It's high stakes for UK companies as sports betting starts to spread out in America.

From Tuesday, new guidelines on wagering entered result in Delaware, a small east coast state about two hours from Washington.

Neighbouring New Jersey might start accepting sports betting bets as early as Friday.

The modifications are the first in what might become a wave of legalisation after the Supreme Court last month cleared the method for states to allow sports betting.

The market sees a "as soon as in a generation" opportunity to establish a brand-new market in sports-mad America, stated Dublin-based financial expert David Jennings, who heads leisure research at Davy.

For UK firms, which are grappling with debt consolidation, increased online competitors and tougher rules from UK regulators, the timing is especially opportune.

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But the industry says counting on the US stays a risky bet, as UK companies face complicated state-by-state regulation and competition from entrenched local interests.

"It's something that we're actually focusing on, but equally we don't wish to overhype it," stated James Midmer, spokesperson at Paddy Power Betfair, which just recently bought the US dream sports website FanDuel.

'Take some time'

The US represented about 23% of the world's $244bn (₤ 182bn) in gaming revenue in 2015, according to a report by Technavio, external published in January.

Firms are wanting to use more of that activity after last month's choice, which overruled a 1992 federal law that barred states outside of Nevada and a few others from authorising sports betting.

The judgment found the law was an over-reach of federal power. But the court it did not actually legalise sports wagering, leaving that concern to local lawmakers.

That is anticipated to cause substantial variation in how companies get licensed, where sports betting can take place, and which occasions are open to speculation - with big implications for the size of the market.

Potential revenue varieties from $4.2 bn to practically $20bn yearly depending on aspects like how lots of states relocate to legalise, Oxford Economics estimated in a 2017 study for the American Gaming Association.

"There was a great deal of 'this is going to be substantial'", stated Will Hawkley, London-based head of leisure for specialists KPMG.

Now, he said: "I think many people ... are taking a look at this as, 'it's an opportunity but it's not going to be $20bn and it's going to be state by state and it's going to take time'."

'Remains to be seen"

Chris Grove, managing director at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, forecasts that 32 states will legalise sports wagering in some type by 2023, producing a market with about $6bn in yearly income.

But bookies deal with a far various landscape in America than they do in the UK, where betting stores are a regular sight.

US laws restricted gambling mainly to Native American lands and Nevada's Las Vegas strip until reasonably just recently.

In the popular imagination, sports wagering has long been connected to a 1919 baseball World Series match-fixing scandal.

States have actually also been slow to legalise many kinds of online gaming, regardless of a 2011 Justice Department opinion that appeared to eliminate challenges.

While sports wagering is usually viewed in its own classification, "it plainly remains to be seen whether it gets the sort of momentum people believe it will," stated Keith Miller, law professor at Drake University and co-author of a book about sports wagering guideline.

David Carruthers is the former chief executive of BetonSports, who was arrested in the US in 2006 for running an overseas online sportsbook and served prison time.

Now a specialist, he says UK companies must approach the marketplace thoroughly, choosing partners with caution and preventing errors that could lead to regulator backlash.

"This is an opportunity for the American sports gambler ... I'm uncertain whether it is a chance for service," he says. "It truly depends on the outcome of [state] legislation and how business operators pursue the opportunity."

'It will be collaborations'

As legalisation starts, sports betting companies are lobbying to ward off high tax rates, in addition to requests by US sports leagues, which wish to collect a portion of revenue as an "integrity charge".

International business deal with the added difficulty of a powerful existing gaming industry, with gambling establishment operators, state-run lottos and Native American tribes that are seeking to protect their grass.

Analysts state UK firms will require to strike collaborations, offering their competence and technology in order to make inroads.

They point to SBTech's current statement that it is offering technology for Kentucky Derby operator Churchill Downs as an example of the type of offers likely to materialise.

"It will be a win-win for everyone, but it will be partnerships and it will be driven by technology," Mr Hawkley stated.

'It will simply depend'

Joe Asher, president at William Hill US, is clear-eyed about the truths.

The business has actually been purchasing the US market given that 2011, when it bought three US companies to establish a presence in Nevada.

William Hill now employs about 450 individuals in the US and has actually revealed collaborations with gambling establishments in Iowa and New Jersey.

It works as risk supervisor for the Delaware Lottery and has invested millions together with a regional developer in a New Jersey horse racing track.

Mr Asher said William Hill has become a family name in Nevada however that's not always the objective all over.

"We definitely intend to have a very considerable brand name presence in New Jersey," he stated. "In other states, it will simply depend on guideline and possibly who our local partner is."

"The US is going to be the biggest sports betting market in the world," he added. "Obviously that's not going to take place on day one."