborations with casinos in Iowa and New Jersey.
It works as threat manager for the Delaware Lottery and has actually invested millions together with a regional designer in a New Jersey horse racing track.
Mr Asher said William Hill has become a family name in Nevada but that's not always the goal all over.
"We certainly plan to have a really significant brand name presence in New Jersey," he said. "In other states, it will simply depend on policy and possibly who our local partner is."
"The US is going to be the most significant sports betting wagering market in the world," he added. "Obviously that's not going to take place on day one."
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UK Betting Firms Gamble on United States After Sports Wager Ruling
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