Could UK Based Sports Gambling Behemoth Dominant US Sports Betting Market?

For well over 80 years, behemoth UK bookmaker William Hill has been the dominant land-based and online sports betting provider in Europe. With the US market opening up for for competition from one state to the next, William Hill has decided to make its play to assert the same kind of dominance in the US that they enjoy in the UK.

It was announced this week that William Hill will purchase the assets of CG Technology. Pending approval regulatory approval in Nevada and the Bahamas, William Hill will be able to pick up the sports betting operations from the following mega casinos: Cosmopolitan, The Venetian, The Palazzo (Lagasse’s Stadium), Tropicana, Palms and Silverton. Added to the over 110 sports books William Hill is currently operating in Nevada, it will establish the company as the single biggest bookmaker in the US.

This move comes at a time when both FanDuel and DraftKings are gobbling up licenses to provide sports betting access for residents in many of the 16 states that have recently legalized sports betting activities. Along with William Hill, all three companies are already working hard to get a foothold as bookmakers in the states yet to pass such legislation.

What This Means For the Online Sports Betting Industry

It stands to reason that any company that's able to establish itself as a major bookmaker in the land-based gambling industry is going to have a leg up getting licenses to provide online gambling access. That will likely include both online sports betting and casino gambling with William Hill already poised to provide one of the best online casino platforms in the world.

Here's how that works. When a state opens up the market to allow online gambling activities, the existing land-based casinos have all the leverage to secure licensing. They have already gone through the vetting process and have relationships with regulators and politicians. That certainly explains why William Hill is busy asserting its dominance at the land-based community.

As a point of reference, Eldorado Resorts is currently awaiting regulatory approval regarding its merger with Caesars Entertainment. It's noteworthy that Eldorado Resorts owns a 20% stake in William Hill US. Once the merger is completed sometime around mid 2020, William Hill will get immediate access to Caesars bookmaking operations.

As the above information asserts, it's game on. It's clear that the three aforementioned companies are going to war for the right to become America's number land-based and online bookies.