Nevada Making Preemptive Move to Solidify Sports Betting Competitive Advantage

Nevada Senate Bill 346 is moving through the initial legislative processes.  What this bill will allow is for the expansion of sports betting in that groups of people could form an entity and bet as a group.  Currently, only individuals can make sports bets in Nevada.

According to the AP story, the bill sponsor, Senator Greg Brower, a Republican, explained that the bill would add entities could be formed and authorized to make sports bets. The groups could act as a type of hedge fund and wager big dollars on football, basketball, baseball and other sports. In turn, they could seek out investors to put up money and allow an expert to make the bet.

This expansion of sports betting would further distance Nevada from other gaming states and could bring some of the estimated $380 billion per year wagered illegally on sports into the open, where it can be regulated and taxed, which in addition to assisting the Nevada gaming industry, is of keen interest to State of Nevada.  If this bill does pass, gaming industry estimates sports betting handle would triple to $10 billion per year within 5 years.

The bill hasn't yet moved past the committee, so this is still in its infancy, but stay tuned.