Nevada Approves William Hill's Gaming License

One of the best land-based venues for betting has joined forces with online sportsbook giant Will Hill in what should make an awesome gambling playground even better.

On Thursday, the State of Nevada has approved a gaming license for William Hill, which is Britain’s largest bookmaker. Last year, Will Hill agreed to pay $55 million to acquire three sportsbook businesses: American Wagering, Brandywine Bookmaking and Cal-Neva. They will now control 55% of the Nevada sports book market, just under 11% of total revenues and less than 1% of total gaming revenues.

So what does this mean for bettors? In Nevada, Will Hill will now offer sports betting on mobile devices within the state. More importantly, should the laws of online gambling change in the future, Will Hill would appear to be a frontrunner to pick up a huge chunk of business because they’ll be at the front of the line.

Right away, Will Hill is expected to invest roughly $3 million before the kickoff of the 2012-13 National League Football season in September. The company has also set aside another $10 million for spending in the 18 months that follow.

There’s a general perception in the betting community that a land-based sportsbook (old school) and a online sportsbook (new school) have friction. True or not, some have the opinion that the old school books didn’t want to – or didn’t feel they could – coexist with new school sportsbooks because they are competition and tend to do things a bit differently. The good news is that moves like this will not only allay the concerns of the parties involved, it will also show governments that they can coexist and they can make a good thing even better.

In the end, the ideal situation would be legalized online gambling everywhere, which would mean governments could get a piece of a large sum of money (taxable dollars).

Regardless, this move is a step in the right direction as it will make the gambling experience in Nevada better for individual players right now and hopefully even better in the future.

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