As rumours that Flutter is considering floating FanDuel on the New York Stock Exchange arise, Matthew King, CEO of the latter company, spoke to Fox Business about the expanding US sports betting sector.

When asked about the continued growth of the American betting industry, King made predictions for which states he believes will open their markets to regulated gambling, arguing that many will want to allow sports wagering ahead of the next NFL season.

“We could probably get two to four states that actually go live this year,” he began. “You had states like Maryland and Louisiana that passed referendums last year by very wide majorities, showing the popularity of sports betting. 

“So I think you’ll get states like those and then you have states like Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, New York that are all considering legislation, and so we think we’ll get a subset of those that will pass. 

He continued: “And then the great thing about the timing of this sports calendar is every state that passes this year or this time of year, wants to make sure they’re ready by football, so we see a number of new states coming online before the end of the year.”

The financial benefits of sports betting, King argued, are hard for legislators and policy makers to resist, particularly due following the monetary impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

King stated: “The combination of the COVID fiscal pressures, as well as the experience in states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where you can see that sports betting legislation is just common sense.”

The fact that regulated betting raises tax revenues and is largely ‘popular with constituents, the CEO argues, has resulted in an ‘unprecedented number of states that are considering it.’

Additionally, the CEO predicted that the highly anticipated Tokyo 2020 Olympics could have positive consequences for FanDuel’s operations, building on the hugely popular NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.

“You will be able to wager in the Olympics in those states,” he remarked. “And so we’re excited to offer that, it’ll obviously be a new experience in the legalised sports betting world. And so,as with everything we’re going to have the widest selection of markets of anybody out there.”

To watch Fox Business’ full interview with Matthew King, click here