William Hill US eyes sports betting expansion as revenues jump 16%

William Hill US today reported a 16% rise in net revenues to $55m, thanks to a growing number of new sportsbooks and increased mobile wagering.

Adjusted operating profit was up 39% to $18m as the operator hailed the benefits of its increasing scale.

Its share of Nevada revenue grew from 21% to 26%, despite just a 21% share of handle, thanks to a better-than-average margin of 6.2%.

“In the US, we continue to grow market share, to expand our Nevada footprint and mobile revenues, and to increase the prominence of the William Hill brand,” the operator said in a statement.

“During the year, we launched a new mobile app and another mechanism for customers to deposit funds into their mobile accounts. We expanded our Nevada footprint by opening a further five sportsbooks and now have 108 of the 192 books in the state of Nevada.”

Mobile wagering increased from 48% of handle in 2015 to 52% in 2016.

Hills also said it was “building optionality ahead of potential regulatory change,” with its new app and sportsbooks, but also with expansion into Iowa, where it has agreed to operate a racebook on behalf of Caesars.

The operator added: “We are also actively engaged in efforts either to challenge the legality of the PASPA federal ban on sports betting or to achieve legislative change”.

The firm suggested the chances of a review of PASPA were looking up thanks to a potential Supreme Court hearing, and recent positive comments on sports betting from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.