American Wagering, Inc. (Nasdaq: BETM) announced November 17 that its Australian Mega$ports subsidiary was issued a 15-year sports betting license on November 12, 1998 from the Bookmakers Licensing Committee of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
The company has reportedly already set up its Australian office and this week will begin preparing for the testing procedure on the Internet Sports Betting Software.
Upon the Government completing the testing procedures on the software and hardware of Mega$ports, the company expects to begin immediate start up of operations. The testing of the company's equipment is expected to begin next week.
"It appears that next month, we will begin our long awaited entry into the International Sports Betting market," said American Wagering CEO Victor Salerno. "The company is very pleased that there have been other international areas such as Europe and Canada who have decided to explore following Australia's lead in interactive wagering. By being the first Nevada licensed company to enter the Internet gaming area, we feel that we have a head start on what we feel will be a very lucrative market in the future. We are already the licensed bookmaker with the largest number of sports book locations in Nevada. Now we want to bring that expertise to the International market via the Internet."
American Wagering, Inc. owns and operates Leroy's Horse and Sports Place, the licensed bookmaker with the largest number of sports book locations in the state of Nevada; CBS, the dominant supplier of sports and race book equipment and software in Nevada and creator and operator of Mega$ports joint venture with International Game Technology. The company also owns and operates a 150 room hotel/casino complex in Las Vegas.