Hot Features
Premium
Register for streaming realtime charts, analysis tools, and prices.
It’s official, ladies and gentlemen. PASPA, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is no more. It’s time for the US to go the way of the UK and get sports betting up and running, regulating an industry that’s been clocking up billions in illegal underground profits for far too many years.
PASPA, a US act that has been in place since 1992, was repealed in May of this year. What this means is that federal law cannot dictate on sports betting – that it is a state-only issue, and so it is up to each individual state to choose if they want to allow sports betting, as well as how to oversee it.
Almost half of the states have already implemented sports betting, have it in the works, or are moving towards legislation to support in-state sports betting. Already, on June 5, Delaware started offering single game betting in three of its casinos, and on June 14, New Jersey took its first bets at a William Hill sportsbook.
The results of the PASPA outcome have already sent share prices in associated companies running higher, too. With casino companies in the US, the largest saw solid gains as a direct result of the outcome of the ruling, and other affiliate groups saw modest rises. It even had a ripple effect over in the UK with some of their largest sport betting companies seeing their prices creep up.
With PASPA overturned, and states looking to build sports betting revenues within their borders, the time is ripe to get on the bandwagon and start thinking strategically about the best shares to purchase in what is definitely going to be a lucrative industry, at least for some players.
Where to look first?
Established UK bookmaking houses that also have plenty of experience in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have been an obvious pick for punters. The aforementioned William Hill is a natural selection, with Barrons wagering they’ll have 10% of the market overall in the US by 2023 – and this may even be a modest estimate. GVC is another UK-based company that is a strong selection from this established market.
The UK sports betting market is mature and flourishing. If you are looking for advice in purchasing shares with regards to the current state of the US, you would do well to take an overview of the history of sports betting in the UK – which moves were successful, how incoming legislations have caught companies off guard, and when the best times to buy shares has been historically.
Looking inwards
While it’s easy to see how choosing big, established sports books – where there is an even bigger market to pick up – will likely pay off, there are more nuanced selections you can take a look at that are closer to home.
Sports betting, while it has traditionally been done on premise in the US, in a very limited number of places, may now be able to go digital, streaming content directly to people’s devices, taking bets in real time, feeding results, and offering a whole new platform for punters to play on.
So who’s going to build these new platforms? Here’s where we should take a look at established technology houses who’d be able to build these platforms to strict compliance. That’s why Scientific Games and International Game Technology have been fingered by Bank of America Merrill Lynch as stocks to buy, seeing as they are producers of gambling software products and systems.
Bet on other online betting, too?
With PASPA overturned, it may mean that online gambling legislation in general is also more carefully scrutinized, and we may see regulation of the rest of online gambling (such as casino games) become a key issue.
This would mean that investment in foreign companies that own large online gambling ventures that are located elsewhere (such as The Stars Group, home to PokerStars) would be a wise investment. These types of companies who have worked with strict legislations in other jurisdictions would likely be the ones that would quickly become the most lucrative in the States, once they’ve ensured compliance and obtained their permits. However, as we mentioned, this is not a reality as of yet – although it might be something to keep in mind for the future.
There is plenty to be excited about with the opening up of sports betting, and not just for those placing bets for a win on the field, but for those hedging their bets on the markets, too. With the right spread you’ll be able to back a winner and gallop on to victory. Take a closer look at established UK sports betting houses, especially with those already with solid ties to the US market, technology companies that can spin up similar products, and potentially other online gaming players, too.
