Las Vegas: Why An Olympic Gamble Is Approaching

The past few weeks have been another whirlwind of activity around the fantasy sports and gaming space.

- Nick A. Ficorelli II

While states line up with their newly formed regulations on daily fantasy sports as the NFL preseason approaches, the continued debate over when and how legalized sports betting will take place continues to roll along, and every time talk of an NFL team moving to Las Vegas, or discussions with the recently announced NHL expansion into “Sin City” comes up, the debate rages on as to what this could mean for new revenue streams for professional sports in the United States.

This week, as the NBA Summer League comes to an end Team USA will begin its training for the Olympics in Las Vegas, all within eyeshot and earshot of thousands of slot machines and other games, all legal still only in Nevada. The same holds true for sports gambling, and now the Olympics will fall into that mix in Vegas.

Earlier this year there was a state regulation change that now allows bookmakers to place betting lines on Olympic sporting or athletic events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. The chairman of the Gaming Control Board has the authority to remove an event or contest from betting activity bit for Rio it is full steam ahead.