Olympic Betting to be Legalised in the State of Nevada

Gamblers in Nevada will be able to place bets on the Olympic Games, the first of which will be the ones in the summer of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has decided to approve the legalization of betting on Olympic events. US gambling laws used to forbid betting players from wagering on the Olympic Games, however the legislation of Olympic betting has become available in the state of Nevada.

A group of bookmakers in the US state appealed to the Nevada regulatory body as they hoped to reverse the law which previously prohibited gambling on Olympic events.This appeal happened in January and now they are one step closer to reaching their goal. Bookmakers in Nevada hope for this legislation to be finalised as soon as possible as they wish to cover the 2016 summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The regulators agree with the potential of Olympic betting

Gamblers in Nevada will be allowed to place bets on events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, while the chairman of NGCB is free to remove an event from any betting activity. Betting on Olympic events used to be outlawed because of its classification as an amateur sport, but the regulators were convinced as it is very common in many other places to bet on the Olympics, and Nevada can also benefit from expanding its market.

Nevada’s regulatory body, Nevada Gaming Control Board, has unanonimously voted in favour of the legislation, while the officials also gave their approval to the merger of GTECH and IGT.According to US gambling news, Shawn Reid, member of the Control Board stated that this deal “appears to be good for both companies and good for the state of Nevada.“