Nevada gambling regulators voted Thursday to allow the state's sports books to offer bets on the Olympics, giving books in Las Vegas and around the state the opportunity to take bets during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Associated Press reports.
The move was "unopposed by anyone in the industry and cheered by the regulators themselves," per the report.
Olympic betting -- which is already allowed in international sports books such as those in Great Britain, Ireland and Australia, as well as on offshore Internet sites -- was around in the 1990s in Las Vegas before the event's team sports involved a more professional membership, said Johnny Avello, the sports book director for Wynn Las Vegas.
William Hill race and sports books already released its odds as soon as Thursday's vote was official.
For regulators, the regulation is about more than additional revenue for sports books, according to Nevada Gaming Commission chairman Tony Alamo. The change "has legitimized us in front of the whole world," he said after the meeting, per the report.
