Mobile sports betting app ZenSports has officially received its non-restricted gaming license from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The award now leaves the firm free to exercise its option for the Big Wheel Casino that it obtained from Strategic Gaming Management in July 2020 and begin operating its sports betting platform there, pending final technical certification.
The license also enables ZenPorts to exercise its option with Strategic Gaming Management to take over the sports book at Baldini’s and operate ZenSports from that location, while pursuing additional sports betting locations and expanding throughout Nevada as the company grows.
In addition, key employees Mark Thomas and Etan Mizrahi-Shalom (both Co-Founders) were found suitable by the Nevada Gaming Control Board to operate gaming facilities and products throughout the state of Nevada.
Thomas commented: “This is an absolutely huge milestone for ZenSports and the state of Nevada. It’s not easy to get licensed in Nevada, and Nevada is the gold standard for licensing throughout the world. ZenSports and its key employees, including myself, just went through the most rigorous set of investigations that exists out there.
“This puts us in a great position to be able to get licensed in other states throughout the US as we grow and expand. It’s also a huge win for the state of Nevada because they’re getting an innovative, hard-working company that is looking to grow and become an integral part of the Nevada gaming ecosystem for many years to come.”
Initially, ZenSports will only offer its sports book and fiat funding options within Nevada. However, the company will seek approval for its peer-to-peer and cryptocurrency features in early 2022.
Thomas added: “We wanted to get into the Nevada market as soon as possible and not wait for additional approvals of our peer-to-peer and cryptocurrency features. Even just our sports book and fiat solutions offer a better user experience and performance than our competitors, so we’re confident we can win on those features alone.
“And then once our peer-to-peer and cryptocurrency features are approved in Nevada, which we expect in early 2022, then it will be all the more rewarding for our Nevada customers to have the best sports betting experience possible.”
As part of the firm’s strategy to focus and expand within the US market, it ceased its international operations earlier this year. “As a fast-growing startup, it’s important to have laser-focus,” explained Thomas. “The US market is clearly the biggest opportunity for growth, and we want to ensure that we have the utmost focus on executing on that strategy.
If and when we re-enter the international market in the future, we’ll focus on locations that have equally high opportunities.”
