It's high stakes for UK firms as sports wagering starts to spread in America.

From Tuesday, new rules on wagering came into impact in Delaware, a small east coast state about 2 hours from Washington.

Neighbouring New Jersey might begin accepting sports bets as early as Friday.

The changes are the first in what could become a wave of legalisation after the Supreme Court last month cleared the way for states to permit sports wagering.

The market sees a "once in a generation" chance to develop a new market in sports-mad America, stated Dublin-based financial expert David Jennings, who heads leisure research study at Davy.

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

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But the industry says depending on the US remains a dangerous bet, as UK companies deal with complex state-by-state guideline and competition from entrenched regional interests.

"It's something that we're really focusing on, however similarly we don't want to overhype it," stated James Midmer, spokesperson at Paddy Power Betfair, which just recently purchased the US fantasy sports site FanDuel.

'Require time'

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

Firms are hoping to use more of that activity after last month's decision, which struck down a 1992 federal law that barred states outside of Nevada and a couple of others from authorising sports betting.

The judgment discovered 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 expected to cause substantial variation in how companies get accredited, where sports betting can take place, and which occasions are open to speculation - with huge ramifications for the size of the marketplace.

Potential revenue varieties from $4.2 bn to almost $20bn each year depending on aspects like how many states move to legalise, Oxford Economics approximated in a 2017 study for the American Gaming Association.

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

Now, he stated: "I believe the majority of people ... are looking at this as, 'it's an opportunity however it's not going to be $20bn and it's going to be state by state and it's going to require time'."

'Remains to be seen"

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

But bookmakers face a far various landscape in America than they carry out in the UK, where wagering stores are a frequent sight.

US laws minimal gambling largely to Native American lands and Nevada's Las Vegas strip until fairly recently.

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

States have likewise been slow to legalise lots of kinds of online gambling, despite a 2011 Justice Department opinion that appeared to remove challenges.

While sports betting is typically seen in its own category, "it clearly remains to be seen whether it gets the kind of momentum people believe it will," said Keith Miller, law teacher at Drake University and co-author of a book about sports betting policy.

David Carruthers is the former president of BetonSports, who was arrested in the US in 2006 for running an offshore online sportsbook and served jail time.

Now an expert, he says UK companies should approach the market carefully, picking partners with care and preventing bad moves that could cause regulator backlash.

"This is a chance for the American sports bettor ... I'm uncertain whether it is a chance for organization," he says. "It truly is reliant on the result of [state] legislation and how the organization operators pursue the chance."

'It will be collaborations'

As legalisation begins, sports betting companies are lobbying to ward off high tax rates, in addition to requests by US sports leagues, which wish to gather a percentage of profits as an "integrity charge".

International business deal with the added obstacle of a powerful existing gaming market, with gambling establishment operators, state-run lottery games and Native American tribes that are looking for to safeguard their grass.

Analysts state UK firms will need to strike partnerships, offering their know-how and innovation in order to make inroads.

They point to SBTech's current announcement that it is providing innovation 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 collaborations and it will be driven by innovation," Mr Hawkley said.

'It will just depend'

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

The company has actually been buying the US market considering that 2011, when it acquired three US firms to develop an existence in Nevada.

William Hill now employs about 450 people in the US and has announced partnerships with casinos in Iowa and New Jersey.

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

Mr Asher stated William Hill has ended up being a home name in Nevada but that's not necessarily the objective everywhere.

"We definitely plan to have a really considerable brand presence in New Jersey," he said. "In other states, it will simply depend upon policy and potentially who our regional partner is."

"The US is going to be the most significant sports betting market on the planet," he included. "Obviously that's not going to occur on the first day."