Vegas Taking Bets on Olympics Again - Here's Why

Las Vegas sportsbooks haven’t offered bets on the Olympic Games since 2000, when they were held in Sydney. But now, for the first time in 16 years, Vegas is taking bets on the 2016 Rio Olympics.

This move isn’t solely designed to help Vegas cash in on the Olympics, but also to keep pace with global markets and offshore sportsbooks, which have never stopped allowing Olympic betting.

As Nevada Gaming Commission chairman Tony Alamo says, the move “globalizes the legitimacy of what we do.”

The whole reason why Las Vegas stopped taking Olympic bets in the first place is because Arizona Senator John McCain pushed to halt the amateur wagering. His Amateur Sports Integrity Act wanted Vegas to stop taking wagers on college sports to keep athletes from “the harmful effects of gambling.”

As New York Magazine reports, Nevada/Vegas sportsbooks were willing to put everything they had into fighting this law. After all, college sports betting is big business.

So the two sides made a deal, whereby Vegas and other Nevada sportsbooks could still offer college betting, but they’d stop offering lines on the Olympics and Little League World Series.

The thought was that most bettors didn’t care about Olympic betting anyways, and this compromise gave them the ability to keep college football and March Madness betting.

Things have changed, though, as Vegas sportsbooks want more to offer at this time of year than regular-season baseball and preseason football lines. This is the primary reason why the city’s power-brokers pushed the Nevada Gaming Commission to loosen up the current law.

According to Jay Kornegay, vice-president of the Westgate Superbook, very few Olympic sports actually draw any betting interest.

“We expect it to be very minimal,” says Kornegay.

He goes on to say that basketball is one of the few sports that’ll attract serious betting interest. “It won’t even be close,” adds Kornegay.

Even betting on Team USA basketball probably won’t be the most-lucrative venture because the team needs to cover point spreads of 40 points or more in some contests. But it’s more feasible that somebody would wager on this, as opposed to rowing or powerlifting.

Other sports that Kornegay expects to draw action include golf, track & field, and soccer.

“Any event that receives a lot of attention from the media, there’s a good chance that we could post it,” Kornegay explains. “Whether it’s popular because of controversy or a great story and or an American competing for a gold medal.”