Bookmakers and online gaming companies were celebrating after the US Supreme Court paved the way for states to legalise sports betting.
A federal ban on sports betting that has been in place was lifted by the Supreme Court on Monday, which means states can decide for themselves whether to allow bets on sporting events.
The state of New Jersey, backed by more than a dozen other states, challenged the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which to all intents and purposes meant that legalised sports betting was restricted to the state of Nevada, home to Las Vegas, plus Montana, Oregon and Delaware.
The Supreme Court voted by 6-3 to lift the ban; bookies were offering 10/11 on a favourable ruling ...
Shares in the likes of Paddy Power Betfair plc (LON:PPB), 888 Holdings PLC (LON:888), William Hill plc (LON:WMH), GVC Holdings PLC (LON:GVC) and Playtech PLC (LON:PTEC) were all wanted on Monday although some stocks have seen profit-taking this morning.
Having ramped up the prices of the big boys yesterday, traders turned their attention today to some of the smaller players, such as Webis Holdings PLC (LON:WEB), the company behind watchandwager.com, and GAN PLC (LON:GAN), the developer and supplier of enterprise-level B2B Internet gaming software, services and online gaming content in the United States.
The former was the top riser in London on Tuesday, up 75% at 4.55p, while GAN was up 16% at 45.7p.
GAN, not surprisingly, welcomed the decision and confirmed it is preparing to launch Internet sports betting in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania for its clients in the second half of this year.
"GAN has been preparing for sports betting since Q4 2017 at the request of multiple US Clients who asked GAN to review, procure and support the delivery of sports betting solutions both online and for deployment in the retail channel in the event PASPA was overturned,” said Dermot Smurfit, the chief executive officer of GAN.
“We welcome yesterday's repeal of PASPA and confirm that sports betting will be material to GAN's revenues going forwards, commencing in the second half of 2018," he added.
The American Gaming Association reckons that Americans illegally wager about US$150bn on sports each year and the regulated bookmakers and online casino operators are obviously angling to grab a large slice of that market.
“This is a landmark moment for sports betting and for William Hill,” declared Philip Bowcock, the chief executive officer of William Hill.
“Legalised sports betting means that consumers and sports leagues will have greater protection, states will benefit from the raising of taxes and there is the potential for over 100,000 jobs to be created,” he added.
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