Sports Betting Isn't Legal, But Firms Are Jockeying Already

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Some of the leading gambling technology companies expect the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize sports betting nationwide, and are jockeying for position months before a decision is even rendered.

NYX Gaming is suing London-based William Hill over the proposed acquisition of NYX by Las Vegas-based Scientific Games. William Hill, which owns stock in NYX, is threatening to use its voting shares to block the acquisition unless it receives certain assurances from Scientific Games about what the newly merged company will and won't be able to do.

In its lawsuit, NYX terms those requests "extortionate" and anti-competitive. William Hill calls them "perfectly reasonable."

The maneuvering takes place as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case brought by New Jersey that seeks to legalize sports betting. Federal law now forbids sports gambling in all but four states: Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon.

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