ZenSports prepping for US Market Entry

ZenSports, a mobile peer-to-peer sports betting marketplace has signaled its desire to enter the lucrative US legal sports betting market with a deal with Strategic Gaming Management. ZenSports "betting exchange" model will allow anyone to create and accept sports bets with anyone else in the world, without the need for a centralized bookmaker.

ZenSports represents the second such betting exchange to enter the US legal betting scene. Philadelphia-based sports betting startup Sporttrade has already began their move into the US market thanks to a licensing partnership with Twin River Worldwide Holdings in New Jersey. ZenSports is obviously serious about their foray into the US market, - they received $1.4 million in seed funding in a recent round of investing designed at making their presence known in the US.

"Private investors are definitely very, very, very excited about the space,” ZenSports Co-Founder and CEO Mark Thomas said.

More About Zensports

The betting exchange model has been successful in Europe and hopes to take off in the US as well. While the market may be open to such a product, traditional sportsbooks likely won't be as keen to welcome a company that aims to bypass their services altogether. The major thing that ZenSports has going for it is their focus on a mobile betting platform that the American Gaming Association has recently identified as making up 80% of the impressive monthly handles seen across the US.

With ZenSports, customers can quickly and easily create their own bets with their own odds and terms, similar to a stock exchange, or accept bets that others in the marketplace have created, all at a fraction of the cost that traditional bookmakers charge. Bettors can access the platform from any one of their mobile devices.

As a decentralized marketplace for sports betting, ZenSports is eliminating the need for a bookmaker altogether, and giving bettors a cheaper, faster, and more "trustworthy process" for wagering on sports by eliminating the need for the "house".

There have been an estimated 250,000 wagers placed with ZenSports overseas in its year-and-a-half of operation which has resulted in a $12 million handle for the startup.

More About the Deal

ZenSports' deal with Strategic Gaming Management gives the peer-to-peer sports betting product the option to purchase the Big Wheel Casino in Lovelock, Nevada and operate a sportsbook in Reno at the Baldini’s Sports Casino.

Access into the US market is what the Company was after and got. The fact that their gain was in the grand-daddy of the US legal betting states, Nevada serves as an extra bonus.

Speaking on their ZenSports partnership, CEO of Strategic Gaming Management Grant Lincoln said, “ZenSports is proving to be a force in the mobile and peer-to-peer sports betting world. We’re excited to

help give them an opportunity to expand into the Nevada market and make ZenSports a household name here.”

Still Some Work to Do

While ZenSports has an agreement in place, they are still reliant on the Nevada Gaming Control Board to sign off on their plans. That's where ZenSports' deal with Strategic Gaming Management comes in.

Co-Founder and CEO of ZenSports Mark Thomas said: “One of the biggest hurdles in getting licensed to operate an internet/mobile sports betting platform in the United States is the requirement to own or partner with a land-based sportsbook and casino. Through our great relationship with Strategic Gaming Management, we were able to secure the option to purchase this business in Nevada, which is the first critical step in getting ZenSports licensed and operating in the state.”

Licenses and technological certification still have to be approved, the apps have to be tailored for the Nevada market and the Company still has to drum up support for the new idea before ZenSports can be considered a major player in the blossoming US legal sports betting scene. Colorado has already been identified as the next possible destination for the company at Cripple Creek.

Whether the US is ready for a sportsbook-less option in which they can place their wagers is anyone’s guess but ZenSports’ entry into the Nevada market will go a long way in answering a number of questions about the betting exchange’s viability in the US.