Hills welcome decision to review New Jersey sports betting ban

William Hill have welcomed news that the US Supreme Court is to look at the laws banning sports betting in New Jersey and many other states.

New Jersey's governor Chris Christie is going against his former boss Donald Trump's advice given to the Supreme Court about the action.

Trump's former adviser is again lining himself up against the major sports organisations such as the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB who got his original statute legalising sports betting in New Jersey thrown out.

The Supreme Court justices will review a federal appeals court's ruling last year that the 2014 New Jersey statute permitting sports betting at casinos and racetracks violated a 1992 federal law that prohibits such gambling in all states except Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

Philip Bowcock, William Hill's chief executive, hoping for success in American Supreme Court for sports betting legislation in New JerseyCredit: Henry Thomas.

Hills are already big in Nevada, handling nearly 30 per cent of sports betting in the state after merging three small sports books and rebranding them under the Hills banner.

Philip Bowcock, Hills chief executive, is right behind governor Christie, who last month said he hoped fans could be betting on NFL games "certainly in time for the Super Bowl" next February.

Bowcock said on Tuesday: "We believe it's right that all parties, including the American sports leagues, now come together and establish a new framework of regulation.

“That will enable sports betting to be enjoyed by millions of Americans. At the same time more than 100,000 jobs could be created and billions of tax raised.

"William Hill is now Nevada’s leading sports betting company and we stand ready to take advantage of an opening up of the sports betting market in other states.”