Sports betting’s evolution can lead to innovation in the US gaming sector

The liberalisation of sports betting in the US, has led to an influx of operators looking to build a footprint in the country and grow with the rapidly evolving market.

However, the overturning of PASPA not only opens up a wealth of opportunity for sportsbooks, but also for gaming companies, even if the benefits presented are slightly more challenging to acquire for the US gaming sector.

Ludovico Calvi President of the Global Lottery Monitoring System emphasised to SBCAmericas: “The great opportunity here is how much the US gaming industry can benefit in terms of innovation from regulated sports betting, as currently, the whole US gaming industry needs an innovation boost.

Ludovico Calvi

“Lottery, casino games and in some cases DFS, will all benefit from the introduction of regulated sports betting driving the US gaming industry into a different dimension.

“The launch of regulated US sports betting is a unique opportunity for US Gaming, a success key for the sector will be to invest resources into sports digital entertainment engaging millennials and young adults effectively. US Sports and mobile betting will represent a tremendous engagement combination for digital natives creating relevant cross selling opportunities in other gaming verticals as well.”

Outlining the importance of fair taxation to the long-term sustainability of the US market, Calvi continued: “It’s crucial that if the US is to reap the benefits of regulated sports betting, then the market sees fair and sustainable regulatory models implemented. A sustainable fiscal environment is imperative to compete successfully against a massive and undiscovered black market. The other lesser challenge the US market may face is the competition between neighbouring states given the different models of taxations.

“For instance, a 51% tax on gross gaming yield (GGY) in Rhode Island may inevitably mean that anything around 20% tax in neighbouring Massachusetts would make betting offer and services more attractive to the public due to a more sustainable and competitive tax model.”

Regulatory frameworks such as New Jersey and West Virginia where tax rates on GGY have been wisely kept under 15 per cent will benefit from competitive market conditions and quality services creating the conditions, which transfers the black market to legitimate operators.

“The process of shifting the black market to licensed operators, however, may take longer than anyone could wish, in Italy it took us 10 years to reach a single digit figure working very closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies.

“In a low margin business such as fixed odds sports betting, it is important that US legislators and regulators do consider the level of market sustainability when defining legal and regulatory frameworks, otherwise it would be impossible for the entire value chain to repay itself to the advantage of offshore unlicensed bookmakers.”