Phone giant Verizon Communications Inc. is considering a venture in the nascent U.S. online sports betting market, should the federal ban on sports betting be overturned through a repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, as many expect this year.
Verizon, which already operates an online fantasy sports business is meeting with experts to asses the possibility of a sports-focused online gambling venture should PASPA be overturned, according to a Bloomberg report.
“There are some changes coming that we pay attention to,” Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis told Bloomberg. “We stay close to that to see how it would affect our asset and how we may chose to respond. I’ve not looked at anything in detail. If someone has an idea around it, I’ll look at it like any other. But we are not getting ahead of ourselves there.”
Verizon, which has streaming rights to some National Football League and National Basketball Association broadcasts, is looking to diversify following its $4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo. The company has the nation’s largest mobile phone network, with more than 100 million subscribers.
